| 65 T T Hugh de Lacy A bridge inspection by qualified DCL Consulting staff. DCL Consulting CIVIL ENGINEERING A taste for “banter and having a bit of fun at work,” along with a generous health insurance package, make staff feel at home at the civil engineering firm DCL Consulting, based in the little village of Waitati, 20km north of Dunedin. DCL Consulting has a focus on heavy engineering, bridges and port structures in Canterbury, Otago and Southland, but there are more strings to the bow of company founder and principal Dave Charters. The firm he established in 2005 after immigrating from the United Kingdom, and which these days has a staff of four, also extends its services to asset management, durability engineering and contract law and mediation services. Dave’s a professional engineer qualified in the United Kingdom and New Zealand. “A growing family and the need for a bit more space and opportunity for them was the catalyst for migrating to New Zealand,” Dave says. His raft of qualifications extends to being an accredited corrosion technologist, “so the business has a focus on corrosion engineering, structural repair and durability.” Before coming to New Zealand Dave plied his profession on off-shore oil installations in the North Sea and the Middle East where he was heavily involved in structural inspections of civil and construction projects, and the development of practical and economic maintenance strategies. In New Zealand Dave has applied this experience to the management of bridging stock for no fewer than five South Island local authorities and the NZ Transport Authority. He is accredited as a corrosion technician under the scheme run by the Australasian Corrosion Association, enabling him to offer professional advice on durability engineering, the branch of the profession that deals with minimising maintenance costs and maximising the longevity of built infrastructure. Dave gratefully acknowledges the contributions to the business of colleagues Donna Thomas, a fellow director, and Christine Mockett. DCL Consulting sponsored Donna, who’s been with the firm eight years, to acquire her Diploma in Engineering at Otago Polytechnic, and her role has since expanded from qualified bridge inspector – “and very good at it too,” Dave says – to virtually running the business. Dave met Christine through Donna when the two women were studying together, and helped Christine through her final year project in his specialty of bridging when she gained her Bachelor of Engineering in technical engineering. “She and Donna work superbly together. “I am passionate about mentoring staff to achieve as much as they can, and I have not been disappointed,” Dave says. Contract preparation and administration is a specialty of DCL Consulting, one in which Dave sees clarity and conciseness as central. “In a cut-and-paste environment it is all too common to find contracts that contain ambiguities and duplication, and which lack clarity,” he says. Accordingly he has developed an approach that avoids these weaknesses. “Clear, accurate documentation makes the difference if a contract, for whatever reason, comes before the courts.” Dave is a qualified tender evaluator, often chairing evaluation meetings, and bridge capacity examinations are also a busy part of the consultancy’s workload. Focus on bridges, port structures Recrea�on Construc�on (2021) Limited Recrea�onal Facili�es Specialists - General Construc�on Proud to support DCL Consul�ng Ltd P 027 606 9449 • Email jsoper@reccon2021.nz Recrea�on Construc�on 2021 is an Oamaru based construc�on company specialising in track and bridge construc�on. We also offer general construc�on, structural fabrica�on, light excava�on, maintenance and landscaping, rope access
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