"This project was a great success due to the careful logistical planning and work pre-planning, along with the efforts of our engineering team. The site dilapidation reports provided a detailed insight to the condition of the assets at the designated contract handover point, and were used to help set subsequent budget cycles for site improvements and project development."
Geoffrey Constable
Projects Director
Operations
Terminals
6 months
$300k
Process Consultants was engaged to develop and execute an Australia-wide site ‘dilapidation’ inspection of BP’s fuel terminals as part of their transition to a new management model. The purpose of the inspections was to provide a baseline for the state of the assets of each site for both contractual and operational purposes, before commencement of the new management model..
The project required site visits to 15 sites located in South Australia, Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania. Some of the sites were remotely located such as Broome, Port Hedland, Geraldton, Esperance and Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. In phase 1 of the work we prepared a terms of reference report which provided our client with an overview of how the work would be undertaken and included information such as how the equipment on each site would be rated for dilapidation condition (e.g. good, fair, poor, unsafe) and criteria as to how these ratings would be established. Other important details, such as the inspections being of a visual nature only, were also agreed.
After approval from the client, we commenced phase 2 of the work, which comprised a cost, time and resources estimate factoring in matters such as the number of days required at each site, checklists and templates to be developed for logging the dilapidation status, travel logistics and costs (flights, accommodation, meals), report writing time and information required prior to visiting each site. Once details were further agreed we proceeded with the execution phase (phase 3) of the work.
The logistics of the project required careful planning. We decided that the site visits would incorporate 2 or 3 sites in a single campaign after which we would return to our office to write up the site reports, compile photographs, etc. This was felt to be the most efficient approach. It meant we would only be on the road for a maximum of 6 or 7 days at a time, and we would then complete the write up of each separate dilapidation report while it was still fresh in out mind.
The execution phase took approximately 2 days per site. This work involved three distinct disciplines being mechanical/piping, civil/structural and instrument/electrical. Each discipline engineer completed a checklist for all of the equipment items onsite noting any pertinent information, and took supporting photos of the equipment also.
The project was a great success due to the careful logistical planning and work pre-planning, along with the efforts of our engineering team. Our team completed six separate trips which were completed safely, and the dilapidation reports were completed on time and under budget, and with minimal impact of the day-to-day operations and personnel activities at each of the sites. The reports, each 80 - 100 pages in length, rated the condition of all assets in a hierarchy from unsafe, poor, fair to good and provided recommendations on rectification works required, along with a recommended timeline for completing the rectification works. These reports were then used to help set subsequent budget cycles for site improvements and project development.