10.3 Contract management 
To enable a proper assessment of the contracts, VicRoads was 
firm in consistently and literally applying the terms of each 
individual contract. It was deemed important that each firm be 
held to their tendered rates or factor, which was the basis of 
them being awarded the contract in the first place. 
However, this type of period contract was costly for VicRoads 
in term of the amount of time required to set up and 
administer, and proved to be inflexible and restrictive in 
dealing with disputes and resourcing works. The benefit was 
of course that VicRoads only had to deal with a limited number 
of firms, which minimised the training, document control etc. 
Use of this type of contract caused some difficulties with some 
firms in agreeing on quotations for individual jobs. Some of 
these problems were caused by both parties coming to terms 
with the contractual requirements. 
Other problems are directly attributable to the very low 
benchmark factors of some firms. This led to protracted 
negotiations before any work could commence, even reaching 
the point where one contractor was instructed to commence 
work, resulting in a formal dispute. The cost of resolving such 
a dispute may be disproportionate to the value of the 
assignment being disputed. 
11. FUTURE DIRECTIONS 
A significant amount of photogrammetry and surveying 
services has been delivered under this contract system, and has 
generally been to acceptable standards. This is due in part to 
the efforts of LIS Department staff in ensuring that the 
contracts worked properly, and the commitment of the private 
sector to make a success of these contracts. 
Because of some of the difficulties in both parties resolving 
differences in estimating the value of contract assignments 
using the industry scale of fees, VicRoads is assisting the 
Association of Consulting Surveyors Victoria in revising the 
scale of fees. This will improve the reliability of future 
costings. 
It is important for VicRoads to have contracting arrangements 
compatible with what is expected by management in the 
transition towards more competitive and efficient service 
delivery arrangements. The type of period contract that has 
been used to date does not easily satisfy that requirement. 
What is needed is a register of consultants providing the 
following advantages: 
e. consultants who are able to work anywhere in 
Victoria to meet the needs of Vicroads; 
e. the ability to add firms to the register at any 
. business areas are responsible for each 
assignment without centralised management; 
© the excessive management responsibilities of 
multiple period contracts are avoided; 
e. purchaser of contracted services have a greater 
choice of firms; 
. the developing skills of the existing contractors 
are likely to be retained and utilised; 
e use of standard  VicRoads consultancy 
procedures and documentation. 
To ensure that both VicRoads and the contractors gain the most 
from their investment in equipment and training, the option to 
extend the period contracts has been taken up for a further 
twelve months. It is very likely that at the end of this period 
an effective consultant register linked to other such registers in 
VicRoads will be established for 1998 and beyond. 
The view expressed in this paper are those of the author and not necessarily those of VicRoads. 
REFERENCES 
Boardman C, 1995. Internal report to Director Production Services, 16 November 1995. 
VicRoads, 60 Denmark Street, Kew, Victoria, 3101, Australia. 
Boardman C, 1996. Internal report to Director Production Services, 22 January 1996. 
VicRoads, 60 Denmark Street, Kew, Victoria, 3101, Australia. 
Gamble R, 1993. Internal report to Director Quality & Technical 
VicRoads, 60 Denmark Street, Kew, Victoria, 3101, Australia. 
Resources, 30 June 1993. 
Gamble R, and Murphy R, 1993. Internal report to Director Quality & Technical Resources, 9 August 1993. 
VicRoads, 60 Denmark Street, Kew, Victoria, 3101, Australia. 
Wood B, 1995. Assuring quality of engineering feature surveys. Presented paperto 21st National Surveying Conference31 August 
1995 
Institution of Engineering and Mining Surveyors Australia Inc. 
VicRoads - Outsourcing Guidelines 16 April 1993 
VicRoads, 60 Denmark Street, Kew, Victoria, 3101, Australia. 
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