Olympic contracts repackaged to save cash

Specialist contracts on four temporary venues at the London 2012 Olympics will be rolled-up into packages.

Games chiefs want contractors to work across the quartet of venues rather than start from scratch on each site.

Work is expected to be technically challenging, with temporary elements making up the bulk of the facilities for basketball, water polo, BMX and the training centre at Eton Manor. The sites will contain 36,500 temporary seats.

The process started last week as the call went out for a firm to design and build the £60m basketball arena.

The contract comprises design, construction, dismantling, removal and possible re-use of the arena's frame and roof and wall cladding.

It does not include the provision of groundworks, services or seating.

CJ understands that work across the quartet of sites will be split into 15 packages. Elements common to all four venues will ideally be handed to a single firm.

One Olympic source said: "It doesn't make sense to re-invent the wheel each time, so the idea is for one firm to do all the work on common elements across all the venues."

The ODA held an industry day recently to outline the plans, which was attended by more than 180 contractors.

Another source said: "The contract structure is complex, but a lot of effort is being put into the procurement, which will hopefully result in quicker construction.

"The ODA will project manage the jobs, with CLM and contractors as delivery partners so the risks are shared."

The four temporary Olympics venues

• Basketball. Will have 12,000 seats and tenders due in next month for the £60m main contract. After the Games, parts of the arena will be taken down and relocated elsewhere in the UK.
• Water Polo. Next to the Aquatics Centre. Water polo matches will be held in a temporary 5,000-seat venue with competition and warm-up pools.
• BMX. The BMX circuit will have 6,000 temporary seats. After the Games, it will form part of a VeloPark for the local community.
• Eton Manor. The site will provide temporary facilities for gymnastics and aquatics athlete training. During the Paralympics, it will host archery and wheelchair tennis events, with temporary seating for 13,500. In legacy, the site will provide hockey and tennis facilities.