Environmental Performance of the Real Estate Development - Coursework Example

 Real Estate Development Introduction The site has been offered to the school by the local council. There are two vacant light buildings on the land with metal fabricators workshop and a car maintenance workshop Windmill Motors. The school intends to build a new Sports Centre on the land. The school is also required to develop artistic studios and residential accommodation. The initial school budget for the construction of sports Centre is 2.5million.The School board of governors is looking for a developer to handle sale of commercial and residential units on behalf of school. As a developer, you are required by the school to assess the condition of the windmill and offer a development option. The development site is surrounded by River Wandie on one side and the other side by a small low-rise housing estate. The river is silted and polluted. There is an old windmill at the Centre of the site which is listed as a building of historical interest. The restoration of the windmill is a condition of planning consent. There is need to restore the windmill in future. Statutory issues that may affect future use of site Local planning authorities are required to consult the sports council on development issues relating to the development of sports Centre for the school. The adjacent development needs not to prejudice use or likely loss of use of the site as expected. The main intention of the school is to develop a sports Centre. The height of new buildings in relation to the surrounding buildings will affect the light in the adjacent buildings. Light interference is a source of dispute between the school and the neighboring residents.A substantial agreement between the school and low-rise housing to install fluorescent lights will solve the lights issue. The development site is on a land which has previously not been used for sporting functions. The land has a windmill which acts as a site of historical interest and store of scrap metals. There is a silent requirement concerning development or demolition of the windmill. The windmill is not among listed buildings in the local council but it appears as a historical building in the local council building. The school ought to seek clarification from the local council in regard to the omission. Revaluation of the site is sufficient to provide actual price of the site. Revaluation will expel distortion or inflation of the site by the local council. The sports council defines a playing field as a piece of land which is at least 0.4 ha and is used by an association, institution for sports purposes (WIELAND, p.56, 2008). There is need for prior notification from national sports association before development plan is rolled out. Failure to consult, may call for quashing of permission from the local council to develop the site. The responsibility to consult lies on both the school and local council before an agreement is agreed upon. There is a government direction in regard to development of site to be used as a playing field for an education institution. There are three categories of land which are subject to the government direction. The first category is the local authority land. The second category is land currently used by an education institution as a paying field. The last category is land which has been previously used by an education institution as a playing field for five years prior to application (BIRRELL, p.67, 2005). The site acquired from the local council has never been used as a playing field. According to the state direction, development of a sports center requires prior permission of a local planning authority. A deficiency in local council provisions for allocation of land to a learning institution is sufficient to deny an early permission. The proposed development of residential units and artistic studios should not provide a deficiency in the quality and accessibility of sports center. Compliance with statutory provision in relation to initiation of school project is a necessary evil to mitigate liability on the part of school board of governors. When a tragedy strikes, the authorities will check compliance levels of the school and the local council. The state requires that proposed development plans ought not to prejudice use of land for recreation, school playing fields, and parkland. Construction of residential and commercial houses is not likely to prejudice policies of school development plan of school sports center. Rightful use of the site will facilitate optimal use of school sports center in future.There is a state protection of use and disposal of sports Centre. The school premises Act provides regulations for use and disposal of a school playing field. According to the Act, funds raised must be ploughed back into the education and sport so as to meet future needs of school and surrounding community (GONCALVES, p.78, 2010). There is delimitation on viable projects to be undertaken by the school in relation to the acquired land. Incomes emanating from the use of school sports center will be used in restoration of the windmill building in the school. Statutory applications to development of a site with contaminated land National environmental management authorities require institutions to bear responsibility for environmental pollution. The environmental protection Act requires organizations to assume fully responsibility and accountability of their actions. Accumulation of scrap metals is the source of land contamination in the site. The role of statutory provisions is to protect rights of citizens. Mitigation of externality problem is the responsibility of the state. The school board of governors is obliged to demand clean-up of the contaminated land before initiating development project on the land. The state can offer property rights to low-rise housing estate. The residents can use the property rights to demand compensation from the school and local council. Statutory provisions determine whether contaminated land can be used or not used for development purposes. The surrounding river is heavily polluted and there is potential harm to school children. Pollution is harmful if it is likely to cause birth defects, impair functionality of reproductive parts or cause serious injury to school children. Physical injury, respiratory tract problems and gastrointestinal disturbances do not constitute significant harm in relation to use of a piece of land. Statutory guidelines determine extent and nature of liability in relation to development of contaminated piece of land. Determination of liability is through remediation. Remediation determines parties excluded and/or included in liability. Remedial liability isapportioned between liable parties. For instance, liability will be apportioned between the school and local council. The state has sole responsibility to determine parties liable to pay for remedial contamination of land. Orphan linkages in development refer linkages which hinder prospective development of land. The state decides the form of remedial action to be taken in regard to contamination of land. Linkages in this case exist between school and the local council. The state will decide the proportion of remedial action to be taken by both local council and the school. Public health is a state responsibility. The local council is required by the law to bear the cost of cleaning the river and the contaminated land. Water and soil contamination are hazards and will interfere with free use of the school sports center. It is the responsibility of the school to issue a caveat emptor to the users concerning existing pollution in the piece of land. The decision to accept to take over a contaminated land is a voluntary assumption risk for the school. It is equally responsible for any significant harm that may arise from use of land. Attribution of liability between school and the local council is done by the state. Attribution is the apportionment of liability between responsible parties.it is also the responsibility of a state to exclude a party from liability. Apportionment of costs intends to direct a party to take corrective action. Procedure used to determine a significant contaminant and owner of land is the basis of apportionment of remedial costs. A contamination linkage will include receptor, pathway and contaminant. The local council needs to be cognizant of the inherited contamination andtake responsibility on behalf of the school. The school can enter a joint agreement with local council to initiate a clean-up of the said site before embarking on development.an initial clean-up of the contaminated will mitigate future cost of compensation as there will be minimal harm to users. Silence is a form of misrepresentation. Silence in law can be interpreted to mean consent. The board of governors needs to inform the local council about possible effects of the pollution. The environmental protection act defines contaminated land as pollution of land waters or causing significant harm to land which is likely to endanger potential users. There is need to conduct risk assessment on the piece of land before actual development (SINAL & MUTUA, 2007). Land identification and remediation is source of health and environmental risk. The state determines the kind of development that can be undertaken on contaminated land. The presence of rusting cars and other solid waste metal scraps is the source of land pollution on the site. Risk assessment of the specific location of underground power cables will mitigate incidence of risk. Presence of rusting cars adds to the pollution of the surrounding river. River pollution is an externality. Residents of the housing estate are bearing cost of pollution emanating from windmill motors. Underground power cables poses danger to the users of sports facility in case of power leakage (ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT, 2012). Statutory considerations to pursue green agenda The essence of a green agenda is to mitigate incidence of illness. The school needs to initiate river clean-up process to protect residents from spreading contamination. The rusting cars need to be relocated from the site. The school development agenda entails construction of sports center and construction of windmill. Wind is a source of clean and green energy. The construction of sports center needs to utilize natural light. This can be achieved through installation of enough ventilation and window glasses in the sports complex. Green agenda entails installation of transparent glasses to utilize natural light. Transparent window panes will minimize us of electricity in the sports complex (BINDER, p.78, 2006). Restoration of windmill will provide green and clean source of energy in the school. Statutory considerations in green agenda involve viable source of energy for the school sports center. The school has a corporate social responsibility in relation to clean up of River Wandie. The school can educate the residents about the importance of environmental clean-up programme. The cleaning programme entails removal of silt and relocation of scrap metals from the school. Scrap metals can be sold to vendors. The second option is to carry an environmental assessment exercise of the sub-station. A deposit of lead metal is a potential source of water pollution. Assessment exercise will then be accompanied with elimination of unhealthy deposits of metals in the site. Site clearance is necessary to enhance safety for users. To begin with, location of underground power cables is safety measure for the school. The rusting cars need to be cleared from the workshop through disposal. Returns from disposing the rusting cars will be injected into river cleaning programme. Before clearance process starts, the school needs to fence the site. Clearance of fly tippers with spray ill mitigate incidence of illness in the workshop. The school ought to hire electricians to examine safety of electrical substation in the site. There is always risk of explosion in case of power leakage from the electrical substation. The school residential accommodation section needs to be far from the electrical power station. Some of the buried power cables are a threat to the safety of the students in the school. There are many cases of power leakage in case the sub stations explode (MAATHAI, 2003). The idea power mill ought to disconnect until funds for restoration are available. Methods of procurement of materials for construction of school sports center Procurement methods refer to method of delivery of elements of construction. The method can be classified as traditional. Design and construct management and collaborative method of procurement. Design and construction method of procurement the whole risk lies with the contractor (NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM & SCOTT, 2006). The contractor is sole bear of risk of design and construction. Novation is common source of design and construction variations .Traditional method of procurement ensures a fair balance and apportionment of risk between all parties (PHILIPS, 2014). There is continuous adjustment of risk between owner and contractor. When a contractor assumes a relatively high risk, he will automatically quote high tender figure.it is the responsibility of a contractor to provide project management expertise to a project. The onerous of risk lies squarely between client and contractor. Design and manage method of procurement place a high risk on the contractor (BRIERLEY, 2010). This is attributed to the integration factor. In traditional procurement method, there is absolute separation of design work, consultation and actual execution of work. Cost control, consultation and design works are done by the contractor. It is the responsibility of contractor to source for workmanship and materials. Appointment of a contractor is through information and negotiation. Parallel execution of construction and design work accelerates process of procurement. Traditional procurement method is common in lump sum contracts, measurement contracts and cost reimbursement contracts. Lump sum contracts involve determination of contract sum before an agreement is signed (HUCHZERMEYER & KARAM, 2006). Accurate sum of a measurement contract is determined upon completion of a project. Cost reimbursement contracts involve actual determination of labor costs, materials and plant costs and an extra fee to cover overheads. Lump sum contracting involves a contractor undertaking a specified amount of work and agreed money is paid. The agreed amount of money is a fixed amount of money which has no room for variation. The employer is disallowed from making variations to the agreed amount. There is a provision for fluctuations which is agreed before work is started. Variations allow for tax changes which may be effected during the tendering period. Fluctuation provisions cover fluctuations in the cost of labor, materials and plant depreciation. Lump sum contracts can be quantified or non-quantified. Quantified lump sum contracts involve filing of quantity bills to determine prices (CAIN, 2008). Design and construct methods provide competitive prices and cost benefits to the school. There is room for contractor to combine purchasing power and expertise and reduce cost of construction. Contractors concur that there is a fast start to the project in design and construction method of procurement (OECD, 2012). Themethod is advantageous to the contractor but disadvantageous to the school. Substantial changes to the initial agreement are costly to the school. The preferred tendering procedure is the lump sum traditional procurement of contracts. A complete set of tender documents is invited by the company. Adequate time allows examination of tenderdocuments. Express contract terms are included in the contract. The school board of governors appoints consultants to give advice on cost and design work. The board of governors will determine consulting form for the project. It is the right of contractor to safeguard performance of contract. Payment and valuation works are done by the employer’s consultants. Lump sum contracting is preferred to other methods because of many reasons, which includes competitive selection of contractors permitting accountability. There is a similar basis of selecting all tendering contracts. The school board of governors has full control and direct influence over the project. There is assured functionality of project due to direct influence of the whole process. The procedure is a recipe for price certainty. There is provision for fluctuations in the tendering materials, labor and plant.it is relatively easy to manage and arrange variations in the contract (WEILAND & WILSEY, 2008). The procurement method is used as there is sufficient time for restoration of windmill. Restoration will start after enough funds are collected. There is a warranty of design consultation as there is separate appointment of designers and contractors to the project. Price certainty before the development project kicks off ensures financial management on the part of the school. Lump sum contracting ensures balanced scored card between the constructor and the client. There is a reasonable spread of risk between the client and constructor (GONÇALVES & UMAKOSHI, 2010). The windmill project requires time and financial resources. Lump sum contracting of materials for the construction of school sports center will save some money to pump into the restoration of windmill. Wind is a green source of energy. The initial revenues from the sports center will be invested in the restoration of windmill project. The school green agenda is a long time project. Dispute mitigation measures A dispute is likely to arise with the development of higher buildings than the low-rise housing estate. The tall buildings will reduce level of lighting in the neighborhood houses. The second issue is location of new buildings at a distance less than one meter from the existing buildings. Installation of fluorescent tubes and interior vertical walls is a solution to lighting problem. Wide spacing between the new buildings will permit light to the adjacent low-rise buildings. The school will provide fluorescent tubes to the adjacent low-rise housing estate to minimize disputes to the residents. Developments such as –coatings and interior vertical walls will permit transmission of light. Conclusion The best option for the school is to restore the windmill rather than demolish it. There are many methods of procurement. Traditional method of procurement (lump sum contracting) is the best option to the school board of governors. This is because of direct influence and separate appointment of contractors and consultants. Design and construct method is a merit to the contractor. The contractor can abuse demerit of incomplete information and inflate cost of construction. This will make construction of the school sports center costly to the school.Statutory issues such liability, environmental protection Acts and corporate social responsibility in development projects determines time frame of a project. Environmental risk assessment exercise is necessary before initiation of the project. Assessment will facilitate clearance of the site and enhance safety of underground power cables. Prior agreement with the local council in regard to contamination of land is necessary for the school. The local council needs to bear cleaning costs of the river and the land in order to minimize incidence of risk. Apportionment of liability will depend on the early agreement between the initial owner of land and the land contaminant. List of References BINDER, G., & FOSTER, N. (2006). Tall Buildings of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Mulgrave (Vic.), Images. BIRRELL, R. (2005). Melbourne 2030: planning rhetoric versus urban reality. Melbourne, Vic, Monash University ePress. BRIERLEY, G. S., CORKUM, D. H., & HATEM, D. (2010). Design-build subsurface projects. Littleton, Colo, Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration. CAIN, C. T. (2008). Profitable Partnering for Lean Construction. Oxford, John Wiley & Sons. http://www.123library.org/book_details/?id=28043 GONÇALVES, J. C. S., & UMAKOSHI, E. M. (2010). The environmental performance of tall buildings.Washington, DC, Earthscan. http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=585475. HUCHZERMEYER, M., & KARAM, A. (2006). Informal settlements: a perpetual challenge? Cape Town, UCT press. MAATHAI, W. (2003). The Green Belt Movement: sharing the approach and the experience. New York, Lantern Books. NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM (ETATS-UNIS), & SCOTT, S. (2006). Best-value procurement methods for highway construction projects. ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT. (2012). Modernising secondary school buildings in Portugal. Paris, OECD. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264128774-en. PHILLIPS-WREN, G. E. (2014). DSS 2.0 -- supporting decision making with new technologies. http://ebooks.iospress.nl/isbn/978-1-61499-399-5 SUNAL, C. S., & MUTUA, K. (2007). The enterprise of education. Charlotte, NC, IAP WEILAND, M., & WILSEY, S. (2008). State by state a panoramic portrait of America. New York, NY, Ecco.http://www.contentreserve.com/TitleInfo.asp?ID={CD50AC56-3CA0- 4CB4-B19D-D72C56275F06}&Format=410. Read More