Willyama High School – School Infrastructure NSW

MBM Project Lead

David Madden

Client Name

School Infrastructure

Sector

Timeline

2024 - Ongoing

Project Value

Confidential

MBM Project Team

  • Sophie Chen – Executive Quantity Surveyor
  • Lachlan Davis – Quantity Surveyor
  • Joshua Tang – Assistant Quantity Surveyor

Services Provided

MBM has been engaged as the Cost Manager for the Willyama High School rebuild. Our role is to support the project through all stages—from early planning right through to construction and post-completion.

The goal is to have the new school completed and ready to open by the end of 2026, and we’ll be working closely with the project team to help make that happen.

Our cost management services will cover the following phases:

  • Phase 1 – Master Planning
  • Phase 2 – Concept Design
  • Phase 3 – Schematic Design
  • Phase 4 – Design Development
  • Phase 5 – Contract Documentation
  • Phase 6 – Tendering and Award
  • Phase 7 – Construction Administration
  • Phase 8 – Commissioning and Handover
  • Phase 9 – Post-Completion / Warranty Period

Throughout each stage, MBM will provide clear and accurate cost advice, help manage project budgets, and support value-for-money decisions to keep the project on track and aligned with the NSW Government’s commitment.

Project Background and Scope

Over the 2023/2024 summer holidays, a serious mould outbreak was discovered at Willyama High School in Broken Hill, NSW. The issue was investigated by an independent hygienist, who found that the mould was widespread and difficult to fully remove. Even if cleaned, there would still be a long-term risk to the health and safety of students and staff.

Following this advice, the NSW Government decided to completely rebuild the school on the same site to eliminate the risk of mould returning in the future. This decision ensures the school community will have a safe, modern, and healthy environment moving forward.

Project Challenges

  • Timing commitment:
    To deliver the new school In early 2027 to support the strong focus on vocational education in Broken Hill, this project is a fast-tracked, adding pressure to planning and resource coordination.
  • Location:
    The project’s regional location presented several challenges. For Cost Manager, factors such as locality, living away from home allowance, and potential abnormal costs associated with remote construction needed to be considered carefully. Accurate cost advice was essential to ensure these location-driven impacts were appropriately captured in the budget.
  • Bushfire:
    Constraints related to bushfire for school siting and design have been identified in maseterplanning phase. Managing these constraints within the budget requires coordination with the design team to optimize building location efficiency.
  • Flooding:
    The site is located within a flood-affected area in storm events as low as the 10% AEP storm event. Managing flood risk was a key challenge for the project. The design team proposed multiple flood mitigation strategies, and we assessed the cost implications of each option to provide informed cost advice to the client, balancing risk management with budget considerations.
  • Managing expectations with external stakeholders and indigenous community
    The project has undertaken extensive community consultation and engagement with external stakeholders and the indigenous community. Community feedback was incorporated into the design, and providing accurate cost advice on which feedback could be adopted was essential to avoid scope creep and ensure the project remained within budget.
  • Construction methodology alternatives
    Given the project’s regional location, construction methodology alternatives such as modular and flat pack) construction, needed to be considered during design and cost management. Ensuring the cost planning was developed with consideration of alternatives construction methodology to capture potential impacts on cost and construability is important.

MBM Solutions

  • Comprehensive scope development
    MBM promotes a “design-to-cost” approach rather than simply “costing a design.” During the concept design development stage, we provided cost advice that accounted for key project specifics, including bushfire risk, flooding, landscaping, and climate-responsive shading. Alternative design options were explored during this process, delivering improved value for money.
  • Integrating Location and Construction Factors into Early Cost Advice
    We used internal benchmarking and real-time market feedback to validate design pricing, ensuring it accurately reflected the project’s regional location, associated allowances, and potential cost impacts of alternative construction methods. This approach enabled us to set realistic cost expectations early in the design process, supporting informed decision-making and reducing the risk of budget overruns later in the project.
  • Cost Reporting & Collaboration
    MBM maintains close communication with the design team, School Infrastructure NSW, and the project manager to manage and report on project costs. This includes reviewing cost updates, providing value engineering advice, and ensuring the project remains financially on track.