A huge leap of faith paid off handsomely for Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) when the group consented to use Viega's press fit system in its Eastland Shopping Centre project in the Melbourne suburb of Ringwood. Stage one of the $655 million revamp increased the size of the centre by 55 per cent to 131,000 square metres.
ProBuild, one of Australia's largest construction companies, won the tender but faced two significant technical and timeframe challenges: A large centre that continued to service a high level of traffic and a demanding construction schedule. The deadline for completion was October 2015. Then there was the client's reluctance to use anything but welded connections for copper.
Norman Disney & Young (NDY) was the project's main consultant for hydraulics and mechanical. Its previous experiences with Viega and deep understanding of the certainty the system offered for their projects gave the company confidence that it was the right product to submit to QIC for approval. NDY has strict guidelines for its internal specifications. So it is telling that it names Viega as the only copper and bronze press fit system that complies with its high level of integrity for such broad national specification.
NDY engineer Charles Cham said: "As an engineer, it was easy to see the outstanding benefits the Viega system, and after developing a deeper understanding we provided QIC with our approval and [we] have also included into our Hydraulics specification nationally."
Challenges before considering Viega
Previous problems with compression fittings had discouraged QIC against the use of such systems. The organisation's objection to anything other than welded connections for copper presented a challenge to create a deeper understanding of the certainty that the Viega press fit system offered, and how well its support staff added technical capability to increase best practice installations.
QIC contracted ADP Consulting: Engineering to perform a peer review of NDY's drawings and documentation. ADP was also very willing to recommend Viega to QIC. James Vercoulen, ADP's then Senior Hydraulic & Fire Engineer, said: "As we only conducted peer review, we gave QIC insight into how well the installation of Viega at Pacific Werribee Plaza had gone. We also included Viega into our hydraulic specifications and will be working closely with QIC on their upcoming Castle Towers project."
Contractors Highbury Plumbing and Allstaff Mechanical had previous experiences with the Viega press system. Their staff had enjoyed the benefits of using a product of such high quality and certainty that they singled Viega out from any other system as their clear favourite to perform to their high level of expectations. Both Highbury and Allstaff quickly sought the technical assistance of Viega to help them outline the benefits to the client by allowing them to use the Propress system for the copper installations.
A demonstration helped QIC understand the technical capability of the Viega press fit system and its suitability for the project. Viega Planning Consultant Richard Andrew said it was then incumbent on the company to demonstrate the ethical responsibility it imposed on itself to provide a system that would continue to offer certainty of performance over the long term.
"Often when a seemingly new technology is being considered, it provides an opportunity to engage a deeper understanding of the technical attributes and the advantages that a well engineered and extremely well manufactured system can add in terms of value to the project," he said. "It also adds to the client's level of confidence, knowing their ongoing maintenance will be retarded by using a high quality system upon installation."
However, it was only in the final days leading up to the installation of copper on the project that QIC completed its due diligence and approved the use of the Viega system.
QIC's Project Manager Building Services, Mike Johnson said the organisation was glad it listened to the case for Viega. "Welding was always a certainty for us and, after a problem caused by a compression fitting, we had decided that all press, push and crimp fittings were not reliable until Viega demonstrated how their system was clearly a system with integrity and one we could trust," he said. "We have a huge investment in our properties and need products and systems like Viega that will stand the test of time and provide the integrity we require."
A race to the finish
The decision was made, but the challenge became one of racing the clock. ProBuild Project Manager George Rowe said the company had set out an extraordinarily strict and enthusiastic construction schedule that demanded contractors meet their deadlines and not hold up any part of the foreseeable timetable. He knew that Viega would give them the edge.
"We have seen Viega installed into many of our projects and have had no issues," he said. "The contractors like it very much."
As the project was due to be completed at the end of October 2015, Highbury had up to 80 plumbers working full time and even commented that all overtime restrictions had been removed to allow for the works to be completed on time. Both Highbury and Allstaff used Viega Propress for water and Propress G for gas in sizes DN25 through to DN100.
When welding at height or in difficult or flame sensitive areas, Viega XL was the proven choice for speed and reliability. Highbury Plumbing owner Andrew Scott commented: "It was really a race to the finish and many of my guys did not sleep on the last night as we worked through to ensure the work was completed. We're glad the Viega team was able to convince QIC to approve, as we didn't know how we would keep to the construction schedule without significantly increasing our labour costs."
Final result a victory for all concerned
QIC was able to achieve its desired outcome, by having the project completed on time combined with certainty that the water and gas services were installed with the integrity that is synonymous with Viega's German-made zero defect press fittings. The organisation can also feel confident that the ability and integrity of the Viega system will provide long lasting benefits to such a critically important high traffic and demanding project. Allstaff Mechanical Project Manager Shane Williams sums it up best. "We always wanted to use Viega and saw no other way this project would be on time and on budget. It was a great job by the Viega team to assist."