Shop Drawings and Materials approval status update and impact on production.
Our Ref: xxx
Date:
To
xxx Contracting LLC
P. O. Box xxx
Dubai, U.A.E.
Attention : Mr. xxx, Group Procurement Manager
Project : : xxx Tower, Dubai – U.A.E.
Subject : Shop Drawings and Materials approval status update and impact on production.
Reference: a) xxx dated 7 March xxxx.
Dear Sir,
We are writing to you following our previous letter ref (a) which identified the various phases necessary to achieve the first delivery date on 02 August xxxx based on the baseline schedule which you have issued to us on the 15th February xxxx. We also refer to the attached indicative overall tentative schedule (appendix 1) that we have attached in our previous letter to raise our concerns with regards the progress of Shop Drawings and Materials Approvals which will directly impact the start of production and in turn delay deliveries.
- Shop Drawings approval:
You have requested us during the meeting held at your office on 28 January xxxx to prioritize the production of the mockup. On that basis we have submitted all the mockup related shop drawings before 28th Feb xxxx. We have consequently requested an expedited approval process on these drawings to ensure the approval is received by 7 March xxxx which would allow us to move forward with the mockup and prepare the production and purchase drawings. This was also critical in order to get the necessary early feedback allowing us to complete the shop drawings for the rest of the pods.
Unfortunately till today, and after more than 3 weeks, the mockup shop drawings are not yet approved and MEP revised RCP design is not yet finalized. This is affecting procurement and production, restricting us from proceeding with the mockup and impacting the preparation, completion of the rest of the pods shop drawings.
We would like to remind you that the preparation and submission of all the pods drawings will take minimum of 30 days due to the multitude of pod types and the ongoing delay in the approval of the initial mockup will delay the remainder of the overall process.
We have also requested you in our previous letter ref (a) to provide us with a sample from each of the Free Issue Materials since this is critical for us to confirm the actual dimensions, sizes and tolerances of each item during the shop drawings phase and avoid any rectifications or modifications during production.
Unfortunately, till today, we have not received any sample yet and we do not have any clear date or schedule on when to expect these samples to be available.
Completing the shop drawing approval phase within the allocated time will be critical to achieving the production plan.
- Material Submittals and approval:
We would like to remind again as we did in our letter reference (a), that the approval on the materials especially long lead items such as tiles has to be received no later than 4 April xxxx to meet the production deadline noted in our tentative programme.
However, if this period is for any reason extended, the procurement of long lead items (mainly tiles) may be delayed and will cause production to be pushed accordingly.
There are currently a number of items which are not yet approved for reasons beyond our control, and we have understood in the meeting held on 28 March xxxx that there might be a new change in the tile manufacturer which raises a serious concern towards when the approval can be finalized.
The final selection and approval of the tiles is necessary to prepare the drawings properly since any minor change even of 1 mm (+/-) will impact grout thicknesses and overall elevations.
Moreover, the consultant has officially commented that for MEP materials, M/s xxx (Contractor Name) must follow the same materials approved for the MEP subcontractor. However, till this time the approvals of the MEP subcontractor have still not been shared with us, and it is our understanding that some of these approvals have not yet been secured by the MEP subcontractor. Consequently, we are currently unable to proceed with our own submittal/approval process for these items, which will impact the start of our procurement.
As an example, we have been requesting from the MEP subcontractor a copy of the approval of the cistern tank in order to confirm its height, which they have failed till now to provide. We have as a consequence prepared the shop drawings based on IFC drawings as per your instruction. However, any deviation in the size of the cistern tank in the future will impact the elevations a full revision to the shop drawings.
- Free issue materials
It must be also noted that M/s xxx (Contractor Name) has not received any information as of today on the approval status or delivery dates of the Contractor’s Free issue materials which constitute the bulk of the finishing items, and we have no clarity on what to include in our shop drawing production.
- Procurement:
A detailed procurement schedule will be shared upon receiving approval on all the materials which will allow us to place the necessary orders.
Currently, and as we mentioned in point (b) above, we still have pending approvals that are not allowing us to move forward with procurement. Procurement of materials will require between 45 to 90 days after the order is placed. It is therefore vital to obtain the approval at the earliest possible time on the submitted materials (which are also the specified ones) to allow us to place our orders and mitigate any risk of delay resulting from potential lockdowns, or other consequences which may arise from the current global pandemic situation.
Free Issue Materials should also be received in our factory no later than 3 July xxxx, as all materials should be in place at factory before mass production can start. We kindly request you to share the expected time of arrival for every FIM to allocate space necessary for it and be prepared to receive it.
For the Mockup, the procurement of tiles will require 5 to 6 weeks minimum from the order date which can only be processed upon approval of the material. You are again kindly requested to update us with regards the arrival of Free issue materials required for the mockup to our factory.
- Production:
Our production was planned to follow the site requirement which is based on your baseline programme starting from level 1 to level 36 and extending from August xxxx till June xxxx. However in case the ongoing delays in approvals will continue past 4 April xxxx, M/s xxx (Contractor Name) will not be able to guarantee that the delivery on 2 August xxxx will still be achievable.
The revised schedule for the mass production and the mockup can only be prepared and confirmed once the materials and shop drawings are approved and upon confirmation of arrival of Free Issue Materials.
Furthermore, as per our Subcontract Payment Terms clause 16 (a), our advance payment is payable subject to approval of commencement of Construction phase by the Employer. Therefore you are requested to provide us this approval as we won’t be able to initiate the procurement and production respectively without receiving this approval of commencement and release of our advance payment.
Finally, we urge you to expedite the approval process to avoid delays and we will keep you appraised during the various approval stages on the status of the schedule and we will mutually agree on a production plan and delivery schedule accordingly, to meet your site requirements.
Yours faithfully,
On behalf of xxx LLC
xxx
project Manager