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RELATED ARTICLES: Qatar sinks $576m in to public works projects | Pearl Qatar employ Larch Consulting | Haramain bid deadline extended to April end
Companies working on the construction of the Pearl Qatar can learn valuable lessons from the difficulties experienced on the construction of the Jumeira Palm in Dubai, according to a company working on the Doha-based project.
Ahmad Matar, general manager of Al Arrab Electromechanical Engineering, which is fitting out seven towers in the ambitious offshore West Bay district and has already handed over two, told ConstructionWeek that a better schedule for building has and will continue to pay dividends as the country steams ahead of its Emirati rival.
It is first-hand experience of the importance of clearly separating the initial stages from the more advanced stages of development that is the key to his view, he says.
“The two projects have a similar philosophy as ‘island’ projects,” he said. “Perhaps the first suffered technically as they started the infrastructure at the same time as the compaction and backfilling.
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“In Qatar, it’s more organised and scheduled as there is the finishing, the backfilling, then the infrastructure then the building. It has learned from the experience, and in doing so it has added value.
He added: “When I visited the site to start construction the compaction and backfilling had been finished, so it was a lot less of a headache for us.”
Al Arrab Electromechanical Co, part of the Al Arrab Group, has been based in Dubai since its inception in the last quarter 2006, though the group’s head office itself is based in Riyadh, KSA. It has since opened offices in Qatar (in 2007) and last year in Saudi Arabia itself.
“We do everything electromechanical,” said Matar, “including lighting, power supply, standby generators, evacuation systems, lightning protection systems – as well as, on the mechanical side, drainage, water supply, air conditioning, plumbing, heating and ventilation.”
It has a number of ongoing projects across the Emirates as well as Qatar and KSA, including the Bel Rashid Tower and Gulf Pearl in Sharjah, a number of towers in the nascent Business Bay area of Dubai and a huge electromechanical mandate for the Land Forces Headquarters in Saudi Arabia.
Matar says that the volume of work is a lot less with onghoing challenges in the local market just as opportunities present themselves on the horizon.
“In 2010 there have been very few tenders, in a way it is a harder year than 2009. So we were pleased to have set up early quite early in Qatar when the market in Dubai still needs time to recover. In Saudi Arabia, it is our observation that the volume of projects is high and for contractors this is very good.
He reminds CW that Al Arrab Trading & Contracting won the US $6 billion contract for the first phase of the new rail system in the Kingdom, and added that if the contractor won the project for the development of one of the five stations – which comprise of Madinah, King Abdullah Economic City in Rabigh, King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah and Makkah – then Al Arrab Electromechanical would be keen to work on the project too.
He admits that apart from the company’s work on Qatar Pearl, Saudi Arabia is perhaps the key focus for the company. He adds that as the market slows, industry players have to assess further the contract terms and the business counterparties.
“Today the approach to projects is different. Now you have to think 2, 3 or four times about a project, in the private sector you have to think about who you will be working with, especially if they are new to you. Most of our work is repeat business, such as with Tameer, with which we have worked with for four projects.”
Read the full interview with Ahmad Matar, coming soon in ConstructionWeek.
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FEATURED COMMENT
so very nice project..... very awesome.. that i ever seen,..