Dubai never fails to dazzle first-time visitors with its stunning array of contemporary architecture and soaring skyscrapers, right from the moment they disembark from their flights and step into its lavish futuristic airport terminal.

There's the sail-shaped Burj Al Arab, the world's tallest hotel, soaring 321 m into the sky from an artificial island in the sea, the stunning glass-fronted Jumeirah Beach Hotel, distinctively designed like a wave, and the Dusit Dubai, with its unique inverted Y architecture symbolising the traditional Thai welcome of folded hands, to mention a few - all providing a feast for the eyes and standing testimony of the city's construction prowess.

To the tourist and man on the street, these and other landmark structures are undoubtedly symbols of the emirate's success, and a result of Dubai's clear vision to become a tourism, business and IT hub within the region.

But to one local contractor - Al Habtoor Engineering Enterprises (HEE) - several of these landmarks mean a lot more, for one simple reason: it built them. And when Dubai's first Shangri-La opens early next year, HEE will be quietly celebrating the fact that it has participated in the construction of yet another of the city's top hotels, to the best of quality standards, in line with its motto, 'Construction with Excellence'.

Development

HEE was established in 1970 by Khalaf Al Habtoor and Riad T Sadek. In a little over three decades, it has grown to become one of the UAE's top contractors, well known for its fast-track expertise and team spirit, by its clients, consultants, suppliers and sub-contractors.

Its list of projects - executed singly or in partnership - is impressive, to say the least, especially in the hospitality sector. There's the stunning Burj Al Arab and the Sheikh Rashid terminal at Dubai International Airport, both built under a joint venture with Murray and Roberts (M&R) of South Africa, the prestigious Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza, the 600-bed Jumeirah Beach Hotel, the Metropolitan Palace Hotel, the Dusit Dubai, and now the Shangri-La.

Its other testimonials include a major role in the construction of Dubai Internet City (DIC), the Airport Expo Dubai, the new Dubai Hospital, Rashid Hospital, Al Wasl Maternity and Pediatrics Hospital, the Dubai Creek Tower, the Kendah House, the expansion at the Jebel Ali power station, the Marina Mall and the Armed Forces Officers Club, both in Abu Dhabi, and the City Centre in Sharjah.

As well as expanding to the other emirates of Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Fujairah, HEE has expanded overseas to Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain and the UK.

"When we started out we had a workforce of just 100 and two projects worth just $40,000," reminisces Sadek, who is the firm's managing partner. "Today we have more than 8,000 employees and execute multi-million-dollar contracts."

He continues: "We have a reputation for winning challenging projects that are considered leading edge in their engineering achievements and for meeting seemingly impossible deadlines. Having achieved this reputation, the company however will never compromise the safety of its employees or the quality of its projects. It is an art to balance the three: achieving success in difficult projects with difficult deadlines and uncompromising on safety - an art that HEE has excelled in.

"Partnerships have been and continue to be one of our keys to success. We believe in establishing close relationships with clients, consultants and suppliers. Partnership has also meant that the best elements of the project team work in harmony to provide the most satisfactory approach to the management and control of the client's interests."

A considerable part of HEE's success is attributed to Sadek's personal management skills and philosophy, but Sadek is more modest about his achievements.

"Our success is attributable mainly to the dedication and hard work of its employees, secondly to the sharp vision of my partner Khalaf Al Habtoor. My contribution to the success of Al Habtoor Engineering is in ensuring that in whatever we do quality and safety come first. I am very proud to be part of the Al Habtoor Group and I am still anxious to fulfil worthwhile achievements in life that make a difference."

Quality assurance

Al Habtoor has a well-established quality assurance (QA) department headed up by manager Richard B Corish. In all, it has 26 quality assurance and quality control engineers whose function is to monitor all activities on the various projects; to audit and verify compliance with the specifications and quality standards, to provide an objective overview on company performance and report back to the Al Habtoor management team and the head office. The department's mission is twofold: to support success on site and to improve the operation of the company in terms of overall performance and internal procedures.

Al Habtoor achieved ISO 9002-1994 in July 1996 and then was reassessed and certified to ISO 9001-2000 in July this year. The new system is a hybrid of the first with some significant changes in focus.

"We are required by the new standard to focus differently on certain parts of the business - management has much more responsibility as to how we track quality with our customers and how we monitor whether our customers are happy is much more defined, says Corish.

The evolution of the methods and procedures is based on the Deming cycle, which provides a 360-degree focus on all aspects of the business. Data is continually analysed. Customers feedback is recycled so that there is a continuous integrated movement to better methods and procedures and better all round quality.

The drive to introduce quality systems came from Sadek, when he recognised the need to apply stringent documented quality procedures within the growing organisation. Further impetus was given when Al Habtoor made the strategic decision to move into construction for the oil, gas and petrochemical industry majors in the UAE, which require contractors and suppliers to be compliant to ISO quality standards.

A further boost came when Al Habtoor started bidding for high-profile projects of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) group of companies. Al Habtoor, achieved a breakthrough in winning the construction of National Drilling Company's (NDC) headquarters in Abu Dhabi. This opened Adnoc's eyes to Al Habtoor's capabilities and showed that it had the capacity to undertake such projects.

These experiences enabled Al Habtoor to upgrade its own view of the world, and using expert overall planning and evaluation and value engineering approaches, it was able to successfully win the Burj Al Arab project in 1996 in joint venture. This opened a floodgate of joint venture work, which remains to this day, with six joint venture projects currently under way in the UAE and a further two in Egypt.

The services of the QA Department have been extended into joint venture projects with M&R and all joint venture projects are now managed under ISO 9001: 2000. Moreover, HEE is assisting M&R in their objective to obtain full certification for their Middle East operation.

One thing that sets Al Habtoor's commitment to quality and customer services apart from its competitors is the direct contact and involvement of the most senior management of the company in each project. Regular coordination meetings are held on site rather than in the head office. This ensures much more personal contact with the project management teams and allows for the judicious intervention at the highest levels in problem-solving.

Estimation department

The role of Al Habtoor's estimation and sub-contracting department is to bring business to the company, says its manager Ajlal Haider, who has been with the company for 25 years. "We track projects right from their concept and inception - long before they are publicly announced - right the way through to tender and contract negotiations."

Along the way, the estimating department is constantly gathering information and data about the likely scope of the contract, the timeframe and any special features that are involved. All of the information gathered is carefully analysed and variances noted by the 14 professionals that staff the department so that when the tender documents are finally issued the estimators have the best possible research, preparation and cost data on hand to prepare the tender response.

"Tender response periods in the UAE are typically one to two months only, and so it is essential that we do as much as possible to prepare beforehand in order to get the most competitive and cost-effective bid ready for the client and consultant,' Haider continues.

"We are assisted in the actual calculation of tender costing by the estimation software in our construction computer system (CCS) which carries up-to-date information on raw materials and labour rates."

"A vital part of the process is selection of and negotiation with the various subcontractors we require to complete the project and there is a constant flow of information and clarification up and down from the consultants and project managers to the subcontractors which must necessarily be routed through our department."

"In many cases, we have to make a judgement as to whether to use a subcontractor or to use in-house resources and so we have to look forward to the availability of in-house resources during the likely duration of the project and then look at the viability of the subcontractors and their capabilities in order to make the correct commercial decision."

"Needless to say, confidentiality is paramount in our business and so we make sure our estimates and data are absolutely secure until the tender bids are actually opened."

And what of prices? "There is no doubt that it is very competitive in the market which is why we commit so much time and energy to research and preparation in order to achieve the most cost-effective and competitive bids for the projects we undertake. The final margin and price for a bid is finalised after consultation with our senior managers, and are set on a commercial basis," Haider says.

The department submits some 50 tenders each year and has a successful strike rate, he adds.

Contracts management

The role of the contracts department is in the execution of the projects themselves - to ensure that the projects are brought in on time to the specified quality and to the customer's satisfaction, every time, says Nigel Poole, contracts manager.

Poole is currently controlling 21 major projects in the UAE and Egypt, most of which are extremely demanding both technically and terms of time and resources. Al Habtoor has built a justified reputation for fast-track projects and many clients and customers are now prepared to pay a premium for this. However, there is a limit to what can be achieved in fast-tracking using conventional building methods, he says.

Another role that the contracts department plays is in brainstorming with the client and consultant to find a creative approach to save money and time for the client. A good example is in a recent project for the Dubai Colleges of Higher Technology where HEE was able to come up with an alternative precast design which saved the client, in this case Dubai Municipality, time and money in successfully completing the project.

Poole would like to see more involvement by the contractor in the design stage of projects where HEE's extensive experience in local conditions can really add value to the design and engineering phases of the project, by offering proven alternative engineering solutions.

One area where he feels this kind of expertise can be successfully applied is in structural steel. "One of the reasons why steel is rarely used in buildings in the UAE is because of the long lead times required for ordering the steel itself which may take up to 16 weeks for delivery. If the contractor is brought only after the tender is released, there is generally insufficient time in the contractor to look at alternatives to reinforced concrete."

Gradually, a few more buildings are being built in structural steel and HEE has been involved in a number of them through its joint ventures. Notable are the Sheikh Rashid Concourse, which involved a reinforced concrete core allied with a steel structure. Another was the Burj Al Arab which has a steel frame combined with reinforced concrete. Most recently, the new Adnoc group headquarters will use a structural steel frame.

A major part of the contracts department's mission is in planning and securing resources to complete the various projects it undertakes and HEE is constantly working up rolling 12-month plans for its labour requirements. In association with the personnel, it is working hard to classify the company's artisans and labourers in terms of experience and skills so that the correct personnel can be pre-allocated to certain jobs, ensuring the most productive and effective use of that most important resource - manpower.

Poole has an interesting insight into the labour market in the UAE and points to one of the keys to HEE's success. "Generally speaking, expatriate workers of all types come to the UAE and the region to work - to find opportunities and remuneration that would not be possible in their home countries, as a result they tend to work very hard to achieve success. This tremendous work ethic is reflected in the success HEE has had in fast-tracking projects and delivering high-quality buildings on time and within budget."

One of the hardest - but most rewarding - aspects of Poole's routine is his commitment to coordination meetings at each site every month, including the two projects in Egypt. The benefits are very real though as it helps head office departments to see for themselves the progress of each project and to meet with and identify the issues that confront the project management teams and to offer on-the-spot solutions if difficulties arise. It also instils confidence in the site staff that they are getting the best possible support from head office. Perhaps, best of all is the hands-on leadership of Sadek, who attends many of the coordination meetings.

Poole joined HEE in 1977 and has worked his way up from project engineer through management to his present position. During that time he has worked on several unique and complex projects. He is justifiably proud of the world-class work that HEE has contributed to the success of landmark projects including Burj Al Arab and the Airport Concourse. One of the more interesting and complex projects was the Armed Forces Officer's Club which has three 150 m curved triangular reinforced concrete spans anchored on only three abutments each, which create the effect of a bedouin tent or the wings of a falcon in flight. This was a revolutionary design and execution in 1987 when it was commenced and remains unique in the world even today, he says.

Information technology

The mission of Al Habtoor's information technology department is three-fold, according to its manager Naghman Rafique. The first is to evaluate and procure hardware and software solutions on behalf of the users; the second to implement software and hardware upgrades with the attendant training requirement and last, but by no means least, the maintenance and security of Al Habtoor's IT systems.

The department works under the ISO 9002 quality system allied to BS 7799, which covers information security management standards. Needless to say, security and data integrity are of paramount importance to a multi-billion enterprise such as Al Habtoor and three of Rafique's nine staff are committed to server maintenance and security.

The IT system is built around a Dubai-based server for central processing and minimum localised processing to ensure data integrity and 90 per cent of users are attached to the network with different levels of access authority.

The company discourages outside internet access because of the danger of importing viruses. However, it provides an intranet facility with email to facilitate information flow between the various user sites and head office. A completely separate server located in Al Habtoor's Abu Dhabi office provides back-up.

The IT department comprises three sections. The first looks after departmental management, server maintenance, in-house training and website development; the second section controls procurement, accounts and in-house software development; and the third deals with day-to-day operations such as inventory, call management, PC troubleshooting, preventive maintenance, check-lists and help-desk facilities for users.

Perhaps unusually, the IT department is a profit centre in its own right, billing out its services to other head office departments, in-house projects and joint venture projects. However, the objective is not so much to make money as to cover costs and ensure that the company and its users get an efficient and cost-effective service from the department.

Such is the strategic importance that the senior management gives to the IT systems that there is no fixed annual budget, rather the commitment is made that if a purchase is necessary to increase efficiency and most of all to improve customer service, then the money will be found.

Al Habtoor's network is built on a Cisco systems platform, while the majority of application software is based on Microsoft platforms. A variety of different applications are run for various users but obviously some of the most important applications are those that deal with project planning and management and contract estimation. Primavera project management software is used extensively as is Microsoft Project while the CCS is used extensively for project estimation.

Major tasks on hand for the IT department include a major effort in documenting the company's procedures; establishing the department as a profit centre to cover its costs and a major effort to deploy a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.

The ERP system is being developed exclusively for Al Habtoor written in SQL and based on the sophisticated new Microsoft Dot.net platform.

Other major undertakings for the future include a complete revision of the company's archiving system with a view to central storage of all important documents in the company, complete with automated back-up and archive redundancy.

As Sadek says: "The changes that are currently being implemented in our IT department make me confident that we are keeping pace with international developments in the world of computer technology."

HEE: the future

Looking ahead, Sadek predicts a bright future for HEE over the next decade, with the contractor going to further locations in the region and beyond. "I can see a bright future for Al Habtoor Engineering, as we continue to expand further into the Middle East and Africa," he says. "And the biggest challenge that faces the construction industry, he adds, "will be its ability to match the vision and ambitions of the leaders of this young country in making it one of the world's most sought-after destinations."