John Armitt: “We’ve set the bar”
Problems often go back to source, the ODA’s Sir John Armitt tells Denise Chevin
Success or failure on a construction project is largely down to the vision and drive of the client, according to the chairman of the ODA, Sir John Armitt.
In an interview with Construction Manager, as the industry counts down to the opening of one of its most successful major projects ever, Armitt also said that firms who used their experience of working on the Olympic Park to win work would not be contravening IOC rules.
His comments come as ministers prepare to publish a report he has written on how the industry can capitalise on the Games and update procurement policy to take on board key messages. Armitt said the report had been drawn up following surveys and workshops held with hundreds of companies that had worked on the Park. It is expected to suggest measures to ensure good procurement practice.
Last month culture secretary Jeremy Hunt announced that the Olympics had come in £500m under its £9.3bn budget. London 2012 is also the first time Olympic venues have been constructed without any fatalities. Armitt said: “What I’ve taken away from the Olympics is this is the importance of the client. You realise the opportunity the client has to set the agenda and create the environment for the project to succeed. When things go wrong everyone blames the contractor, or the architect, or the engineer, but if you trace way back the problems often come back to the client.”
His view was echoed by Howard Shiplee MCIOB, the ODA’s former construction director, now a director at Laing O’Rourke. “I think we’ve set the bar and shown that the industry can step up, if that’s what customers want,” said Shiplee. “If customers want cheap as chips, quick as possible, then it doesn’t give the impetus for the industry to push the boundary on other things. Contractors don’t set the market.”
LOCOG has been widely criticised by construction firms for not allowing them to market their involvement in the Games. But Armitt said firms could use their experience. “You can’t blatantly advertise or piggy back on the Olympic brand. You can’t, for example, start using Olympic rings. But there is nothing in contracts to stop those who have worked on the site mentioning what they’ve done. There’s nothing to stop them presenting what they’ve done at seminars or talking about what they’ve done in the privacy of a bid. In fact, British firms are winning work in Rio, in Sochi (2014 winter Olympics) and Qatar on the back of the Games.
“We’re certainly promoting British firms who have worked on the games through the British Business Club and with UK Trade and Investment we’ve created a website containing profiles of 600 companies that worked on the Games.”
Armitt will also be taking part in a series of 17 summits being organised by UKTI during the Olympics to promote Britain’s construction expertise overseas.
He will remain chair of ODA until it is fully handed over to the Olympic Park Development Company in 2013. He has also taken up the post of deputy chair of the Berkeley Group and will become chair of the City & Guilds in September and is a member of the advisory board at Siemens.
John Armitt on:
What might he have done differently at the Olympic Park: We were originally down to have a wind turbine at the Park which we couldn’t do in the end. We didn’t use BIM, but if we started today we would. That’s obvious.
Biggest headache: Resolving funding for the Athletes’ Village.
Most satisfying moment: When the Olympic Games close and there have been no major calamities, security problems or transport issues.
The sport he’ll be watching: Sailing is my thing, so hopefully I’ll get to Weymouth.
Favourite building: The Main Stadium. It has a clean and effective design and as an engineer I find that particularly satisfying. But I also love the Velodrome and the Aquatics Centre.
His leadership style: I try to create an atmosphere of confidence and self-belief that people are able to go and get the job done. If anyone has problems we solve them together.
