Clearing the first hurdle

The importance of delivering the 2012 Games on time and to budget needs no emphasis. Yet potential obstacles to this are already looming.

The project is arguably the highest profile UK construction job ever undertaken, and the reputations of all the firms involved in it, and perhaps even that of the nation itself, will live and die by how it is managed over the next seven years.

The project stretches far beyond the construction of the Olympic Stadium and Village, encompassing upgrades of existing facilities and infrastructure works already underway, such as section two of the CTRL.

Here we meet the first hurdle (no pun intended).

The plethora of projects means there are numerous clients, creating much potential for confusion. The array of acronyms involved alone is enough to make your head spin.

The LDA is already handling a number of infrastructure projects, yet the ODA should theoretically be the main client. CTRL is a client in its own right, while LOCOG is running the Games. There are also a number of borough councils at the table.

The LDA admitted to QS News that “we are still deciding who does what”.

With a complex chain of command, there is the danger that timings and costs will ramp up, as they did on the Olympic project in Athens. Here, workers on the ground were left twiddling their thumbs while waiting for the go-ahead from various committees at the top.

Yet Athens conquered its problems and went on to host one of the best Games we’ve seen. London must do the same, starting with the establishment of a clear and agile management structure.