Cost savings of 30% identified in $60 million construction project

A large energy network business required a cost-effective way to refurbish a major electricity switchyard. The work had to satisfy complex continuity of service constraints and had potential to create major costs for an energy producer connected at the site. Traditional methods estimated the work at $60 million.

The owner engaged Nous to identify ways in which cost could be reduced without loss of value. Nous consulted all key stakeholders to clarify the context, set a clear scope and document assumptions for the study. Nous facilitated a value engineering workshop to build a FAST (functional analysis systems technique) diagram and rank functions by value. Analysing options for the five highest value functions revealed how to save $21 million without reduction in value and identified further savings for more detailed investigation. Nous facilitated skills transfer to enable the client to conduct future studies using its internal resources.

The Nous study radically changed the client’s approach to the project.