I'm not sure that all below is correct in the main for SI. For example the drillers we use are pretty good and are geologically aware of what they are doing and how to describe material. They drill and log which his ultimately checked by the consultant (me or colleague). I will happily go to site where I can and I know that they ALWAYS do a good job, however, I do know of many, many cowboy drillers. I also know of very highly qualified drillers so the disparity is clear.
The problem is that Window Sampling is not covered by BDA regs. Maybe this should be reviewed in order to give some regulation to the subbies??
There are good ones and bad ones and maybe regulation might sort that out.
COST/PRICE - that is always an issue unfortunately and that is the main driver of a job like it or not.
This is where we all lose out I think Mark. We lose out on LPA tenders massively on.... PRICE, yes. Why? Well because they go for the cheap option and not the quality one, same for private companies too I guess, and who supervises that? I doubt councils can afford to check....
A BDA issue maybe?
Kind regards
Russell
-----Original Message-----
From: Contaminated Land Management Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Marc Fawcett
Sent: 08 June 2011 13:34
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Site Supervision - lack of
A developer has highlighted to me that some consultants don't supervise the drilling of 'window' sample holes!
Those familiar with small diameter percussive holes will instantly flag the issues with this practice.
It appears that a subcontract driller logs on site and then transport the samples back to the consultants office for logging and sampling. It actually states this in the interpretive report.
Clearly there are many issues with this.... mix up of sample within the liners, sample preservation and missed observations from the drilling progress on site / odours / small lenses etc.
Can I bring this to the attention of the regulators - we really need to stamp this sort of practice out as the results will be pretty meaningless IMO.
Yes engineering supervision does cost, but on such an important exercise cost should not be an issue.
Comes back to 'rubbish in rubbish out' when it comes to modelling on naff field data.
No wonder I often loose out on competitive tenders when people are saving the cost of an engineer on window sampling jobs!
Best Regards
Marc Fawcett
Director
Betts Geo Environmental
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/marcfawcett
Head office
T – 01244 288179
F – 01244 288516
Old Marsh Farm Barns, Welsh Road, Sealand, Flintshire, CH5 2LY
www.betts-associates.co.uk
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