North District Community Health Centre, Sheung Shui, Hong Kong

NEC has been used to procure a major new community health centre and social welfare facility in the New Territories of Hong Kong, China. The Architectural Services Department (ArchSD) of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region awarded construction of the new Northern District Community Health Centre at Pak Wo Road in Sheung Shui to Yau Lee Construction Co. Ltd. in August 2020. The HK$1572 million (£159 million) project was let under an NEC3 Engineering and Construction Contract (ECC) Option A (priced contract with activity schedule).

The project involved demolition of an existing two-storey school building followed by design and construction of a 10-storey community health centre and social welfare facility building on a constrained site next to Pak Wo Road and Fanling Highway. The contract included design and construction of building works, building services, interior fitting-out and external landscape works.

Work started on site in July 2021 and was substantially completed in May 2024. The building houses a Community Health Centre operated by Hospital Authority; an Elderly Health Centre, Student Health Services, Maternal and Child Health Centre, and Office of School Immunisation Team operated by the Department of Health; and a Day Care Centre for the Elderly operated by a non-governmental organisation with a grant from the Social Welfare Department. The development is part of the government’s 10-year hospital development plan, which aims to enhance public primary care and community support in the district. 

Common goal

ArchSD senior project manager Anfield Chiu says the project team fully embraced the NEC requirement on the parties to act in a ‘spirit of mutual trust and co-operation’. ‘The project team strongly bonded as a single team with a common goal of tackling all identified risks together and successfully delivering the project on time and within budget.’

He said the employer, contractor and end-user’s core value for the project was, ‘We work as a tripod. If one falls, we all fall’. ‘The promotion of mutual trust and a collaborative spirit under NEC was a powerful tool to keep the mentality and core value of this project.’

Chiu says in view of the congested site, ‘3S design’ was adopted for the project. ‘This means the project team focused on simplification, standardisation and single integrated elements. We used off-site modular integrated design for manufacture and assembly for major services and plant such as the chilled water pump room.’

He says steel-knit precast construction and a modular pre-fabricated facade system were fully integrated to tackle site logistics constraints. ‘In addition, the contractor used building information modelling integrated with blockchain technology to enhance quality and programme monitoring, as well as radio frequency identification technology for structural elements, architectural fittings and electrical and mechanical system components.’ 

Early warnings

Chiu says the project team made good use of the NEC early warning mechanism. ‘Each early warning alerted the team of the need for an immediate risk reduction meeting to mitigate the risk through clear and quick decisions. All these meetings also amplified the spirit of mutual trust, respect and collaboration among the project team.’ 

He says an example of an early warning was when the contractor anticipated a delay in processing a temporary water supply application from the Water Services Department, which was on the critical path to the start of the piling works. ‘During a risk reduction meeting, the project team proposed various solutions, such as getting water supplied by potable water trucks, recycling water using temporary pits, using a nearby fire hydrant and strengthening the piles to avoid the need for pre-boring works. In the event there was a 2.5 month delay in getting a temporary water supply, but the number of pre-boring holes was reduced from 85 to 15 and the piling work was eventually delivered ahead of programme.’ 

Chiu adds that the contract also included an additional clause to jointly engage a dispute resolution advisor to be a alleviate potential conflicts among the project team. ‘This helped to create a dispute-free environment by providing a third party’s recommendation to resolve disputes and guide project team members to reconsider and step into the other party’s shoes.’ 

Benefits of using NEC

• NEC requirement to act in in a ‘sprit of mutual trust and co-operation’ ensured the parties worked a single team to deliver the project on time and budget.
• NEC-inspired collaboration ensured maximum use of modern methods of construction and digital technologies for quality and programme control.
• NEC early warnings and risk reduction meetings ensured all potential project risks were identified and mitigated quickly.