Implementation of NaWaTech Projects

After finalising the design, the site has to be prepared for project execution and executing parties need to be assigned. While this process varies depending on the decision making bodies and funding agencies, the overall motive and steps are relatively similar in most projects. In the following, main aspects to be considered during tendering and contracting as well as during the actual construction stage up to the final acceptance and hand-over of the systems are summarised:

Tendering and Contracting

The process of tendering helps to ensure fair and equitable treatment of competing agencies and to select the most efficient and economic implementing agency in a transparent manner. Main steps to be followed for tendering in India is provided in additional reading material listed below (GOVERNMENT OF INDIA 2005 and JHA K.N 2015).

A general remark in this regard is that the availability of qualified execution companies (e.g. construction firms, suppliers for equipment, etc.) can be a limiting factor – especially in case the technologies are rather new to the respective sector. Therefore, it is advisable to verify the real attitude and background of potentially involved companies. Otherwise, if a company for example only assigns very low-skilled manual workers and does not supervise and organise them on-site, even simple execution works requiring civil engineering task (such as the realisation of a constructed wetland or the construction of a reinforced concrete tank) could generate problems and delays in the realisation. Therefore, the tendering process is a sensitive phase during project implementation.

The following aspects should be taken into consideration during tender preparation and release:

• Planning the timeline for tendering needs to take into account delays due to a potentially low number of execution firms responding to the tender, administrative hurdles (e.g. clearances and permissions) and limited local availability of construction material, respectively, logistic requirements for material purchase
• Good baseline data and designs are needed to develop good tender documents (see Design phase). Without detailed analysis of the baseline data and detailed design, the soundness of the tender documents are at risk.
• Planning of budget needs to take into account that for some materials no official unit rates might be available and, therefore, market surveys need to be carried out.
• Qualified contractors need to be in place to get enough response for tender. Qualifying criteria should involve experience with the respective technologies, material management and procurement.
• After selection of a company, sensitisation/training activities of the executing staff for implementing these technologies might be required, since experiences with the proposed technologies are limited.
• Contracts should be made stringent to limit delays to a minimum and to prevent performance issues (e.g.: assignment of unskilled labour). Thus, the contracts need to detail the reimbursement rules and how to deal with deviations along the project.
• Since O&M requirements should be taken into account during the design and execution phase and to assure the genuine interest of the executing parties in fulfilling quality works, tender for construction can be combined with a tender for O&M, e.g. for the first year(s) of operation. This way, knowledge on system functionality and the incorporated components can be transferred to the operating party without major losses. However, this also means that already during the selection of a construction company, their capabilities to carry out O&M need to be evaluated.

Construction Monitoring

The quality of the used materials as well as the quality of the construction works itself are key for long-term system performance. It is therefore fundamental to assign well-trained work supervisors during the realisation phase that can not only supervise the quality of the works, but also help the contractor in the management of the several activities.

During the construction phase, a project implementer should assure, respectively, be aware that:

• High quality material is used by the contractor – if no certified materials (e.g.: filter gravel) are available, individual tests (chemical analysis, hydraulic conductivity analysis, sieve curves) have to be carried out on-site.
• Contractor needs to understand the system to be able to properly implement it – awareness raising might be necessary as a preparation of the actual construction works.
• Changes from the original detailed design while construction need to be communicated timely and properly – by both sides, i.e. the contractor and the system implementer.
• Contractor needs to put in skilled labour (to be involved in the contract).
• Safety routines during construction process should be part of the contractor routines. On-site checks are necessary to actually monitor and verify workers’ safety.
• Contractor needs to record the work progress and progress monitoring needs to be carried out regularly.

Commissioning

Commissioning has to be made an integral part of the activities – even when the project is already delayed or in a rush to finish. Commissioning should, therefore, involve not only the actual hand-over of the systems, but also the final acceptance of the construction works, the hand-over of respective O&M manuals and materials, as well as guidelines for the training of future operators. Summarised, the following aspects and activities should be taken care of in the context of system commissioning:

• Final acceptance of the construction works and check of the soundness and integrity of the systems involving all the system implementers, the project client and the construction company.
• Preparation of sound O&M manuals involving a description of the system units and their functionality, O&M and trouble-shooting SOPs (Standard Operation Procedures) and a spare-part list as well as monitoring routines (see O&M planning).
• Preparation of training materials for operators and supervisors.
• Agreement on mentoring activities for the period of system stabilisation (depending on the technologies used).
• Both constructors & O&M personnel need to be brought together at this phase to ensure a smooth transition.
• Costs for initial monitoring needs to be considered.

In this section, experiences made during the implementation phase in the context of the NaWaTech project are summarised. This involves both encountered challenges and proposed solutions to overcome these problems in future projects.

In the NaWaTech project, one of the major learnings during the implementation phase was to face the limited experience of executing companies (e.g.: construction contractors) with implementation of the technologies projected under NaWaTech. There was limited knowledge and understanding of the technologies’ functionalities, resulting in major deficiencies, for instance during construction or material procurement.

Thus, one major learning for future replications (in India) was to foster or foresee trainings of companies for implementing these technologies.

Further challenges/solutions are described for the three phases tendering, construction monitoring and commissioning below.