van Niekerk, Pieter

BSc (Eng) Civil (Wits), M(Eng) Transport (Cum Laude) – University of Pretoria

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

Project management
 Contract administration
 Engineering Procurement
 Pavement design
 Geotechnical and Materials specialist
 Construction and Contract documentation
(NEC, GCC, Afdb, FIDIC, World bank, IDB et al)

WORK EXPERIENCE DURING THE LAST 10 YEARS

PVN professional Services (Pty) Ltd – Apr 2014 – Present
Design Team Leader, Contracts and procurement Specialist, Pavement and Materials specialist, Board member Annual Transportation Conference.(ATC), Construction Contracts Manager, Independent expert investigations.

BIGEN AFRICA SERVICES – Apr 2011 – Apr 2014
Divisional Managing Principal: Roads and Transport, Executive Director South Africa (North), Pavement specialist and Contract administration specialist, Chairperson – CESA Supply Chain management committee.

PRACTICAL ADR EXPERIENCE

Rehabilitation of the Rea Vaya BRT trunk route,
phase 1a – Thokoza park station to Westgate station – JRA/19/327 and JRA/19/327a.
 The Employer was Johannesburg Roads Agency
 The Contractor was LEBAKA Construction (Pty) Ltd
 The contract was based on GCC 2015
Numerous claims for extension of time and additional payment was raised. As facilitator all these issues were addressed and settled on the basis a facilitative amicable settlement.

In adjudication of the dispute between City of Tshwane (claimant) and Bophelong construction.
Appointed as independent expert to investigate the cause of premature failures on the Nana Sita Section – Tshwane BRT.

In JRA – Lebaka construction facilitated mediation processes relating to liquidated damages claims for late completion. The matter was ultimately referred to arbitration and an award finalized.

In Ethekwini transport authority – Pandev joint venture disputes facilitated and successfully settled 12 claims through mediation.

I have work experience on all local forms of contract since 1990. These include GCC 1990, COLTO 1998, GCC 2004, GCC2010, GCC 2015, FIDIC red BOOK 1999, NEC3 and JBCC (PBA, MWA and NSSA).
Throughout these various forms the key aspect relate to the type of project, the management of risk, the appointment of subcontractors and the management of cost and time overruns. The choice of a particular form of contract is primarily driven by the type of works and the Employer procurement rules and requirements.

Working knowledge of;
 Arbitration act 42 of 1965 (domestic arbitration)
 International Arbitration act 15 of 2017.
 Association of arbitrators (Southern Africa) NPC rules for
the conduct of arbitrations: 2018
 SAICE – guidelines for amicable settlement procedures
Understanding of;
Chartered Institute of Arbitrators guidelines
 Jurisdictional Challenges
 Drafting-arbitral-awards
 Witness-conferencing
 Protocol for electronic disclosure
International Bar Association (IBA) Guidelines
 Conflicts of Interest
 Taking Evidence
London court of international arbitration rules