A9: BKS Schagen shows added value of its expertise and approach

For BKS Schagen, the A9 Badhoevedorp-Holendrecht project is the showpiece and a good example of professional and accessible building cost advice. In a small but experienced team of three, they tackled this project in a smart and effective way.

"In many large teams, estimating and construction costing is divided among several people, with everyone doing a small part," says Marten Kingma, co-owner and director of BKS Schagen. "We just picked it up with three people. This allowed us to shift gears and make decisions quickly." BKS Schagen is a broad-based construction cost consulting firm. They work on projects in residential construction, commercial construction, civil engineering and industry, for both clients and contractors. "Construction costs already play a role in the first phase of a project," explains René Wagter, co-owner of BKS. "We help calculate and guide these costs, from the initial sketch design to the tendering and execution." Projects BKS has been involved in include the Maasvlakte Power Plant, the North South Line and the A9.

Special cooperation

On behalf of the Department of Public Works, VeenIX is widening and deepening the A9 between Badhoevedorp and Holendrecht. For BKS, this is a special project. In this they worked closely with Gerben van Strien. "The three of us worked on this project. Together we have almost a hundred years of experience," Kingma says. They divided the tasks based on their expertise: Marten focused on the costing of the civil part, such as the Schiphol Bridge and the sunken location near Amstelveen. Gerben took care of the road construction part, while René kept the overview. "With a viaduct you have different parts, such as the bridge deck, the abutments and any supporting pillars. Marten focused on these structures, Gerben looked at the underlying road network. And I made sure the costs of boundary conditions such as construction chains, fencing and construction teams were mapped out," Wagter said.

Added value of a small team

Working in a small team proved its added value. "We had complete overview of the total work with only the goal of determining a market-based price without any interest," says Kingma. A unique aspect of this project was that no contractor was involved in the tender phase. "Normally the contractor decides how something will be built and what it will cost," Van Strien explains. "Now we worked directly with design team Nobleo, which was responsible for the designs of the renovated A9 between Badhoevedorp and Holendrecht. This allowed us to work very efficiently," Wagter adds. "Indeed, thanks to our experience, we know not only how to budget, but also how to build. So the plans and cost estimates were already well developed before main contractor FCC came on board. They recognized our way of budgeting and had so much confidence in it that they embraced the project. Eventually FCC also asked us to explore the Dutch market and get a good idea of the subcontractors. As far as we are concerned, this emphasizes the added value of our expertise and approach. Through smart cooperation, short lines of communication and the ability to move quickly, we were able to work efficiently and effectively."