Alliance a great step forward for Christchurch

Transport Minister Steven Joyce says the newly established Alliance to rebuild Christchurch is a great step forward for the city.

The Alliance was formalised by the signing of the Interim Alliance Agreement between the parties in Christchurch today.

The new Alliance will include Christchurch Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA), Christchurch City Council (CCC), Fulton Hogan, Downer Construction, Fletcher Construction, MacDow New Zealand and City Care. It will be responsible for the reinstatement of all ground level and below ground infrastructure, including roads, water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure.

“The Alliance will use labour based in Christchurch. This will serve to stimulate the local economy and provide the best response available to the needs of affected residents,” says Mr Joyce.

An alliance is an approach to delivering complex large-scale projects where clients, consultants and contractors from several organisations work together to meet quality, cost and time targets. They also provide flexibility and draw upon a wide range of specialist expertise.

The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has worked on behalf of CERA with CCC to establish a single Alliance.

“The NZTA has proven that alliances are an effective way to achieve fast and cost-effective results on recent major projects. A recent example includes the Manukau Harbour Crossing, which was delivered nearly a year ahead of schedule and under budget,” says Mr Joyce.

The delivery model set up after the September earthquake of five contractor companies working independently laid a great platform for rebuilding the city.

“The scale of devastation caused by the February aftershock made us and the City Council revisit the best way of approaching the recovery work. We all agreed that the alliance delivery model was the best model available because it offered a fast and changing response to getting the city up and running.”

The Interim Alliance Agreement covers the establishment of the alliance and planning for undertaking the work. A full alliance agreement is expected to be signed within the next three months.