Davis Langdon boss predicts major cost rises and ‘thanks God’ that staff are unharmed

Rebuilding Lebanon after the current conflict will cost £1.5bn, an expert has said.

He added that the forthcoming construction effort would push up the cost of materials and labour in the Middle East. In Lebanon, land prices would go up as investors competed to redevelop the country, he said.

Davis Langdon’s partner in charge of the Beirut office, Muhyiddin Itani, said although the damage inflicted on south Lebanon would be costly to repair, the bulk of the work could be completed within four years. He put the figure for reconstruction at $3bn (£1.5bn) but said this was subject to more accurate surveys. “We have been given few figures and the damage is increasing every day.”

The main types of building work required will be roads, bridges, sewerage systems, housing, schools and hospitals. Itani said: “A lot of infrastructure rebuilding will be required in south Lebanon, the southern suburbs of Beirut, the Bekaa valley and other parts of the country. Most of the bridges – large and small – have been destroyed in addition to major infrastructure installations and buildings.”

A key project will be the reconstruction of Medreij Sofar bridge, the highest bridge in the Middle East. The 70m high structure, which has been completely destroyed, originally cost around $15m to build and was completed about four years ago.

A large chunk of funding for the reconstruction effort has already come from Saudi Arabia, which has promised $1.5bn, a third of which has already been sent. Kuwait has also donated $500m.

But Itani warned that reconstruction would depend on the return of workers from Syria. The Lebanese construction industry relies heavily on Syrian workers – mainly unskilled – who fled when the current conflict began. He said workers were unlikely to return until Lebanon was deemed sufficiently safe.

Davis Langdon’s 25-strong Beirut office is expecting to bring in international staff to handle the extra workload.

A QS in Beirut

“We feel we are all in the same catastrophe. All we need is to get out of this very soon and to get on with normal life”, says Davis Langdon’s partner in charge of the Beirut office, Muhyiddin Itani.

He is running the office with a skeleton crew. It normal operates with 25 people, all of them Lebanese.

“We are keeping a low profile,” he says. “As partner I am returning to the office everyday with some core technical and administrative staff – whoever can make it in from their homes.”

Some staff are unable to come in because their commute involves routes in the direct line of fire, others are struggling with petrol rationing. But Itani is simply grateful that they have remained unscathed.

“Thank god all our staff are fine so far,” he says.
Davis Langdon is working on seven projects in Beirut. All work on site has stopped, although none of the sites have been damaged by the bombing.

The office is also intact. Itani says the office is located in the Shouran area of Beirut, which is “relatively safe”.
He is hopeful that the conflict will end soon: “We are expecting a ceasefire in the next few days. We need a proper ceasefire agreed between all our neighbours. That will create a lasting peace and a stable environment in which we can carry on building.”

Davis Langdon’s current projects in Lebanon:

  • The construction of a new Grand Hyatt Hotel (DL is client representative)

  • The construction of a new Hilton Hotel (client representative)

  • The fitting out of new British Council office (project manager and QS)

  • The fitting out of the new Credit Suisse headquarters (project manager)

  • Post completion works on the Canadian Chancery building
    (checking snagging)

  • Refurbishment of the Canadian Ambassador’s residence (project manager)

  • The rehabilitation scheme for Solidaire (QS)

Source

QS News