EPCM services

Engineering, procurement, and construction management may be structured as a separate contract ( EPCM services or management contract ). The contractor s task is the engineering and management of the project and in the process competitively procuring the direct field cost (DEC) elements, that is, all the physical plant and its construction, on behalf of the client or on a reimbursable basis. The 80-or-so per cent of the plant costs composing the DEC are thus subject to competitive... 

Suppliers under the supervision of the EPCM contractor furnish the necessary materiel for the project. The work on site will be carried out by construction contractors who are also under the supervision of the EPCM contractor. Special service providers may be engaged by the owner, by the EPCM contractor or by a construction contractor for duties such as surveying, civil site and laboratory testing, for carrying out destructive tests and nondestructive examination associated with welding or for the interpretation of results obtained from these activities. 

The more complex items of equipment, in particular complete packaged units, often require visits by supplier s representatives (SRs) to supervise the critical phases of erection, testing, commissioning and start-up. Their presence may even be continuous rather than on a visit basis. The purchase order will normally define the points at which visits are to be made and the costs and payment arrangements of such visits. Visits may be related to the question of guarantees, so it is important that they are organized on a sound basis. These services can be expensive, so the EPCM contractor needs to be firmly in control. This means ... 

Looking beyond turnover, what other services will the owner expect of the EPCM contractor and other parties present ... 

For the owner time was pressing, so it was decided to simplify the project structure. In the first place the owner brought in one of its own engineers to head up the operation. He already possessed the experience of several plant construction completions and turnovers, had developed a procedure and came armed with computer software to track the operation. An integrated team was formed, comprising staff from the owner and the EPCM contractor. The contracts with the construction contractors for the mechanical, piping, electrical and control and instrumentation disciplines were closed out as such, and instead these firms made available teams of pipe fitters, welders, electricians, etc., to be integrated into the owner-EPCM contractor team. Their services would be paid for on the basis of time spent at houriy rates. 

Thermal insulation may be specified for items of equipment and for piping systems for hot or cold service, to conserve energy, for process reasons or to prevent freezing, but also for personnel protection. There will be a specification produced by the EPCM contractor comprising a number of insulation systems to cover the needs of the project. For each system the following will be defined ... 

Consider now a second scenario, where the Owner first lets one contract. Contract X, for the EPCM (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction Management) of the facility. During the development stage the EPCM contractor then lets, on behalf of the Owner, one or more contracts for the equipment and services required in the production stage. In this case. Contract X spans all three stages and contains all the processes, including some of the production processes. 

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