with experts Dr. Philipp Stoffel and Vincent Scherer from the owner services company Enginious
Summary
Dr. Philipp Stoffel and Vincent Scherer share their extensive experience in owner services and construction innovation from their time at Helbling Consulting and Construction Planning, as well as at Enginious. They discuss why the construction industry often lags in innovation and what, in their opinion, needs to change to advance the industry. The episode is also the third part about the use of BIM in the maintenance of the Fridolinsbrücke.
Introduction
In today’s episode, we delve into the fascinating world of construction services, targeting a wide range of professionals in the construction industry and offering us a comprehensive overview of the market. Our guest today, Dr. Philipp Stoffel, brings a wealth of experience and knowledge. Armed with a PhD from ETH Zurich, Philipp has made significant contributions during his 7 years at the Office for Transport and Civil Engineering of the Canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. He led Helbling Consulting and Construction Planning for 15 years and was responsible for infrastructure, transport, and maintenance. A year ago, he founded Enginious together with Vincent Scherer, who is also with us for the recording. Vincent, with a past as a project engineer for civil engineering structures at Locher Engineers and later at Helbling, is now a co-founder of Enginious, a company specializing in client representation services.
What are the core elements of construction owner services?
Vincent Scherer emphasizes that construction management services go far beyond mere administrative support. He highlights the three areas of construction owner services:
- Client support
- Client representation
- Client consulting
“It’s about directly supporting the clients in their decision-making processes,” explains Philipp, underscoring the multidimensional role of these services.
How is BIM changing the maintenance of the Fridolinsbrücke?
The use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in the maintenance of the Fridolinsbrücke is described as a significant advancement. Philipp shares that BIM has not only brought efficiency to planning and construction but also substantially improved coordination and communication among all stakeholders. He mentions, “The use of BIM allowed us to make the planning and construction work more efficient.” According to Philipp, costs could be reduced through BIM. For him, BIM also provides a “new way to communicate with each other.”
Why is innovation in the construction industry challanging?
Despite the apparent benefits of BIM and other innovations, Philipp discusses the challenges the industry faces when innovating. These include, but are not limited to:
- Innovation as a Leadership Task: For Philipp, innovation is a leadership responsibility. The requirements for construction projects are becoming increasingly larger and more complex, such as sustainability demands. Besides project-specific conditions, social or political demands must also be considered. In this context, focusing on technical innovation, which is often limited to efficiency gains and does not meet new requirements, can be challenging. Leadership in innovation involves addressing current needs while anticipating future challenges.
- Public Tendering: The process of public tendering poses a significant hurdle when introducing new technologies. To implement a new technology, finding the appropriate tender that aligns with the technology’s capabilities is crucial. The planner must be well-acquainted with the new technology to be able to issue a relevant tender. The tender process must also accommodate competitive products, and often, revealing part of the product’s proprietary details is necessary.
- Risk: Another challenge is related to the long lifetimes and therefore the high safety standards of constructions. The acceptable level of risk is extremely low, encompassing financial, operational, and reputational risks, among others.
- Contract Management: The current state of contract management often leads to distrust. In Switzerland, for instance, the planner is commonly seen as a trustee of the owner, which can lead to complications between the planner and the contractor, such as poor communication, misaligned expectations, knowledge gaps, and missing plans. Additionally, planners sometimes change the project’s scope to request additional funds from the owner, a practice previously more common among contractors. In England, it is more common to form General Contractor agreements where the planner and contractor collaborate closely from an early stage. There are also approaches like forming a project alliance, where the owner, planner, and contractor work together from the beginning to foster collaboration and share risks.
Why are pilot projects and collaboration important?
Pilotprojekte spielen eine entscheidende Rolle bei der Einführung neuer Technologien in der Bauindustrie. Sie dienen nicht nur als Testfelder für Innovationen und der Möglichkeit zu lernen, sondern fördern auch die Zusammenarbeit innerhalb der Branche. Philipp unterstreicht die Notwendigkeit der Kollaboration und des Austauschs zwischen allen Beteiligten, um gemeinsame Ziele zu erreichen und die Effizienz zu steigern.
What is motivating in working in owner services?
Despite the various challenges, Philipp emphasizes the deep satisfaction that comes from working in the construction industry. The opportunity to contribute to the welfare of society and to create enduring structures that last for generations is felt to be particularly rewarding. “When we approach projects with a responsible use of resources, we can be proud of what we leave behind,” Philipp reflects.