Pavani Engineers, Hyderabad. 

Also, he is Zonal chair - ISHRAE student activities. He is a post graduate in mechanical engineering from BITS Pilani and has a PMP to his credit. He has over 25 years of experience in HVAC, project

management and ERP systems.

HVAC industry has been undergoing transformation in the last few years. According to market surveys, the industry has been growing by almost 20-25% every year. The technology has changed, new components and concepts are now prevalent in India that were hitherto available only in developed countries. However, project management systems have not changed to meet the current requirements. This results in poor quality of work, excessive re-work and additional cost burden for the customers as well as the contracting companies. A common statement we keep hearing from project teams is, “Projects get completed in spite of Project Managers, as long as there is a push from the customer”. Let us look at the way HVAC projects are being executed in India currently.

The estimation done by project engineers after the design is prepared is mainly for cost. No real assessment of time is carried out. At the time of negotiations also, the entire discussion revolves around cost, with the assumption that the project can be completed within the stipulated time as

agreed. Even if the contractor/project manager knows that the time schedule cannot be met, he generally keeps quiet during the negotiations for fear of losing the order. This is the first stage where the project goes out of schedule. Estimations are done based on some initial drawings.

Revised drawings are not shared with the HVAC team and there are bound to be deviations in quantities, cost and time because of this. Once the LOI is released, the customer deems the order

to have been placed and his clock starts ticking. But, for the contractor, till a firm order without any discrepancies is released, the LOI is only for information and no activity starts. The final order with all the necessary clauses and revisions reaches the contractor typically 4 to 6 weeks from the LOI,

depending on the size of the project and the organization. This is the second stage of major delay. Consultants generally tend to be neutral here, as they do not like to be part of this financial transaction.

Drawing approval, submittals and quantity take-off are highly under-estimated in terms of time for detailing. More often than not, enough time is not provided for this important activity, leaving holes in planning and faulty designs. Drawings are prepared separately by different agencies such as plumbing, electrical and HVAC without much coordination. Sometimes the agencies work on different versions, which results in clashes during execution. This leads to major variance in cost (due to faulty take-off s), time and scope.

Typically, the contractor awards the work to different sub-contractors who execute the work at site. Even though considerable time is lost due to the above delays, the project is expected to be completed as per the original stipulated time. A blame game starts between different stakeholders

as everyone looks for reasons for the probable delay. Coordination between different agencies hardly takes place during this phase, leading to confusion, rework and dissent.

When the project has a tight schedule, every engineer, supervisor, project manager and consultant is busy expediting things. Enough time is not scheduled for proper measurements of material received, fabricated and installed. Running bill submission is delayed and the cash flow of the contractor suffers, due to which project execution gets affected. Escalations keep raising and the project is thrown out of gear. The time required for safety and quality compliance is not even factored into the time schedule in a majority of the cases. For example, working at different heights needs special tools and tackles and approval by safety personnel of the customer organization. The process demands a certain time, which is not factored. This leads to pressure on the workers

at site to complete the job as fast as possible by working overtime. This results in poor quality of work. Due to lack of dedicated skilled and trained supervisors and technicians and lack of time, the executed work is approved with just a random visual inspection.

This is an extremely important activity in the entire HVAC works, which unfortunately gets very little attention during the planning or even execution stage. Commissioning activities start as soon as the erection is complete. There are times when the plant is commissioned even before the system is ready for commissioning. Due to the lack of experienced technicians and skilled manpower and tools, commissioning activity is carried out hurriedly and the emphasis is on handing over the plant to the end users. During the commissioning stage also, a lot of activities are done on trial and error basis, as the commissioning team is different from the project team and most of the time does not have the drawings and design parameters to verify and comply with.

This is a major drawback in the projects. No regular meetings happen, and not all the concerned engineers and project managers are present during the site meetings. A lot of time is wasted at site waiting for the meeting to start. Review is mostly unstructured and without complete information.

Minutes are not recorded or shared to be reviewed before the next meeting. This makes the entire process look casual, and these meetings become just a routine exercise to find reasons to blame.

The contracting firm should be decided, not only based on the cost, but also its reputation for timeliness, availability of skilled man power, etc. Customers and consultants should take contractors into confidence and arrive at detailed estimation in terms of material, manpower, tools, safety and quality process, in consultation with consultants, PMCs and architects who are part of the project. As the material and labour portions are split and multiple work orders and purchase orders are released, it is essential to identify the owner of the ‘entire project’, who can deliver the results. Unless this scope is enumerated clearly, no one would be responsible for the system as a whole. Customers will only get warranty for the products but not the guarantee for the system. Ensuring dedicated manpower for project monitoring means additional cost. But it is worthwhile and more cost effective compared to the delays and cost escalations due to rework. Every stakeholder in the chain needs to have a proper understanding of the time an activity may take for procurement, supply, transportation, fabrication and erection. Monitoring of the project should move away from emotional to objective review, where no one is afraid of explaining the facts. After all, which supplier or contractor wants to ruin his reputation by delaying the activity consciously? Adequate training and education is necessary on the lines of ISHRAE’s Integrated Approach to Project Delivery (IAPD) for the HVAC fraternity to rise above the impediments and build a new India.