The strategic partnership established last year between South Africa-based international project management company Planning & Cost Engineering (PaCE) Services and quantity-surveying and construction-cost consultancy Basson & Close Quantity Surveyors (BCQS) has so far been a success for both companies, says PaCE Services CEO Nic Bennett.

He tells Engineering News that, while PaCE Services and BCQS still operate as separate entities, the alliance has enabled the companies to jointly offer their services to clients who require cost-engineering and quantity-surveying services.

“The two companies have combined their skills and service offering for the benefit of clients, and the strategic partnership aims to provide clients with the best possible project management and costing solutions.

“The agreement was borne out of the need to expand each entity’s essential services while retaining a key focus on their respective core areas of expertise,” says Bennett.

He explains that the companies want to use the collaboration to increase their market share by being able to access each other’s client base, especially on the African continent. However, Bennet emphasises that the companies have retained their independence, adding that each company still works on its own projects when the services of the other company are not required.

“The partnership enables us to focus on our respective areas of expertise while offering clients a complete solution within the project management and control sphere,” he adds.

BCQS director Brendon Close explains that recent projects the companies collaborated on include an ongoing contract that required them to resolve contractual misunderstandings between the client and a contractor. PaCE Services and BCQS jointly studied the contract, examined each party’s role and devised a solution that benefited the client and the contractor.

He adds that, in future, PaCE Services and BCQS will offer advisory services to that client before any other contractual agreements are reached with contractors.

“Through this project, we have found that when PaCE Services and BCQS adhere to their areas of speciality, there is no stepping on each other’s toes. Together, we are able to provide an array of services to a wider customer base, leveraging off each other’s client base and market intelligence. Working closely on similar projects in the same industries makes our partnership a perfect, synergistic fit.

This is an exciting new development for both BCQS and PaCE, and we foresee potential for future growth and further partnership efforts – all with the aim of providing the best possible project management and costing solutions for our clients,” Close elaborates.

Government to Gain

Bennett believes that government stands to benefit from partnering with specialist project management firms to consult on tenders for infrastructure development across the country.

He explains that, through partnerships with the private sector – and engaging with the sector on issues of contract delivery and establishing mentorship programmes – government could improve project delivery and ensure skills transfer and job creation.

Company Overviews
Established in 1984, PaCE Services specialises in project controls, comprising cost management, project planning and schedule management, which includes forensic planning and time- impact analysis.

The company also offers change management, document management and procurement management services, using the best available tools, technologies and systems. It also provides skills and knowledge transfer through its training academy in Centurion, Pretoria.

Established in 2010, BCQS provides quantity surveying services with reliable solutions for clients in the mining, oil and gas, energy, rail, ports and marine works, commercial and retail sectors, as well as petrochemicals plants.

Together, PaCE Services and BCQS have extensive experience in large-scale projects. PaCE Services’ recent projects include project-control support services, primarily in the mining industry, both locally as well as across the African continent. It also services a broad range of other business sectors, including the sugar, petrochemicals, materials handling, pulp and paper and power generation sectors, as well as infrastructure and mixed-use property developments.

BCQS’s recent projects include contract administration services, as well as pre- and postcontract quantity surveying services for iron-ore miner Assmang’s Khumani expansion project, near Kathu, in the Northern Cape.

BCQS also provided contract administration services and quantity surveying services for platinum major Lonmin’s Underground  2 debottlenecking project, in Marikana, in the North West.

Further, the company provided contract administration and quantity surveying services at platinum miner Northam’s Booysendal mine, in Steepoort, Limpopo, and at diversified mining major Glencore’s Tweefontein optimisation project, in eMalahleni, Mpumalanga, as well contract management services at an iron-ore project in West Africa for a London-based mining company.