21 May 2004

Region works to reduce consultancy costs

Auckland territorial local authorities are promising a consistent approach to engaging consulting engineers and, ultimately, more cost-effective contracts.

The Conditions of Contract for Consultancy Services was launched at today’s Chief Executive Officers Forum and is a standard contract template for procuring and providing consulting engineering services across the region.

Manukau City chief executive Colin Dale says: “All seven local authorities and the Auckland Regional Council have worked together with the Association of Consulting Engineers New Zealand to develop best practice conditions of contract.

“The template represents our commitment to Auckland region’s residents and ratepayers for securing cost effective services and will ensure the same standards are applied across the region.

“The consultancy industry respects the need for councils to keep costs down. We expect the main benefit of applying a consistent approach to be the reduction of internal costs and time spent by the consultancy industry and councils negotiating contracts,” says Mr Dale.

The president of the Association of Consulting Engineers NZ Inc, Adam Thornton, says “As an industry we have welcomed the opportunity to work with the councils to develop consistent contract conditions.

“There are a number of synergies within each organisation and it makes sense that applying the same standards will streamline the contracting process and provide more economical outcomes,” says Mr Thornton.

The Conditions of Contract will come into effect in June 2004.

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>