Leading Dubai-based building services engineering contractor Sensaire Services this year marks 20 years of quality service to the UAE. Gulf Construction looks at the success formula of a company which has breathed life into several landmarks in the region.

The past two decades have seen Sensaire Services grow from an air-conditioning contractor to one of the largest building services engineering contractors in the UAE, providing a complete building services package to its clients.

Established in 1983, the Dubai-based firm has, over the past three years, enjoyed an annual average turnover of around Dh130 million ($35 million).

Pivotal to its success has been its focus on building a reputation for quality and timely completion of projects, according to a spokesman.

"This has ensured repeat orders for the firm, so that Sensaire's name is selected automatically when preparing tender lists," he says with pride. "This commitment to quality resulted in accreditation to ISO 9001 in 1998, ensuring that the company continues to meet and exceed its own high standards and those demanded by the industry."

The growth of Sensaire has resulted in the availability of a large pool of resources, enabling it to respond to the increasing fast-track demands of the construction sector. The firm has a current workforce of around 1,300.

Sensaire is now typically associated with larger-scale construction projects with a broad capability in building services and management and the creation of "intelligent buildings".

During recent years, the company has handled a number of landmark projects in the UAE, including Sharjah City Centre in Sharjah; Dubai Airport Free Zone, Dubai Higher College of Technology for Women, Al Wasl office complex, Al Rahba Hospital, Mazaya Complex, Metropolitan Palace Hotel, Children's City, Emarat atrium, Novotel and Ibis Hotels at Dubai World Trade Centre and Shangri-la Hotel (under construction), all in Dubai.

In addition to the UAE, Sensaire is also active in Sudan, where it is currently involved in implementing the building services for Bank of Sudan's new headquarters which is under construction, having already successfully completed work on a new office complex for the National Social Insurance Fund.

Sensaire has executed service installations on almost all types of buildings, including upmarket villas, hospitals, hotels, palaces, colleges, shopping malls and state-of-the-art buildings such as Dubai Media City, but whatever the size or complexity of the project the emphasis on quality remains paramount.

Expert engineering services are provided for the complete range of electromechanical installations including air-conditioning, ventilation, electrical lighting and power, sanitary and drainage, water distribution, low voltage, stadium floodlighting, district cooling, and safety systems such as fire alarms, fire detection, sprinklers, and dry and wet risers. The company's success is attributable to a high degree to the personal management and dedication of its founder Irshad Khan.

Whilst Irshad's main responsibilities now cover marketing, commercial negotiations and overseeing the financial stability of the company, he continues to maintain a hands-on approach to the firm's daily operations to ensure that Sensaire's position and reputation is maintained. Whilst still actively involved in the Dubai operations, Irshad has concentrated on expanding the group's activities by establishing offices in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah and setting up the first fully-automated ductwork fabrication facility in the UAE, in 1993, under the banner of Seagull Industries (formerly Seagull Traders).

Since first receiving EN ISO 9001 accreditation in 1998, Sensaire has continued to maintain its certification through strict adherence to quality procedures.

The dedicated quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) Department, headed by Kamal Khan, is responsible for formulating quality plans for each project and for continuously monitoring that the established quality procedures are met. Kamal holds an MBA and has undergone numerous quality-related training courses.

As Sensaire expanded and took on more complex projects, it saw the need to enhance client service and implement documentary quality procedures within the organisation.

It therefore embarked on a programme to introduce a formal quality system to its daily routine, and then to seek accreditation from external sources as demonstrable proof of its commitment towards providing a quality product.

Sensaire executes its projects in strict compliance with the requirements of the quality management system, effecting quality and design control.

A documented quality plan is produced for each major contract awarded, to detail the quality policies, resources, sequence of activities and procedures adopted for use on that project. This document, together with the inspection and testing plan contained therein, is suitably extended to reflect the specific quality requirements of the individual project.

Sensaire's QA staff, which report back to head office, monitor these quality procedures and advise of any corrective actions. An integral part of the quality system monitoring is customer-feedback to ensure that Sensaire meets its clients aspirations.

Sensaire is fully committed to safety and has an enviable record in this respect, the spokesman says. The QA department carries overall responsibility for safety of its employees and others in the working environment.

"With the ever-increasing demands for speed of construction, safety considerations remain paramount and are never compromised," he says. "Sensaire sees that the only way to ensure safe working practices are maintained is by the commitment to safety at all levels, from senior management down to on-site labour. Fully-trained and experienced safety officers monitor the works and hold regular training to ensure that all staff are conversant with the safety rules."

The Estimation Department is the lifeblood of the company, responsible for securing new work. Mohammed Faiyazuddin, a mechanical engineer with more than 10 years of intensive experience in estimation and value engineering of MEP (mechanical, electrical and plumbing) services, manages the department.

Whilst producing competitive bids, Faiyazuddin is also responsible for the preparation of project budgets and review of completed contracts to extract statistical data. Potential projects are tracked from their early stages and enquiries made at the earliest opportunity to ensure that the company is one of the selected bidders and to obtain as much information as possible, to gain time when the projects are released to tender.

The UAE's buoyant construction market places a heavy workload on the department and forward planning is imperative so that the often tight tender deadlines can be met and responded to with a competitive and cost-effective bid, the spokesman points out.

The department maintains an extensive cost database to ensure costs can be generated rapidly, with close contact with suppliers and specialist subcontractors. Lists of suppliers and subcontractors are maintained and performance monitored, allowing selection on consideration of price and performance and ensuring that the correct commercial decision is made.

The Contracts Department has the vital responsibility of carrying out projects, ensuring that the works are delivered on time and to the required quality to the client's satisfaction.

The department ensures that sufficient resources are provided to each project while maximising the efficiency of those resources. Under the leadership of contracts manager Jamal Abu Qiyas, maximisation is effected by employing trained and experienced staff at all levels, ensuring that achievable objectives are set, and by careful planning of operations.

Abu Qiyas holds a BSc in mechanical engineering from the US and takes overall responsibility for all projects.

Sensaire has its own in-house Design and Engineering Department based at its head office. For larger projects, a unit from the department, dedicated to the development, is stationed on site under the direct control of the project manager.

The department comprises a team of eight design engineers, four senior draughtsmen and CAD draughtsmen, all suitably experienced and conversant with up-to-date technologies. This team is equipped with highly-advanced equipment to support the PC Network and Reprographics Centre, providing the ability to design each project in its specified environment - be it AutoCAD 2002 or Microstation J.

Various design software packages are utilised for carrying out detailed design calculations and design co-ordination. The Oce Reprographics Unit can print more than 100 AO drawings per hour, while the Oce Larger Format Scanner can scan drawings from A4 to AO size.

Whilst the primary role of the design output is to produce shop-drawings evolved from the design given by the consultants, Sensaire does not restrict itself to a simple reproduction exercise. The skilled engineers carry out reviews to highlight any deficiencies and to make any suggestions to either improve performance, reduce cost or time, to the clients' benefit.

The establishment of Seagull Industries in 1993 has allowed Sensaire to meet its quality objectives and deliver materials rapidly while maintaining its competitiveness. To ensure that this facility would meet its needs in terms of production capability and quality, Sensaire invested heavily in state-of-the-art CNC machinery, providing the cutting-edge performance that characterises the quality of ductwork and accessories produced at the facility. Seagull Industries was developed with the same commitment to quality as found in the parent company, which was again recognised by certification to Quality Standard EN ISO 9002.

Sensaire sees continued opportunities in the UAE and the Gulf in coming years with many significant developments being planned. Whilst the anticipated workload in Dubai appears to provide a high level of opportunity, Sensaire is exploring other markets as it continues to grow, and is currently focusing on establishing itself in Qatar and Oman and seeking to expand its existing operations in Sudan.