I hear alot about IT projects routinely failing, being over-budget or delayed. Some say that IT isn't mature enough to deliver successful projects and that we really need to be more like the building and engineering industries. But projects fail just as regularly in the building sector.
Take the Metropolitan apartments in Canberra. I moved in recently and have found that whoever designed and managed this project should have their project management qualifications stripped. You would be amazed at the problems this building has experienced (keep in mind it's been open about 6 weeks):
- the building was originally supposed to be finished atleast 3 years ago (I've heard 5 in some cases). This caused innumerable headaches to owners and the real estate agents. This shows bad planning and time management.
- on the day the building opened neither lift worked. In fact when I moved in a few days later only 1 lift worked. 1 Lift for 18 floors! And they've only just been finished. Did they perform contractor management to ensure the lift was installed correctly. Did they perform testing of the lift before it opened?
- Speaking of lifts, 2 lifts to cover 18 floors shows a lack of foresight. 175 units sharing 2 lifts is insane. Did they create use cases to identify that it wasn't enough lifts. Did they research similiar buildings and determine the best number of lifts.
- For the first week some apartments didn't have power cause the electricians hadn't done the job properly. Did this organisation have quality assurance, was their work audited or tested. Or did they just open a building without checking the electricity!
- Whoever allocated the parking spots must be insane. There is no order to the spots. They aren't in numerical order and all the different towers are all mixed up. I had to walk around for 10 minutes to find my spot. Did they even plan this at all. (Same goes for the post boxes, though not as bad)
- Why did they not add correct signs in the car park. It's quite confusing to work out where to go to get out. I had to help many people to get out in the first few weeks until they added some cardboard signs. An $80 million building and they didn't think to add signs!
- Why is there no information pack for owners. There is no instruction manual for the intercom phone nor a map to your parking spot and storage unit (which isn't near your car park!)
- They've had to redo some steps since they didn't meant the standard height for stairs and to make way for some drainage systems. Again didn't some one think about this.
For an $80 million project I am shocked that all these things have occurred. I mean there must have been some planning as the building was finished, but it's staggering to believe that Hindmarsh could get it so wrong!
So next time someone says that IT projects are always poorly managed tell them about the Metropolitan.
Comments
The Metropolitan isn't a one-off. Infrastructure and large building projects have a bad habit of falling behind schedule and behind budget.
For an excellent example, look at the Gunghalin Drive Extension. In 2001, the cost was expected to be $36 million. So far, it's cost $106 million.