CCF WA NEWS

WA’s historic Forrestfield-Airport Link rail project has won the $150 million-plus project value category at the 2023 WA Earth Awards, the civil construction industry’s annual awards for project excellence.

Now known as the Airport Line, the Forrestfield-Airport Link project involved two tunnel boring machines tunnelling for 8km -- the longest tunnels ever built in Western Australia.

The congestion-busting Leach Highway and Welshpool Road Interchange project won the $75-150 million category, while two other State Government Transport Portfolio projects took out the under $2 million and $5-10M categories respectively.

CCF WA CEO Andy Graham said the dominance of transport projects again this year -- with four out of the seven category winners -- underlined the importance of road, rail and harbour works to the state’s civil construction sector.

“Another hugely important sector for our industry is resources construction projects, and it was pleasing to see our member company Whittens win the $30-75 million category for works at Fortescue’s Iron Bridge project,” Mr Graham said.

“Rounding out the category winners were two projects delivered for other highly valued State Government clients -- Water Corporation and DevelopmentWA.

“We were thrilled to welcome State Government members of Parliament Hon David Michael MLA and Hon Pierre Yang MLA to the event, and to share in celebrating the winners with them.”

Another major transport project, the Mitchell Freeway Extension, was presented with the Judges’ Award.

The Earth Award category winners will now represent WA at the National Earth Awards, to be announced in Canberra on November 10.

The seven category winners and Judges Award winners are listed below with information about the projects. More information, and high-resolution images of the projects and award presentations, are available on request.

2023 WA Earth Awards Winners

Project Value more than $150 million: Webuild-NRW Joint Venture, Forrestfield-Airport Link

Now known as the Airport Line, the $1.86 billion project is the first new train line to be introduced into the Public Transport Authority network since 2007.

Construction involved two tunnel boring machines excavating directly under Perth Airport’s runways, from High Wycombe to Bayswater, reaching around 27m below ground at its deepest point. The TBMs each spent approximately 900 days underground, placing more than 9000 concrete tunnel lining rings that had been manufactured in a local facility.

The project also delivered three new stations, three emergency egress shafts, 12 cross passages, two dive structures, rail infrastructure and systems.

The project did not stop at all through the COVID pandemic. Webuild-NRW effectively managed the global supply chain issues, delivering the project within budget.

Project Value $75-150 million: Leach Welshpool Alliance, Leach Highway and Welshpool Road Interchange

This project addressed one of Perth’s most congested and dangerous intersections.

Main Roads WA’s delivery methodology involved a sole-source Alliance Development Agreement phase, which allowed the early involvement of constructor Georgiou Group, designer BG&E, and geotechnical consultant Golder & Associates. This resulted in a range of beneficial value outcomes, including earlier design enhancements – such as a more efficient and sustainable roundabout design for Welshpool Road, replacing the original signalised diamond.

Construction challenges and solutions included a non-traditional three-span post-tensioned bespoke tapered bridge over live rail. LWA created innovative temporary support systems across each stage of the bridge installation. LWA meticulously staged 32 traffic switches to ensure two lanes each way remained active on Leach Highway throughout construction.

Project Value $30-75 million: Whittens, Iron Bridge Project Earthworks and Concrete – Port, Concentrate Handling Facility & Concentrate Diversion Pond.

Whittens delivered the earthworks and concrete for the Concentrate Handling Facility and Concentrate Diversion Pond in Port Hedland – self-delivering over 320,000 cu. m of earthworks and 10,700 cu. m of concrete, and managing a multitude of specialist subcontractors.

Whittens overcame the challenges of completing critical works during the pandemic through detailed planning and efficient execution. During the tender process, the project team identified cost savings could be achieved through smarter scheduling, efficient methodologies and the use of alternative materials.

Whittens’ project team had a clear understanding of client Fortescue’s objectives, and maintained open communication with the client while creating a positive atmosphere. Through early identification of project risks, Whittens anticipated necessary actions and mitigation measures, reducing costs and avoiding disruptions.

Project Value $10-30 million: RJV, Princess Margaret Hospital Demolition & Remediation

This was one of the largest projects of its kind undertaken in an urban setting in WA. It was also one of the most high-risk, requiring significant asbestos removal, innovative solutions for managing the works close to residential areas, and the sensitive treatment of heritage elements.

With 56,000 tonnes of concrete and bricks to be removed from the site, as well as 15,000t of steel, many months of planning went into the careful management of the demolition process.

From the outset, minimising disruption to stakeholders and residents was identified as critical to the successful delivery of the project. Managing dust was a key concern and special care was taken to limit its spread using water mist cannons and scaffold containment sheeting.

To manage the extent of asbestos onsite, various innovative and advanced techniques and methods were employed.

Project Value $5-10 million: Ertech, Onslow Boating Precinct Stage 1A

This multi-stage upgrade to the boating facility and supporting infrastructure included the dredging of 45,000 cu.m of material to facilitate the construction of a rock wall revetment; two new boat ramps; and a floating pontoon holding jetty. Also included were a new stormwater drainage line, gross pollutant traps, sealed carpark and driveway, solar-powered street lighting, and associated road furniture.

Ertech’s alternative construction methodology involved a temporary earth bund, complete with dewatering systems, to protect the work area from the influence of tides. This allowed work to be performed up to 8m below high tide level, with 70 per cent of the dredging and rock revetment works able to be completed in dry conditions. The entire boat ramp construction was performed in the dry, hugely improving safety and efficiency.

Project Value $2-5 million: Rob Carr and Water Corporation, Belmont Park Optus Stadium DN500 Water Link

This project included the construction of a new water distribution main connecting to an existing DN500 water main located in the northern precinct of the Optus Stadium site; and micro-tunnelling under the PTA rail corridor and Graham Farmer Freeway to connect to a proposed DN400 water main located in the Belmont Park Development site.

The proposed pipe alignment extended across an area historically used as a landfill and a concrete batching site. Both controlled and uncontrolled fill were encountered across the site. The area was known to contain remnants of cinders and fly ash from the decommissioned East Perth Power station. This required onerous controls to manage the safety and environmental outputs. Rob Carr showcased exceptional expertise in managing a mix of ground conditions along the tunnel alignment.

Project Value up to $2 million: Enviro Infrastructure, Leighton Embankment Remediation

Enviro remediated a failing limestone embankment, which was causing debris fall and posing a risk to rail operations on the Fremantle Line. The embankment was cut almost 100 years ago in the early development period of Perth’s rail network, and years of weathering had caused sectional undermining and erosion to the limestone rock face.

Not only was the remediation footprint located within the structural clearance of the rail line and its high voltage Overhead Live Equipment, but a redundant 600mm asbestos water main was identified as running through the full extent of the 325m long remediation alignment. Despite extensive logistical and planning challenges, the project was delivered on time, on budget and with zero HSEQ incidents or quality non-conformances.

Judges Award: Mitchell Extension JV – Mitchell Freeway Extension

The extension of the Mitchell Freeway in Perth’s northern suburbs encompassed the 5.6km extension of the freeway, duplication of Wanneroo Road, new freeway access points at Lukin Drive, Butler Boulevard and Romeo Road, shared paths, underpasses, and a bridge over the Butler railway.

Sustainability was a priority focus, with the joint venture engineering innovative solutions to reduce the project’s carbon footprint. This included the first successful trial of EME2 sustainable asphalt for Main Roads WA, and sharing materials with METRONET’s Yanchep Rail Extension project to reduce waste.

Showcasing exceptional innovation and agility throughout the program, the JV employed cutting-edge techniques to optimise cost effectiveness for on-time delivery of a seamlessly executed project, with two major additions to the original scope.

Today’s announcement of $13 million in relief payments paid to State Government building contractors is no comfort to civil construction contractors whose businesses are ineligible for the escalation relief scheme.

Civil Contractors Federation WA CEO Andy Graham said the Government’s Head Contractor Relief Scheme was narrowly limited to construction works procured through the departments of Finance and Communities.

“Those departments mainly procure building works, such as schools and housing,” Mr Graham said. “This means the scheme has effectively been targeted at the building sector. It’s provided little or no relief to our members in the civil construction sector, who construct Government road, rail, power, water, port and land development projects. 

“Some State Government civil contracts already had built-in escalation clauses, but many more didn’t. The relief scheme could have been a godsend to local civil contractors who – just like their fellow contractors in the building sector – have had to bear the brunt of extreme and unforeseen escalation over the past couple of years.

“The Government media release notes that building industry groups have welcomed the relief scheme, which is perfectly understandable as the scheme provides targeted relief for their members. But the release doesn’t explain why the scheme doesn’t provide any support to hundreds of other hard-working construction businesses who deliver civil works for the State Government.

“It’s not too late to address this glaring oversight.”

Western Australia’s civil construction industry welcomes a new State Government initiative to help property developers meet the cost of essential enabling infrastructure works for housing developments.

Through the $80 million Infrastructure Development Fund, announced today by Premier Mark McGowan, the Government will contribute to the cost of utility headworks (including water, wastewater and electricity) for certain metropolitan infill developments and priority regional housing. 

Civil Contractors Federation CEO Andy Graham said the fund is a welcome boost for developers who are stepping up to help the State meet its policy objectives for infill developments and regional housing.

“The high cost of complex enabling civil works can be a major obstacle for developers,” Mr Graham said. “This fund will help our private sector clients offset those costs and will directly incentivise more developments.

“CCF WA congratulates the Property Council WA for championing this initiative, and thanks the State Government for responding decisively.

“WA’s civil construction sector is proud to provide the essential infrastructure works that facilitate all residential construction.”

For further media enquiries please contact CCF WA by email at ccfwa@ccfwa.com.au

Australia’s peak national body for the civil infrastructure sector says the Federal Government’s Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill 2022 has the potential to cripple the infrastructure sector by causing widespread industrial disputation, threatening the livelihoods of thousands of civil construction companies and the workers they employ.

Civil Contractors Federation National CEO Chris Melham said: “Within 48 hours after confirming its commitment to retain the $120 billion, 10 year rolling infrastructure investment program, the Federal Government has thrown a grenade into the infrastructure sector by confirming its intention to dissolve the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC)  and create industry-wide uncertainty by introducing industry-wide pattern deals.

“The most disappointing aspect has been the lack of open and transparent consultation by the Government in the formulation and delivery of this Bill to the Parliament, which has caused significant industry uncertainty. It is also unreasonable for the Government to use the Jobs and Skill Summit as the platform for justifying the introduction of this Bill. This Bill in its entirety was not presented to the Summit, but rather a high level of indication regarding jobs, skills and productivity.

“CCF supports this Bill being referred to a Senate Inquiry to allow stakeholders an opportunity to consider its content in more detail and put forward their respective positions; a process that should allow sufficient time for widespread consultation between industry groups and their members.

“The infrastructure sector showed great resilience and commitment to the Australian economy by working non-stop through the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping hundreds of thousands of workers in a job, and this Bill in its current form now threatens the livelihoods of those workers and their employers. It will potentially become an industrial relations epidemic.

“One of the key problems facing the construction industry in the past three decades has been low productivity compared to other sectors including mining and transport; not because the workplace bargaining system is broke, but because of poor industry financial outcomes brought about by inefficient and costly procurement processes, unfair contractual conditions, risk allocation, price escalation and supply chain issues.

“Removing the ability of individual employers and their employees to negotiate working conditions reflective of the worksite will almost certainly worsen productivity because the construction industry does not operate in a one-size-fits-all environment."

Mr Melham said that contrary to claims that the ABCC was politicised, discredited and unnecessary, the following facts demonstrated the ABCC had been apolitical and extremely effective as an industry watchdog overseeing the behaviour of both unions and employers on construction sites, and contributing effectively to industry viability:

1. Between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2022, contractors reported 9,133 separate instances of delayed or unpaid payment claims to the ABCC.
2. The delayed or unpaid payment claims reported to the ABCC totalled $873 million.
3. Of the matters reported to the ABCC, the ABCC identified ‘potential issues’ in 58% of cases and achieved voluntary rectification in 97.4% of cases.¹

“Retention of the ABCC is paramount until the Government can demonstrate the alternative regulatory framework will deliver an even more robust compliance and enforcement regime," Mr Melham said.

“The CCF looks forward to working with the Government and the cross bench to ensure the avoidance of any unintended consequences that may cripple Australia’s infrastructure sector and jeopardise the livelihoods of thousands of civil construction companies and their workers."

For further information: Duncan Sheppard, CCF Senior Policy and Communications Advisor, 0438 330 039

¹Australian Building and Construction Commission Security of Payment 3-year Activity Report, between 1 July 2019 and 30 June 2022.

Statement by Andy Graham, Civil Contractors Federation WA Chief Executive Officer

Today’s release of the National Skills Commission’s 2022 Skills Priority List confirms widespread shortages in civil construction trades and again highlights the Federal Government’s failure to adequately respond through its training and migration policies.

The 2022 Skills Priority List shows that skilled operators of excavators, loaders, paving machines and other civil construction equipment are in shortage, both in Western Australia and nationally.

Yet in the face of these shortages, the Federal Government persists with training and migration policies that discriminate against civil construction trade level workers, on the basis of an archaic skills classification system.

According to the Federal Government’s outdated ANZSCO system, the workers who build our infrastructure – roads, railways, bridges and pipelines – are semi-skilled, while the workers who our homes are skilled.

The ANZSCO classifications reflect a bygone era, when civil construction work was largely regarded as labouring, and formal training pathways were still being established. 

We’ve come a long way since then, and nowadays skilled civil construction trades such as plant operations, road construction and pipelaying are recognised as construction apprenticeships in most states, on an equal footing with the building trades.

The Federal Government’s reliance on ANZSCO when making skills policy decisions has two damaging effects.

First, it means civil construction apprentices receive no support from the Federal Government’s Australian Apprenticeships Incentives System (AAIS). Signwriters, locksmiths, gardeners, painters, bricklayers, plasterers and tilers can receive full AAIS funding, but civil construction apprentices cannot.

Secondly, it means our industry is denied access to temporary and permanent skilled migration pathways available to other sectors.

So we can’t bring in skilled tradespeople from overseas, and we can’t get funding support to train locals.

CCF has been advocating for an overhaul of ANZSCO for more than 10 years. We’ve had enough of writing submissions and endless reviews. It’s time for action, now. It’s time to stop discriminating against the skilled workers who construct our essential infrastructure.

The bar for civil construction excellence in Western Australia has been raised again, with seventeen impressive infrastructure projects contesting the 2022 Civil Contractors Federation WA Earth Awards and seven category winners named.

CCF WA CEO Andy Graham said the Earth Award judges commented on the high calibre of entries this year and said they consider 2022 presented a significant milestone in civil construction excellence.

Transport infrastructure projects featured strongly on the night – five of the seven category winners were Main Roads WA projects, underscoring the importance of the State Government’s massive transport infrastructure program to the civil construction sector.

Water Corporation projects also featured strongly, with four finalists and one category winner. A special Judges Award was awarded to another Water Corporation project.

The seven category winners and Judges Award winners are listed below with information about the projects. More information, and high resolution images of the award presentations, are available on request.

Earth Awards for Excellence in Civil Construction Winners –

Project Value more than $150 million: Armadale Access Alliance (comprising Laing O’Rourke, BG&E and Main Roads Western Australia) for its Armadale Road to North Lake Road Bridge project.

This project comprised two grade separated roundabouts at Tapper Road and Solomon Road to create a duck and dive alignment, a new bridge over Kwinana Freeway, new freeway on- and off-ramps and collector-distributor roads, upgrades to Armadale Road, and improved access and parking for Cockburn Station. Major enabling works were required for the threespan bridge across Kwinana Freeway. The western abutment works required an anchored sheet pile wall to retain an existing high-pressure gas main, and the eastern abutment works required a diversion of a major telecommunications service. The bridge beam lifts and superstructure works were also particularly challenging.

Project Value $75 million to $150 million: Downer for its Denny Avenue Level Crossing Removal project.

Downer to completed a multidisciplinary project involving the removal of the Denny Avenue Level Crossing, construction of a rail bridge and road underpass, upgrade of the surrounding road networks and revitalisation works in the Kelmscott town centre. After award, the client requested a program change, bringing forward the closure of the dangerous level crossing.

Through innovative products and working methods, Downer achieved this key milestone four months ahead of schedule, even with the challenges of complex service removals and COVID-related logistical issues. Downer’s collaborative approach not only delivered a high-quality project; the company also successfully trialled new products and working methods – increasing safety, sustainability and efficiency; and leaving a lasting legacy for the local community, the Public Transport Authority and the wider civil construction industry.

Project Value $30 million to $75 million: Georgiou Group and Main Roads Western Australia for the Karel Avenue Upgrade project.

The project involved the widening of Karel Avenue, over Roe Highway and the freight railway, to create a dual carriageway. From a design and construction perspective, the most challenging aspect of the project was widening the existing grade separation over rail, to accommodate the Thornlie to Cockburn passenger lines next to the existing freight lines. Another significant consideration was the interface with live services, including a high-pressure gas main and a fuel line servicing Perth Airport. Through clear communication with the client and the key stakeholders, coupled with regular planning workshops and programming meetings, Georgiou delivered the programmed works without any impact on these assets.

Project Value $10 million to $30 million: Georgiou Group for its Kwinana Freeway Pedestrian and Cycle Path project.

This path not only allows an uninterrupted journey between Mandurah and Perth CBD, it also improves safety by eliminating conflict between traffic and path users. Georgiou constructed 700 metres of new shared path, including a new 45-metre underpass, and upgraded a further 455 metres of existing path. The project site was approximately 800 metres long and 20 metres wide, with the busy Kwinana Freeway to the east and residential properties to the west. Georgiou overcame numerous challenges, such as protection of an existing water sewer main, live services and the tight project boundary. The company’s innovative approach not only influenced the final design, but also the construction methodology, saving the client time and money.

Project Value $5 million to $10 million: Rob Carr and Water Corporation for the Gnangara Branch Sewer Section 2 project.

As part of significant upgrades to the sewer network in Perth’s northern suburbs, Rob Carr was engaged by Water Corporation to construct a new branch sewer along Lancaster Road in Wangara. The location and proximity of the existing infrastructure, of in-ground services and of structures along the alignment itself created a number of site access and constructability challenges. Rob Carr overcame a number of site access and constructability challenges created by existing infrastructure, in-ground services and structures along the alignment. Though the conditions were very challenging, the project was completed successfully and well ahead of the contract schedule.

Project Value $2 million to $5 million: Enviro Infrastructure for its Hector Street Footbridge Refurbishment project.

Main Roads engaged Enviro Infrastructure as head contractor to undertake remedial works to this footbridge, which spans the Mitchell Freeway and Joondalup rail line in Osborne Park. Enviro’s scope of works included protective coating maintenance, weld inspection testing and repairs, and deck plank end repairs. To deliver these essential remediation works, Enviro and its key subcontractors worked almost 7 months onsite, all works being nightshift, with no impact on road and rail users or assets.

Project Value up to $2 million: Foundation Engineering for its Multi-Unit Development, 147 Hastings St Scarborough project.

Foundation Engineering provided an alternate shoring system using steel piles and chemical grout injection for the development of a series of dwellings on the Scarborough beach front. Due to the sloping nature of the site, some piles were required to support the existing structures either side of the property during the excavation. However, there were other sections of the site that required the piles be exposed up to several metres. The installation rig required was able to handle the tricky site conditions resulting from having such a steep, sandy surface. In comparison, a traditional CFA pile installation rig would have struggled to install concrete piles along such a steep run.

2022 WA Judges’ Award: SRG Global for its 20ML Karratha Water Tank and Associated Works.

The Judges Award is a discretionary award for a project which scores highly and which the judges consider to be worthy of special recognition. SRG demonstrated commendable planning, design and execution of the works to build a staged concrete structure with an expected lifespan of 100 years in a region where extreme weather events are prevalent.

The seven 2022 WA Earth Award category winners will represent the state at the CCF National Earth Awards on November 11 in Canberra.

• Urgent reform to Federal Government skills classification system needed to adequately recognise skilled trade-level occupations in civil construction
• Outdated ANZSCO classifications deny civil construction apprentices, and their employers, access to training incentives available to their peers in the building sector
• CCF’s National CEO is meeting with Federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King today to push for reform.
• CCF WA has written to State Premier Mark McGowan and Training Minister Sue Ellery seeking their support ahead of the Federal Jobs and Skills Summit.

WA’s peak civil infrastructure body is calling for urgent changes to the Federal Government’s outdated skills classification system, to allow civil apprentices and their employers access to new training incentives available to other sectors with skills shortages.

The Civil Contractors Federation WA (CCF WA), in conjunction with CCF’s National office, wants civil occupations to be formally classified as skilled trades on the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO). This is a pre-requisite for funding under the Federal Government’s new Australian Apprenticeships Incentives System (AAIS).

CCF National CEO Chris Melham will push the need for urgent reform today (August 19) at an infrastructure jobs and skills roundtable hosted by Federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King ahead of the Jobs and Skills Summit next month.

Mr Melham said reforming ANZSCO to give civil construction apprenticeships fair access to training incentives would be an important step in addressing major skill gaps in the civil infrastructure sector.

“As part of CCF’s 2022 Infrastructure Market Capacity Survey, respondents were asked to rank a number of threats to the delivery of the infrastructure investment pipeline, ranging from the availability of raw materials, through to the availability of skilled and unskilled labour,” Mr Melham said. “In each state and territory, the highest ranked issue was the lack of availability of local skilled tradespeople and professionals to undertake construction projects.”

Mr Melham said access to AAIS subsidies would address this by directly incentivising civil construction employers to take on more apprentices.

CCF WA CEO Andy Graham said he had written to State Premier Mark McGowan and Training Minister Sue Ellery seeking their support ahead of the Federal Jobs and Skills Summit, which they will both be attending next month.

“Thankfully our state government, through the Construction Training Fund and other incentives, recognises that civil construction apprentices in skilled trades such as pipelaying, directional drilling and plant operations deserve to receive the same funding as their counterparts in bricklaying, tiling and plastering,” Mr Graham said.

“But it’s a different story with Federal incentives, where the building trades get AAIS funding and the civil construction trades miss out thanks to the antiquated ANZSCO skill levels.

“The Federal Government is a major funding source for the massive program of transport infrastructure projects that is transforming Western Australia, so they should be well aware of the critical need to incentivise training and skills development in civil construction.”

Mr Graham said other sectors had also been highly critical of the ANZSCO system’s failure to reflect the modern skilled workforce. A recent Federal Parliament Standing Committee Inquiry received dozens of submissions from companies and industry groups calling for ANZSCO to be abandoned as a basis for determining occupational skill levels. The inquiry recommended that ANZSCO should be either scrapped or completely overhauled.

“For the civil construction sector, ANZSCO reform can’t some soon enough,” Mr Graham said. “And in the meantime, the Federal Government should take a common sense approach and include civil construction trades in the AAIS.”

A new report from WA’s peak civil construction body highlights the wide disparity in transparency by local governments when awarding works tenders, and recommends changes to bring WA into line with other states.

The Civil Contractors Federation WA report, Transparency in Western Australian local government tender evaluation, analysed the tender assessments, as published in council minutes and supporting documentation, of 29 of Western Australia’s largest metropolitan and regional councils.

The report awarded a Tendering Transparency Score out of 10 to each council, with points awarded for:

• Publishing the names of companies that tendered and the prices they submitted
• Publishing each bidder’s scores or ranking against price and non-price assessment criteria.
• Explaining how the scores were determined, and any other relevant information about how or why the successful tenderer was chosen.

One council, the City of Joondalup, scored a perfect ‘10’ by providing all of the information above, with a detailed summary describing the tender evaluation process and how decisions were made.

The Bayswater, Cockburn, Gosnells, Kalamunda, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Perth, Rockingham, Swan, Wanneroo, and Dardanup councils also achieved a ‘pass’ mark of 5 or more.

Many councils surveyed in the report relied on the commercial-in-confidence provisions of the WA Local Government Act 1995 as justification for suppressing information.

CCF WA CEO Andy Graham said the WA legislation was out of step with local government laws in other states.

“The law in other states puts the onus on councils to explain why they have decided not to publish tender assessments,” Mr Graham said.

“Generally, other states only allow suppression where councils can show issues with confidential financial information or trade secrets.

“The South Australian legislation expressly bars councils from preventing disclosure of any reasons adopted by the council as to why a successful tenderer has been selected.

“We’ve recommended to the State Government that it replace the current blanket commercial-in-confidence provision with a modernised provision more in line with community expectations and with the practice in other states.

“The law in other states recognises that the very ‘local’ nature of local government procurement can make it more susceptible to probity issues and conflicts of interest, and therefore accountability and transparency are perhaps even more important than in other levels of government.

“Transparency of decision-making is of course a good thing in itself, but there are broader benefits too.

“We know that contractors highly value the feedback provided by published evaluations. They really appreciate getting a clear picture of where their submission was strong and where it wasn’t, and can use that feedback to improve their submission next time.

“For councils, this means that not only will they get a higher standard of submissions, but they will get more submissions, because there’s no doubt that contractors prefer to work for councils who are open and transparent.

“It’s even more important right now, with so much demand for construction work, that councils position themselves as a client of choice.”

Transparency in Western Australian local government tender evaluation is available for download online here. 

WA’s peak civil construction industry body says targeted relief for building contractors in the 2022/23 State Budget is no comfort for civil contractors on Government projects who are also battling rampant escalation of cost.

The Civil Contractors Federation Western Australia (CCF WA) says urgent action is needed to provide relief from onerous Government construction contracts that are forcing contractors to bear the brunt of recent massive cost increases and supply chain disruptions.

CCF WA CEO Andy Graham said the new $30 million scheme to assist building contractors working for the departments of Finance and Communities would not help hundreds of local businesses battling soaring costs on Government civil infrastructure projects.

“There is some cost relief for the civil construction sector in the Budget, mainly on a few high-profile, federally funded road and rail projects,” Mr Graham said.

“The budgeted cost of some major projects has increased by around 30 per cent, yet the allocations for all other transport projects has remained the same.

“CCF WA welcomes the acknowledgement of huge and unforeseen escalation on those major projects, but we are concerned that contractors on dozens of other Government projects are facing the same realities yet being forced to fight tooth and nail to have their fair and reasonable claims accepted.

“The standard watertight contracts used on many Government projects are designed to protect the budgeted project cost by any means possible. The contractor is expected to wear the cost of unexpected events or unavoidable delays that are out of their control.

“In normal times, we deal with that and take the occasional loss on the chin. But these are unprecedented times, and civil contractors can’t keep absorbing huge extra costs and mounting losses.

“It’s time to put aside the onerous contract and the legalistic mindset, work together and take an ‘open book’ approach that fairly reimburses all Government contractors for unavoidable extra costs.

“It’s certainly encouraging to see a $350 million provision for general construction cost escalation in the Budget – we now look forward to working with the Government to ensure this provision translates into timely action.”

How to attract, retain and promote women working in the civil construction industry was the issue of the day at this morning’s Women in Civil annual breakfast held by the Civil Contractors Federation Western Australia (CCF WA).

With just 20 per cent of women making up the civil construction industry nationally and Western Australia having the biggest gender pay gap in the country, gender diversity leaders recognised while there was positive work being done, there was still more to do.

CCF WA CEO Andy Graham said the business case was clear – more diversity has a positive effect on productivity and financial performance.

“Since 2011, CCF WA’s Women in Civil initiative has supported and celebrated diversity in the Western Australian civil construction industry,” he said.

“We launched our inaugural Women in Civil Mentoring Program in 2021 which is dedicated to providing support, guidance and professional growth opportunities to women working in civil construction.

“We recognise part of this challenge is making sure civil construction careers are a genuinely viable long-term career option. It’s important we have these discussions and keep moving in the right direction to provide career opportunities for both men – and women.”

Special guest speakers included Minister for Women’s Interests Simone McGurk, Champions of Change Coalition Program Director Tania Cecconi, and Clough Vice President of Strategy and Development in the APAC region Carl Titchmarsh.

Minister McGurk has led the State Government’s Plan for Gender Equality, while Ms Cecconi has been instrumental in shifting the conversation from fixing women to fixing workplaces and Mr Titchmarsh spoke off the back of Clough’s second Employer of Choice for Gender Equality Citation by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency.

Themes raised included workplace flexibility for both women and men, gender agnostic paid parental leave, government funded female leadership programs on major infrastructure projects, and women’s safety and security.

CCF WA’s Women in Civil Breakfast was supported by Kais Hire, CJD Equipment and Sitech.