Rehabilitation, upgradation of Jhaljao-Bela road: NHA approves award of agreement on consultancy services to NESPAK

ISLAMABAD: The National Highways Authority (NHA) Executive Board has approved the award of agreement for "consultancy services for design review and construction supervision for rehabilitation and upgradation of Jhaljao-Bela road (80 km)" to "M/s NESPAK (Pvt) Ltd in joint venture with M/s New Vision Engineering Consultant and M/s AI Engineers Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd", at evaluated cost of Rs 185 million.

The board has also approved selection criteria, appointment procedure and remuneration for appointment of "The Engineer" on the NHA's projects. According to the official documents, the selection criteria for appointment of "The Engineer" should be based on the engineering qualification, general and specific experience, understanding of the FIDIC type contract implementation and international affiliations with arbitration and claim management forums.

These mandatory requirements include; (i) basic general qualification is civil engineering. Post graduate degree in the relevant field shall be preferred; (ii) the candidate must be associated with formulation of civil engineering contracts, implementation and interpretation; (iii) mandatory experience in alternate dispute resolution (ADR) and arbitration mechanisms; (iv) association/membership with claims and dispute forums at national/international level; (v) a clean and proven track record in previous positions held in contract management or acting as "The Engineer"; (vi) must have in general a good reputation in the industry; (vii) enjoy a good health with mobility and sound communication, writing and computer skills; (viii) the applicants should manifest the above in their CV with reference to project and the employer.

Educational qualification and experience include; (i) Civil engineering degree, bachelor's in civil engineering from any accredited university; (ii) master's and above degree. master's and above degree in transportation/ road engineering /structures or construction/ project management from any accredited university; (iii) general experience in civil engineering. The candidate must have experience of 20 years plus for BSc (Civil) or 15 years plus for MSc/PhD in transportation/road engineering/structures. The general experience required is related to highways/motorways/bridges, etc. Building experience acceptable maximum up to five years in overall minimum 20 years; (iv) specific experience on highways/ motorways/tunnels/bridges. The candidate must have specific experience in construction of highways/motorways/tunnels/bridges, etc works on minimum five contracts. Two marks for each contract will be awarded. The contract management experience as the engineer, resident engineer and from employer's side management formulation is acceptable.

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