London lead for Jordan JV

02 June 2011

The Jordanian government has appointed London-based property and construction consultancies McBains Cooper and EC Harris to help in the delivery of a public sector facility management review and rationalisation.

The project involves installing a property and facilities management information system, supporting the Directorate of Government Buildings (DGB) to develop an organisational structure that incorporates a property and facilities management capability, providing FM procurement guidelines, and identifying of possible PPP projects that can be used to pilot the new approach to managing a government building.

McBains Cooper is leading the project - which involves a number of consortium partners - working with the Privatisation Commission of the Jordanian Government.

Funded by the World Bank, the Commission is planning to rationalise its property department - and the management of up to 10,000 public buildings. The Jordanian government's initiative will be seen as a pioneering and cutting edge move in the region.

The project will help the Jordanian government to drive efficiencies in the operations of buildings.

"It's a tribute to the experience of the McBains Cooper team, the esteem in which UK-based property and construction expertise in general is held, and to the ability of the consortium to work together that such a big and complex project should be awarded," said Anthony Coumidis, director of McBains Cooper, and overall project leader. "This is a crucial project, and will drive significant change and efficiencies in the way government-owned buildings are managed, operated and maintained. It also underpins McBains Cooper's decision to develop an Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East hub in Athens; our presence so relatively close to Jordan was a big influencing factor in the decision of the Jordanian government."

The full scope of work will include advice on the creation and implementation of a comprehensive property database to enable the department to realise the value of its assets, as well as a comprehensive property maintenance strategy, including identification of the best procurement route.

It will also include identification of potential maintenance projects to be financed through PPP, ways to make such projects attractive to investors, and an overall review of the property department and its resourcing.

McBains Cooper will be in joint venture with EC Harris, supported by legal advisers K&L Gates and Jordan-based Darat Consulting.