The National Highway Authority (NHA) Executive Board has approved the award of agreement for “consultancy services for design review and construction supervision for rehabilitation and upgradation of Jhaljao–Bela Road (80-km)” to “M/s NESPAK (Pvt.) Ltd. in a joint venture with M/s New Vision Engineering Consultant and M/s AI Engineers Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd.”, at an evaluated cost of Rs. 185 million.
The Board has also approved selection criteria, appointment procedure, and remuneration for the appointment of “The Engineer” on NHA’s projects. According to official documents, the selection criteria for the appointment of “The Engineer” is based on engineering qualification, general and specific experience, understanding of FIDIC type contract implementation, and international affiliations with arbitration and claim management forums.
These mandatory requirements include Civil Engineering as a basic general qualification; preferably a postgraduate degree in the relevant field; candidate’s association with the formulation of civil engineering contracts, implementation, and interpretation; mandatory experience in Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) and arbitration mechanisms; association/membership with claims and dispute forums at national/international level; and a clean and proven track record in previous positions; in addition to the requirements like having a good reputation in the industry and enjoying good health with mobility and sound communication, writing and computer skills.
As for the details of requirements with regard to educational qualifications and experience, the candidates will require to have a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from any accredited university or a Master’s and above degree in Transportation/Road-engineering/Structures or Construction/Project Management from any recognized university. The candidate must have experience of over 20 years for the holders of BSc (Civil) degree or more than 15 years’ experience for those who have MSc/PhD in Transportation/Road Engineering/Structures. The general experience required is related to highways, motorways, and bridges, etc.
The documents further read: “The candidate must have specific experience in construction of highways/motorways /tunnels/bridges, etc. works on minimum 05 contracts. Two marks for each contract will be awarded. The contract management experience as The Engineer, Resident Engineer, and from employer’s side management formulation is acceptable.”
As per the documents, the experience in alternate dispute resolutions (ADR) is generally classified into at least four types — negotiation, mediation, collaborative law, and arbitration.
An advertisement, in this regard, will be published to seek the curriculum vitae of the applicants. The general advertisement to invite applications shall be published biannually to update the database of applicants for “The Engineer”. Applications shall be received through post or uploaded on NHA’s website.
The remuneration and privileges, as mentioned in the documents, include Rs. 200,000 per month for construction contract up to Rs. 5,000 million (Maximum 2 No. of assignments can be given to the individual); Rs. 400,000 per month for construction contract above Rs. 5,000 million.
“The Engineer” shall hire Quantity Surveyor (QS) and Computer Operator whose salaries shall be admissible as per the market rates maximum up to Rs. 80,000 per month for QS and Rs. 50,000 per month for a computer operator (on production of evidence).
The project authorities shall provide a vehicle to “The Engineer” during a site visit. An additional amount maximum up to Rs. 25,000/- per month will be admissible to “The Engineer” on account of communications, stationery, and courier charges, etc.
