With substructure works on the New Dunedin Hospital Inpatient Building now underway, this is a critical time for CPB Contractors Contracts Manager, Louis Jooste and the commercial team, responsible for working through procurement packages and engaging with potential subcontractors.
“At this point of the project, we are laser-focused on making sure we get the right subcontractors on board at the right time. While the construction team is busy delivering those early ground works and piling, we need to be thinking ahead to the next packages of works, getting the right businesses across the formal subcontractor agreements, providing them enough lead time to enable materials like structural steel and glass for the facade to be ordered. A building of this size requires large quantities of both of those materials, so we need to allow the supply chain enough time to deliver what we need in line with the delivery program.”
The New Dunedin Hospital is one of the biggest projects in New Zealand and is attracting plenty of interest from local businesses, not just in the South Island but all around the country.
“There is plenty of excitement surrounding the scope of the packages and the opportunity to work on a project of this size and prominence. This is the largest project I have worked on myself, so it’s something I am personally and professionally very grateful to be a part of.”
With his mum having worked as an accountant at a Professional Quantity Surveying firm and his dad going from project manager to director of a civils company, Louis navigated a career somewhere in the middle, choosing to become a Quantity Surveyor and eventually advancing to his current role as Contract Manager.
“I spent a lot of time in and around my mum’s work and was working in quantity surveying through school holidays from the time I was 16. I love that I’ve followed in my parents’ footsteps and it’s even more special now showing my sons the projects I am a part of building in Dunedin. I have to explain to them that I am involved in the commercial side of things as opposed to the physical construction, but they still think it’s very cool. I’m proud they can see that I’m contributing to something as big and important as the New Dunedin Hospital.”
Having joined CPB Contractors in July this year, Louis reflects on the contractor’s culture and how it carries through the project.
“CPB does a few things differently, which I'm enjoying. There is clear accountability across the business, so it doesn’t all sit with the commercial team and that filters through other areas like safety. The New Dunedin Hospital is a landmark project for New Zealand and will deliver world-class health to the Southern region. It is also the pinnacle of my career. I’ve always wanted to work on a high-rise project and this building is really going to change the landscape in Central Dunedin.”