Namibia Construction utilised OpenSpace technology to cut site travel in half, improve documentation speed, and resolve and avoid capture disputes
Namibia Construction is one of the most successful construction companies in the country. With 72 years of experience, the company focuses on delivering high-quality projects, from building construction to civil works, roads, mining, and more—all within the borders of Namibia.
In 2023, the company completed the construction of the Mokuti Etosha lodge. It is situated at the gates of Etosha National Park, 105 kilometers away from the nearest town and over 500 kilometers away from Namibia Construction’s headquarters in Windhoek.
The remote location posed a huge logistical challenge for the team, but that wasn’t the only one. The luxurious lodge had to be completed with the highest quality standards within a very ambitious time frame, all while facing a challenging skilled labour market.
As Du Bois Louw, quantity surveyor at Namibia Construction, puts it, “From the get-go, we had to do more with less time and therefore expect more from each colleague, also on the management level.”
OpenSpace allowed Namibia Construction to reduce travel to and from the project site significantly
When Du Bois and a colleague first saw a demonstration of OpenSpace technology at a local conference, they immediately put together a business case to secure investment for the 360° reality capture solution.
Their proposal: with OpenSpace, senior management could reduce travel to and from the project site significantly. The travel cost saved was directly invested into using OpenSpace. “In the end, we were even better off with OpenSpace. We’ve gained more value than what we’ve invested”, says Du Bois.
The same Quality Control Agent that previously had to go from room to room to take photos is now walking the site with a 360° camera and the OpenSpace mobile app on a daily basis. “With OpenSpace, documentation is much faster, because you can just continuously walk through the site”, says Du Bois.
No more stopping in every room to take dozens of individual photos. There is also less reliance on the QC Agent to know what photos to take. As Du Bois puts it: “With OpenSpace, he might not even see the issue, but it’s still documented.”
OpenSpace technology allows greater collaboration between teams
Thanks to the daily captures, Du Bois and his team can now access the project site anytime and from anywhere.
During coordination meetings in the Namibia Construction offices, all key stakeholders, including subcontractors, architects, and engineers, come together to review site progress in OpenSpace and discuss current issues.
The team was able to cut site travel in half, saving the company not only money but also valuable time that can now be spent on more pressing project management issues. Plus, the site visits that do happen have become more focused and effective.
“When on-site with consultants and key stakeholders, we now look at three key items and fix them instead of having to look at 20 items and not one is solved at the end of the day”, Du Bois says.
Having daily captures of the construction site marked with the relevant date, time, and location has also been a huge help in resolving and even avoiding disputes. In the past, issues on site often led to finger-pointing.
Onboarding OpenSpace has improved stakeholder relationships
OpenSpace provides clear and objective proof of what happened on-site and when. Everything is documented so everyone is accountable.
According to Du Bois, this has set the tone for the project and has greatly improved how stakeholders cooperate and communicate with each other.
Given the huge success of the Mokuti project, Namibia Construction is planning to roll out OpenSpace technology further across the business. To Du Bois and his team, their investment has clearly paid off, and the value became clear very quickly.
It’s not just a tool to help them build better and more efficiently but also an added value the company can offer to existing and future clients.
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