Mr. TSUI Wai, the Deputy Director of Drainage Services, spoke at the ICE ASCE Joint Conference on 28 March 2014 on “Procurement of DSD Projects using NEC: Opportunities and Challenges”. 

In Mr. TSUI’s presentation, he firstly introduced the background of why and how DSD had embarked on the NEC journey at the first place and the successful completion of the first pilot NEC contract, i.e. Improvement of the Fuk Man Road Nullah in Sai Kung.  He then went on to brief on DSD’s  further pilot NEC engagements and our plan in the next 3 years.  In the later part of his presentation, he identified the opportunities which NEC would bring based on experience gained so far from these early pilot NEC contracts in terms of better risk management, more effective cost control, enhanced collaboration with the contractors and hence less disputes, and improved staff morale.  He however also pointed out that to continue with the NEC journey, there were still many challenges to overcome such as the need to provide adequate resources upfront, inherent culture/trade practices, and general scepticism. 

In conclusion, he stated that there were ample opportunities in bringing about better project management through NEC and challenges could be overcome through training and resources matching, cultural changes, and more piloting and experience sharing.