You will hear five different people talking about the issues involved in having new buildings constructed and advice about new c

Part Two. Questions 13 to 22.
You will hear five different people talking about the issues involved in having new buildings constructed.
For each extract there are two tasks. Look at Task One. For each question, 13 to 17, decide what problem occurred with the construction project, from the list A-H. Now look at Task Two. For each question, 18-22, choose what advice about new construction projects each speaker gives, from the list A-H.
After you have listened once, replay the recording.
You now have 30 seconds to read the two lists.
[pause]
Now listen, and do the two tasks.
[pause]
Speaker One
Man: We decided to open this new production facility on the outskirts of Madrid. I think we felt that the location was not too difficult to commute to, space not a problem, etc. The proposal was well within budget, so we didn’t spot the fact that the necessary link road wasn’t included in the developer’s original outline. The problem was fixed, but completing on time was very tight - we nearly missed the opening. I think with hindsight I’d say that once you’ve sorted out your contractors, it’s worth making a small internal group responsible for overseeing things so somebody is looking at the detail. And this pays off even if they have to put aside their own work for a while.
Speaker Two
Woman: Things never turn out as planned when you’re looking at building. Costs always overrun, so we thought we were very smart in keeping a tight rein on the contractors. This focus on the site meant the manager responsible for internal fixtures, etc was on his own and went way over budget. It’ll take us a while to recoup this and, as you can imagine, he’s not very happy at the moment. Still, it’s a lesson. I think I’d recommend that this is not handled internally and that, even for smaller parts of the contract, it’s worth getting a range of companies to put in a bid. They, and you, are then tied to the best deal and your staff are not tested beyond their abilities!
Speaker Three
Man: There are always technical problems when you’re building on a new site - we couldn’t even get onto the site in the first week because the access hadn’t been finished on time. But it’s the ongoing problems that prevent it being a success such as new equipment constantly breaking down or, as in our case, a faulty ventilation system, which now needs replacing. In future, I would make sure I’d checked out whoever was fitting it with their previous customers. I think it’s important to give them targets of certain standards you want them to fulfil throughout the process. Perhaps it’s also worth getting a fairly senior member of staff to check up on these contractors.
Speaker Four
Woman: I have to say that when we built the new site in the Aosta valley the route in was very steep and we thought parking would be an issue - it was a big facility with lots of staff. We didn’t foresee that worrying about that would mean that the construction work fell behind and the contractors didn’t meet one of their interim deadlines. Fortunately, we still managed to control the costs. But it’s a learning curve and if we did it again, I think we could look into what other options were possible. We were offered what looked like a good deal, and we took it without really considering all the possibilities that the consultants on the project had suggested.
Speaker Five
Man: When you’re expanding onto a new site, I think it’s important to make sure the schedule is realistic. We really rushed through the various completion stages and prided ourselves on reaching all our targets. But this meant certain things were overlooked and we suffered a series of problems in the first few months the facility was open. We sent very few managers to the site as there wasn’t much space for them and that meant there weren’t enough people around to arrange the necessary checks on the machinery that kept the whole site operational. Certainly, I would recommend that several different options are considered when you’re arranging after-sales contracts. Make it competitive and make sure you get one that includes regular checks.