Meet Brigid Coady, she can save your project time and money. But the downside is that you will have to take information technology and communications a lot more seriously

Brigid Coady is quite unusual: a project manager who is also a Country music DJ.

Actually, the Country bit, although true, is not really relevant. What makes Coady unusual in construction terms is that she is one of a new breed of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) project managers.

Turner and Townsend hired her three years ago because the company realised its project manager's ignorance of ICT was creating problems during construction.

Have you drifted off already? Anything containing I and T is a bit of a bore? That was the main challenge that Coady and her colleagues faced when Turner and Townsend set up its ICT project management.

"ICT is usually seen as an add-on," says Coady. "By the time people think about it, the opportunity has been lost."

So even though businesses are just as reliant on their IT and communications as they are on the fabric of the building to function, most people at the bid stage were just thinking ‘cables', rather than how IT use could effect space planning or M&E. The result can be hassle, delays and expense later in the project. (See below, the guide to avoiding IT pitfalls).

Coady has been involved in some pretty exciting jobs since she joined T&T from Fujitsu where she was a project manager overseeing software and database projects. She was one of a team of 10 ICT specialist on the new Home Office building at 2 Marsham Street; she carried out a space planning audit for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister which radically changed the way things were organised and now she is working with Birmingham City Council on the Building Schools for the Future programme.

A typical day could involve a site visit with the construction project manager, checking that the server rooms will deliver what the client's IT people are expecting or talking to a Birmingham head teacher to find out how they use IT in order to work out how that will influence refurbishments or new build of schools.

So is the message getting through? "Some people are completely bought in," says Coady. "They phone us up as soon as there's a bid opportunity. Others are quite resistant and think they don't need to factor it in until later." 

Getting personal

Brigid Coady ICT project manager, Turner and Townsend

Why did you switch from IT to construction?
I fancied a change really, something completely different. And project management skills are the same no matter what project you are doing.

What do you do in your spare time?
I do a country music chart show at radio station CMR Plus (www.cmrplusradio.com), and I introduce books on Oneword Radio.

That’s a bit unusual. How did you get into that?
I have been doing hospital radio for six years and I have a country music show on Radio Chelsea & Westminster. I am also trying to write a book but that’s getting pushed to the backburner at the moment

Are you into gismos?
Not really. I said I’d never have a Blackberry. My sister’s got one and she’s completely incapable without it. I’m tempted by a mobile that I can check emails on though.

I’m about to invest in a MAC so I can do more mixing. I spend quite a lot of time on the internet. I’m a bit of a geek.

1. ICT is as essential as electricity
You would never have a building without electricity, so why would you design a building without an integrated ICT provision?

The way a business operates and therefore the space it needs is often reliant on how it uses ICT.

There is still a tendency to leave some of the key IT features until later in the design process or even after construction has started.
Checking that the size and location of the server rooms are suitable for the business seems a basic requirement.

However, some projects have been tripped up by not checking IT needs until too late in the programme. The M&E requirements are dependent on the ICT design, both for the air conditioning and the power requirements throughout the building. Trying to adjust these elements during the project costs time and money.

2. The client’s IT department is a construction virgin
A lot of companies will delegate the IT element of a construction project to their internal IT department. The IT department is concerned with day-to-day running of a firm’s IT.

They probably have not been involved in a construction project and will not understand their part in it.

They should have been consulted at the design phase; if they have not then consult them without delay. You will need to ensure that any designs have been signed off by them. You should also find out about any specific IT requirements so they can be put into the main construction programme.

It would be advisable, if possible, to appoint a specialist IT project manager to manage this interface.more than just it

3. IT these days means more than just computers and servers. It also means telephony and ausio visual (AV)/media requirements and this is known as ICT.

How often does the need for TVs suddenly become apparent after electronic delivery via cabled infrastructure has been missed? How many times have walls and ceiling had to be re-finished because AV/media systems had to be added?

Traditionally people think about these requirements nearer the end of the construction phase. However there can be big cost and time savings if such requirements are scoped for at the start.

4. Learn the lingo
IT and construction have similar words; but they do not mean the same thing. This can cause confusion with each party believing they are speaking a common tongue. To avoid confusion please refer to the following glossary:

Programme/program: In IT this is a computer program or software program, commonly known as an ‘application’.

Plan: In IT terms this is the lines on a Gantt chart that will tell IT project managers when and where they should be delivering at any one time. (In construction terms this is a programme.)

Drawing: Most IT personnel would presume this is a doodle made in the middle of a meeting.

5. IT suppliers are human
IT suppliers are part of your construction process; this should not be left to the client’s internal IT department to manage.
You need to ensure that you let them know exactly when and where they will be needed and understand from them the conditions they will need to work within and the lead times that are needed for their work.

6. If you need a WAN, get on the case quick
Wide Area Networks (WANs) are used to connect local area networks (LANs) together, so that users and computers in one location can communicate with users and computers in other locations.

For resilience requirements a WAN needs one or two Point-of-Presence (POP); that is, you need two separate connections into the
building in case someone cuts through one.

There are various key activities that need to be done to facilitate this in making these connections. Most important are the lead times for wayleaves, this can be up to two years in some urban areas, as is the case with Westminster Council.

7. Build-in building management
In most new builds the building management systems run over the IT infrastructure.
Has this been taken into account for the design and have the relevant people been consulted to check out what they need?

8. Secure IT
Security of IT systems means security for the whole company.
Do the computer rooms meet specific physical standards? Do different parts of the building need specific cabling to meet security accreditation? There is also a need to ensure that any equipment on site during construction is kept secure.

9. Move IT
For IT to be ready for Day One they need the computer rooms and floor distribution rooms (patch rooms) to have power and be clean well in advance of the main building.

The active IT kit will probably be installed just prior to, or just after building handover, and access to these parts of the building will be needed by the various IT suppliers and staff. This will of course mean that the health and safety of these staff needs to be addressed.

If there is a phased construction process with different floors being occupied while other work is going on, there must be liaising between the relocation team and the construction team so that any work can be planned around the moves.

10. IT has O&M manuals too
Key O&M Manuals, testing and commissioning certificates, witness statements and cable drawings need to be handed over to the client in time. If not this can cause problems when the building is ready to be occupied.

Source

Construction Manager