Local Government
Engineering support for local government
Senior engineering capacity when you need it: for development assessment, capital works delivery, disaster recovery, asset management and heavy vehicle access. We work under your direction, to your policies and standards, and the knowledge stays with your team.
Councils
Development Assessment & Approvals
Development assessment
Engineering assessment of applications against your planning scheme and engineering standards, with information requests and conditions that are reasonable, relevant and buildable.
Operational works
Applications assessed and engineering drawings checked against the development approval conditions.
Haulage and road impact
Road impact assessments for quarries, mining, renewable energy and other projects evaluated, and the resulting infrastructure agreements negotiated for council.
Conditions compliance and sign-off
Works assessed against the approval conditions before survey plans are approved or works are accepted on maintenance, with RPEQ certification for civil works.
Councils
Capital Works Planning & Procurement
Scoping and estimates
Project scopes and pre-tender estimates for budgets and funding submissions, with civil works rates benchmarked against historical rates from won contracts.
Constructability and staging review
Designs checked for how they will be built: access, keeping roads open, temporary works, material haul and wet season risk.
Construction hazard input to safety in design
Live traffic, services, excavation, water and contamination raised early as design, cost and program drivers.
Tender documentation review
Drawings, specifications and schedule of rates checked against each other for gaps, conflicts and ambiguity, with independent checks of high-value quantities.
Contract risk allocation review
Special conditions reviewed against AS 4000, AS 2124 and Department of Transport and Main Roads conditions. Legal drafting stays with your lawyers.
Tender evaluation support
Price and rate analysis, assessment of qualifications and departures, and clarification questions to tenderers, set out to fit your procurement policy and evaluation plan.
Value engineering assessment
Independent review of proposed alternatives, with approval and design risk stated honestly.
Councils
Contract Administration & Delivery
Superintendent and Superintendent’s representative support
Notices, directions, correspondence and records prepared on time and backed by the contract, either as your nominated representative or supporting your project managers.
Variation and claim assessment
Assessment of variations, extension of time and latent condition claims against the contract, the program and the site records, with a clear recommendation and reasons.
Progress claim assessment
Progress claims checked against measured work and the schedule of rates, with cost reporting you can take to council and your funding bodies.
Close-out
Review of as-constructed records and handover documentation, and support through the defects liability period.
RPEQ certification (civil works only)
Certification of civil engineering works, including As Constructed plans, by a Registered Professional Engineer of Queensland. Certification in other disciplines stays with registered engineers in that discipline.
Councils
Disaster Recovery
Damage assessment and evidence
Pre-event condition records and post-event damage assessments that support eligibility under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.
Submissions
Scoping and estimating reconstruction works for submissions to the Queensland Reconstruction Authority, including betterment options where they can be justified.
Delivery
Tender documentation, contract administration and claim assessment for reconstruction works.
Records and acquittal
Progress, cost and close-out records kept to the standard the funding arrangements require, ready for acquittal.
Councils
Asset Management
Condition and defect assessment
Inspections and condition ratings of road, pavement, drainage and other civil assets, recorded to your asset hierarchy and rating scheme.
Forward works programs
Renewal and maintenance programs prioritised on condition, risk and budget, ready to feed your capital works budget and long-term financial forecast.
Asset management plans
Input to levels of service, intervention levels and whole-of-life cost comparisons of treatment options.
Asset handover and registers
As-constructed data for new and renewed assets checked so they are captured correctly in your asset register. Asset valuation stays with your valuers.
Councils
Heavy Vehicle Access
Road manager consent
National Heavy Vehicle Regulator access requests assessed and answered on time, with practical, defensible conditions.
Route assessments
Heavy and oversize vehicle routes assessed for pavement, intersections, swept paths, sight distance and rail crossings.
Network planning
Advice on heavy vehicle networks, Performance Based Standards routes and pre-approvals for routes that are used often, to cut repeat assessments.
Oversize and overmass movements
Route and staging advice for mining equipment and wind turbine components moving through your network.
Bridges and major culverts
Structures needing assessment identified early, with the structural assessment coordinated with a registered structural engineer.
Who we support
Regional and remote councils
Queensland local governments, particularly regional and remote councils, where senior engineering staff are hard to recruit and travel adds time and cost.
We are most useful when you have a vacancy or workload peak, a disaster recovery program on top of business as usual, a complex application, or a project that needs an independent check.
Our technical advice is strongest in civil works. Estimating, procurement and contract administration support applies to any discipline, including building and facilities works.
How we work
- Senior engineer on every job: the work is done by Sean, not delegated, and every AI-assisted finding is checked and signed off by Sean
- Your policies, your decisions: we work to your procurement policy, delegations and standards, and keep records that can be audited. Decisions stay with council
- Independent and conflict-free: we declare any interest before engaging and act for one side only on any project or application
- Straight advice: we say plainly when an application, design, clause or claim will cause trouble
- Flexible engagement: fixed fee, hourly, or retained across a works program, working remotely or embedded with your engineering team
How to engage us
Engaging us through Local Buy
Councils can engage us through these Local Buy arrangements without running a separate tender, subject to your procurement policy.
For councils
Local Buy prequalified supplier
- LB347Asset Management Services
- LB343Project Management & Superintendency Services
- LB312Engineering & Environmental Consultancy Services
Planning a project in the Bowen Basin?