Overall winner: Construction manager of the year 2005

You might not have pegged him, like the judges did, as the UK’s current top operator. But meeting him face to face the next morning, I caught a better glimpse of the man Sir Robert McAlpine was keen to put in front of one of its most discerning – and top spending – clients in the North East.

As a Class Three containment lab, his project had considerable challenges. It needed precise environmental controls (the kind that ran Laing’s National Laboratory project off the rails), strict noise abatement solutions (since a lot of noisy plant was on the roof), and absolute certainty of programme, because the cancer research unit was dismantling to move into the new building.

Despite these risks, Roper negotiated a fixed-price, lump-sum agreement which, despite some worrying patches, he delivered while protecting the margin he’d ring-fenced for Sir Robert McAlpine.

Even though the contractor had already been on campus for two years on other projects, its appointment to the O’Gorman Building was no shoo-in. It was a competitive two-stage tender process, but the client said price would not be the deciding factor. Track record and the quality of personnel would be also be key. Even though Sir Robert McAlpine was not the cheapest bidder, Roper gave the client the greatest confidence.

“I had a mission statement for this job. It wasn’t going to be just a facility. It was going to be a flagship project for the client, for Sir Robert McAlpine and for the industry as a whole,” he said. “I think we did that.”

Design – and associated risks – were novated to them. He had to get this right because of the tight specifications. A third-party verifier would have to sign the lab off as meeting Home Office requirements. He knew he had to work closely with the design team, and stick with their ideas.

He had to take a deep breath and learn a few things before plunging into the programme. He set up workshops for designers and users and listened carefully. “I had to take the time to understand what every party needed to do, rather than just what we needed to do,” he says. “I needed to understand what the building was for, what the standards were and the whole validation process.”

In the construction phase he showed considerable skill. He led a series of major value engineering exercises to reduce the costs more than 10%.

He introduced programming techniques that are becoming standard in Sir Robert McAlpine, including detailed resource and performance monitoring, and cost forecasting.

In the North-east Sir Robert McAlpine employs trades and crafts workers directly. That gave him flexibility to move workers on and off the project as required without subcontract battles, and greater confidence, because the workforce is trained, competent and follows health and safety procedures. “They value the loyalty we show them, and we get that back in return,” he said.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing. The building is designed for flexibility, so lab space could double as something else in the future. That meant a great intensity of M&E services that required complex coordination. In summer 2003 they were not closing ceiling voids fast enough and the programme slipped. They worked seven days a week, right through Christmas, to meet the completion date. Delay was not an option. “There was this massive procedure already in place to relocate the cancer research department to the new building, so it had to be done,” he said.

In the end, the client was happy. In fact, since the Paul O’Gorman Building was handed over in February 2004, Roper has led another successful project for the university. Thanks to him, Sir Robert McAlpine is still a key supplier.

Roper is proud of the award, but stresses it was a team effort, and cites the contributions of many, including chief engineer Simon Lisk. “I wouldn’t say this was the most technically challenging job I’ve ever done, but it’s certainly the most rewarding.”

About the man

John Roper got interested in construction after doing an O-Level in land surveying. He did an ONC then a sandwich degree in civil engineering. In 1972, he started a seven-year stint with a local contractor, before moving on to a consulting engineer to get design experience. He then worked for Northern Engineering Industries, building power plants in the Middle East and the Far East. Keen to get back to general contracting, he joined Sir Robert McAlpine on the Nissan car plant in Washington, Sunderland, and remained with the company’s North-eastern division, rising to project manager.

He is a member of the ICE, and is involved with the CIOB as an assessor within Sir Robert McAlpine.

Roper has two sons, one an accountant, and the other studying civil and structural engineering.

“Hobbies? I don’t really have much time for hobbies.”