Mile Sofijanic, MD, ECS Associates
As we enter the final quarter of 2023, I am pleased to report that the business has doubled in revenue over the last 12 months. We now have a network of over 1000 consultants contracted to various projects around the world; 85 people are working at our Head Office; and we’ve extended our office space as we continue to enjoy steady growth in engineering and construction project management.
A standout moment this year was my opportunity to travel to London to mark the 30th anniversary of NEC. Over the past 3 decades ECS has taken the lead in establishing NEC contracts locally. We were privileged to present a South African PMO business perspective to international colleagues, including those from Australia, Hong Kong, Peru, and Europe at the event. While there will always be challenges, we are feeling a shift towards a more “collaborative” future in project management in our geographic territory.
This change on the horizon is partially driven by the economic crisis facing our country. All too often these are the best times to innovate, or in South Africa’s case, to fully embrace the spirit of mutual trust and co-operation to the benefit of all.
There’s a growing appetite for collaboration, even on some of the world’s mega international projects. Interestingly, Square Kilometre Array (SKA) uses the NEC4 suite of contracts to manage the multibillion GBP project. South Africa is playing a crucial role as one of the two sites building the world’s largest radio telescope arrays. ECS proudly assisted the local team with an introduction to the NEC4.

Leading collaborations in Construction Project Management
As leaders in construction project management collaboration, ECS is energised by the positive shifts, and our ultimate objective is for more collaboration and better project implementation predominantly using the NEC suite of contracts.
New beginnings for Eskom – Given the current situation SA is facing, there has never been a more important need for collaboration than with new client, Eskom. Working together for the greater good is tantamount to progress for the nation as a whole and ECS is providing training across all contractual platforms on this 3-year contract.

Great opportunity with AngloAmerican Platinum – Our 3-year contract with the JSE-listed company predominantly uses the NEC suite of contracts to support collaborative working relationships and agile project delivery. [Hyperlink to the “Amplats contract off to a good start” article]
Construction Project Management Collaboration and consultation in action with SCAW Metals – As PMO partner, ECS has created a fully collaborative project culture under extremely challenging circumstances. This portfolio of projects with a value of about GBP200m, consists of two main projects – a new Continuous Casting Machine and a Narrow Hot Strip Mill. The projects are executed in a highly complex brown and red field environment with a combination of engineering and equipment supply from an Italian OEM, with fabrication facilities all over the world. Local engineering and construction need to work together to bring all these elements together. ECS has achieved excellent results since we started in August 2021:

This project, which will culminate in 2024, has become an ECS model project that clients look to when considering their options for Collaborative Project Strategies©.
Bright young minds exposed to collaborative contracting from the start! Key Universities such as Wits, UCT and Durban University of Technology are using the NEC4 with ongoing support from ECS. Some of the projects are using the Framework Contract and risk/ reward type contracts. ECS also assisted the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in the set up, and use of the NEC4.
Lastly, one of the most encouraging examples of this shift in approach to collaboration is the Kumba Iron Ore Sishen mine, which explored alternative contracting models by inviting proposals for a GBP400m extension of life project with a collaborative view on adopting a new way to execute the project based on sharing risk and reward.

Credit: By Media Club, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=67465564
It’s an exciting new era for PMO and ECS! At the end of the day, it’s people who make a project unique and who implement the right processes and technology to ensure a project’s success. We are inspired.