WACOL provides Professional and Technical Leadership, Guidance, and Expertise in managing contractor executed construction projects on behalf of our Clients. WACOL Engineers have been leading the Iraq construction industry by example over the past two decades, providing Construction Management, Quality Assurance and Engineering Services for over $4 billion in projects on more than 450 sites throughout the region. Our engineers are all exposed to and receive superb training on international construction management tools and techniques (PMI-PMP®, BMBOK® Guide), and they are well-versed in the use of International Building Codes (IBC), ACI© (American Concrete Institute) concrete design and field testing for ensuring complete compliance with contractual requirements.

Through our extensive reach-back capability in North America and the Far East, WACOL engineers have access to and the support of a full-range of installation and facilities management tools to help in designing and managing all aspects of the installations, to include utilities, roads, lots, drainage and all other related activities.  WACOL engineers have access to and are able to draw upon technologies such as AutoCAD™ and Autodesk™- Autodesk FMDesktop for designing facilities projects, creating As-Builts and managing the engineering aspects of the infrastructure, as well ….

WACOL engineers and their reach-back support have reviewed and evaluated thousands of contractors technical bids, construction designs and engineering submittals, and are highly skilled and experienced at reviewing to ensure design accuracy, constructability and code compliance.  WACOL engineers use an on-line review process and have unlimited on-line access to the International Building Codes family of Codes (IBC, IEC, IMC, IPC) as well as many other codes and standards such as ASTM standards, Unified Facilities Guide Specifications (UFGS) the “Sandbook” and other widely-accepted International construction codes and standards WACOL’s engineering capability and methodology for design and submittal review ensures tha t WACOL engineers are providing reviews that are completely consistent with the best management and engineering practices in the construction industry and comply with the management requirements of Construction Contractor Submittal Procedures. When required and to ensure the quality control of WACOL Engineers, WACOL ensures that Design and Engineering Reviews are further reviewed by North American Licensed Professional Engineers.  WACOL also maintains metrics on the performance in individual contractors to track the quality of the contractors’ design and engineering efforts

Project Quality Assurance Plan

WACOL Engineers ensure that an individual Project Quality Assurance Plan (QAP) is prepared for each and every Contractor executed project. Together with the Contractor’s Quality Control Plan, the QAP will help to ensure the objectives of our Client’s Construction Quality Management and other international standards are understood and met by the contractors, ensuring delivery of the highest quality projects possible.  The use of WACOL’s Project Oversight and system of Deficiency Identification, Categorization, Management and Resolution will help to ensure contractors only produce and deliver to the highest quality expectations. In order to ensure quality, an iterative quality process will be used throughout the project life cycle. This iterative process includes measuring process metrics, analyzing process data, and continuously improving the processes. WACOL’s Project Manager and the project team will perform assessments at planned intervals throughout the project to ensure all processes are being correctly implemented and executed. Project Oversight

More than 300 WACOL engineers have long been the Local and U.S. Government Representatives on construction projects for over $4 billion of work-in-place since 2005. Our engineers are familiar with all aspects of construction, and will utilize as support for their on-site efforts the on-line International Building Codes, the Quality Assurance Representative’s Guide and other reference materials. More importantly, WACOL engineers will be on the project sites, representing our Client to ensure quality project delivery.  Daily Reports by field engineers/Construction Inspectors are the backbone of a solid construction management program for our valued Clients.

Deficiency Identification

WACOL engineers utilize the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) Master Format 2004^© 50 Divisions numbering system for easy identification, tracking and categorization of construction, design and engineering deficiencies. Using the CSI format as a means of identifying deficiencies ensures that all parties are drawn to the same and proper references, reducing disputes and ensuring rapid resolution of deficiencies.  Using the CSI Master Format also provides an easy and common means to track and record deficiencies for multiple contractors. Deficiency Categorization Depending on the seriousness, criticality and system affected by the deficiency, WACO L engineers will assign a Deficiency Category to ensure the proper resources are committed to resolving the deficiency. Generally, WACOL engineers use three categories to state the severity and impact of the deficiency:

• Minor- Usually finishes of other easily corrected non- structural issues
• Significant- Could or would likely present or cause structural or facility usability issues
• Critical- Structural issues, Life-Safety or Facility Usability restrictions

WACOL engineers also track the contractor metrics as they relate to categories of deficiencies to help establish and monitor quality trends with individual contractors.

Deficiency Management/Correction

The process chart below lays out the specific approach WACOL uses to identify, classify, document,
manage and resolve deficiencies. Clearly, this process does not address all potential scenarios, and the process can be modified to suit special needs, projects or clients.

As part of the ongoing goal of complete safety awareness and to provide a background for WACOL engineers in enforcing safety programs with contractors on their project sites, WACOL requires 100% of its field engineering staff to complete a 10 hour,  on-line OSHA training course. Additionally, WACOL engineers will rely on clients’ customized managing safety programs. WACOL engineers provide on-site oversight and monitoring of all construction activities including compliance to safety standards and procedures. They will document all their findings and evaluate the corrective actions recommended by construction contractors. WACOL will monitor, track, record, and assess the construction contractor’s progress in terms of their corrective and preventive safety measures.

WACOL Engineers are fully capable of assisting the Client’s appointed Contracting Representative and/or Resident Engineer with both the interpretation as well as the enforcement of contract requirements, specification and deliverables provisions.

Contractor Progress Reporting

Our Engineers will serve as the “eyes and ears” of Client’s Representative and Resident Engineer, and as such, WACOL Engineers are responsible to ensure they maintain a complete grasp of the overall project scope, as well as maintain a thorough understanding of the contractor’s progress towards completion. WACOL understand that Client Representative and the Resident Engineer are quickly deluged with large amounts of data and information sometimes making it difficult to extract the salient points that need attention. WACOL Engineers work closely with the Client to understand the critical information requirements to better sort the incoming data. Additionally, having years of experience in the construction industry, WACOL engineers spotlight critical deficiencies that must be brought to a COR’s attention that may not be patently obvious.

Contractor Progress Payments

One of the most important and often contentious aspects of reporting is on contractor progress and Requests for Payments. WACOL engineers and support staff are fully versed in construction management, quantity surveying and Earned Value Management for determining progress payments.

WACOL utilizes VantagePoint Project Center technology for secure systematic, retrievable, and contractually enforceable professional document and file management. WACOL can establish VantagePoint sites for Construction Project Information/Collaboration to grant access to Client Representatives (COR/RE/Base Engineers) as well as contractors as the COR/RE deem appropriate. Using VantagePoint Project Center technology for document and file management, as well as collaboration and message boards/announcements means that all stakeholders on the project have access to the records, files and data they need, when they need it. Individual pages within the VantagePoint sites will be made for tracking of submittals, payment information, project schedules, and Requests for Information (RFI). In general, it is a total solution as of collaboration through one platform to track daily photos and progress reports updates, KPI, project team and stakeholders input, and overall project information such as SOW, cost and schedule.

WACOL has extensive experience conducting material inspection and independent testing. Material inspection is conducted routinely on site for material submittal verification and compliance. WACOL maintains independent testing teams that are capable of drawing specimen samples utilizing established procedures to conduct routine and forensic testing with certified material testing laboratories. Material testing categories that have been performed previously consists of concrete, road and paving materials, soil and aggregates for compressive strength, material constituents, linear strength and shrinkage, sieve analysis, compaction, and bearing ratios. WACOL Structural and Material Test Teams are equipped with all necessary tools and apparatuses for sampling and field tests. WACOL’s structural and material test services cover a wide range of testing of construction materials and also can design specialized tests to meet the unique needs of any construction project.

1.  Certified Engineering & Construction Testing: WACOL dedicates staff of professional engineers and certified technicians and laborers. This staff has the ability to conduct all field monitoring, sampling and testing of construction materials throughout the region to ensure compliance with project plans and specifications.
2. Standards: All sampling, testing performance is in accordance with the appropriate test standards procedures including ASTM (American Standards for Testing Materials), ACI (American Concrete Institute), AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials), BS (British Standards) and IQS (Iraq Standards).
3. Laboratories: WACOL’s affiliated laboratory is certified by Iraqi Engineers Union. Tester machines and apparatuses are calibrated routinely by Iraqi Standardization & Control Institution. Also, WACOL cooperates with certified laboratories in UAE and Jordan to perform material testing according to our clients’ request.
4. Reporting and Documentations: WACOL’s Assessment and Structural Test teams reports accompanied by photos, summarize details of sampling, testing procedures, and results.
   • Field Testing Procedure Report
   • Field Destructive tests repairing report
   • Lab test procedure report
   • Lab results report.
   • Recommendation and Engineering Reach-back support report
5. List of Tests: The available tests included but not limited to:
   • Core tests 
   • Concrete Test Hammer/Schmidt hammer tests
   • Compressive strength for concrete cubes
   • Ultrasound tests for concrete
   • Standard Consistency Cement
   • Initial and Final Setting Times of Cement
   • Soundness of Cement Compressive Strength of Cement Mortar
   • Sieve Analysis of Aggregate
   • Specific Gravity of Coarse Aggregate
   • Gravity of Fine Aggregate
   • Unit Weight of Aggregate
   • Crushing Value of Coarse Aggregate
   • Impact Value of Coarse Aggregate
   • 10% Fitness Value
   •  Compressive Strength Testing of Building Stones
   •  Water Absorption of Building Stones
   •  Compaction test for soil and sub base
   •  Coarse Aggregate (gravel) tests
   •  Fine Aggregate (Sand) tests
   •  Bearing capacity for soil
   •  Mosaic Tiles tests
   •  Concrete masonry units tests
   •  Masonry Brick
   •  Density and yield and air content
   •  Pressure method
   •  Volumetric method
   •  Asphalt tests
   •  Asphalt for thermal insulation in roofing tests
   •  Mill test

WACOL believes that there are costs and time associated with risks that may or not be clearly evident. Underestimating risk elements and their impacts can compromise the Construction Quality. Such impacts include the visible costs and time of protection and mitigation and/or the costs and time when unknown risk events do occur, and the hidden costs of inflated estimates and contingencies, exclusion of qualified performance partners, and inclusion of inappropriate performance partners.   Therefore, our Engineers help our Clients to define potential risk that could occur to the project. Those risks will be determined, analyzed and managed to ensure the accurate cost and time and the quality of project deliverables.  For each risk that will be mitigated, WACOL Risk Management Team identifies ways to prevent the risk from occurring or reduce its impact or probability of occurring. Our team working with the Client’s Project Team and project sponsors will ensure that risks are actively identified, analyzed, and managed throughout the life cycle of the project. Risks will be identified prior to project implementation and evaluated along the run to minimize their impact.

1.  Risk Identification and Analysis: Risk identification will involve the project team and appropriate stakeholders. It will include an evaluation of environmental factors, organizational culture and the project management plan including the project scope. Careful attention will be given to the project deliverables, assumptions, constraints, WBS, cost/effort estimates, resource plan, and other key project documents. Our Subject Matter Experts will assess the probability and impact of occurrence for each identified risk, with input from the project team using both Qualitative and/or Quantitative approaches for Risk Probability and Risk Impact (High, Medium, and Low.
2.  Risk Response Planning: For each identified risk, one of four approaches will be selected to address it (Avoid, Mitigate, Accept, or Transfer).