June 2013
CONSTRUCTION WORLD
66
A Q & A with Brian Africa –
ma r ket i ng and bus i nes s
development executive of
Performance and Custom
Bond Services (PCBS).
Guaranteeing Africa
products & services
PSS IS PASSIONATE
about PLANNING, whether it is setting up
new baseline schedules; improving existing schedules or compil-
ing historical schedules. It assists with progress tracking, ensuring
the client’s schedule documentation is accurate and to his/her best
benefit, putting him/her one step ahead in claim situations.
In brief PSS offers:
• Setup of a baseline schedule with accurate links driven by
resources and/or method (site agent/engineer to be involved
and take ownership of schedule for execution)
• Calendar requirements such as rain, milestones, specific item
sequence etc. are set up in line with with GCC requirements
• Fully resourced with usage graphs for EPCM reporting
• WBS areas by use of site drawings and scope of work.
PSS assists in claim related scheduling issues by setting up
'historic' schedules (from the client’s correspondence with
the client or contractor and daily site records – should these
documents NOT be available)
• Calculation of standing time, delays (impact of design changes
and permits not available), etc.
• Site specific MS Project training to site agents and contracts
managers
For more information or to make an appointment, please call Berna
Seddon on 079 492 2916. Or visit our websitewww.pssplanners.co.za
Easier planning and scheduling
Project Planning and Scheduling (PSS) is an experienced project planning and scheduling consultancy that
specialises in multiple discipline construction and study phase schedules.
What does PCBS do?
PCBS operates as an underwriting manager
on behalf of Guardrisk Insurance Company
Limited. It is mandated to underwrite con-
tract surety bonds, specifically in the con-
struction industry but also in the customs &
excise industry.
How long has the company been in
existence?
PCBS started operating in late 2005. We
then had a licence to underwrite on behalf
of Santam Risk Finance (now called Centriq
Insurance). In 2006 we started underwriting
on behalf of Guardrisk Insurance.
How would you describe PCBS in one
sentence?
Africa’s guarantee specialist.
What makes PCBS’ offering unique?
Our market edge in terms of the construction
guarantee that we offer is our implementa-
tion of alternative risk transfer. Guardrisk
Insurance is an alternative risk transfer insurer,
which enables us to use their software and
modelling to apply the alternative risk trans-
fer to the construction and customs & excise
industry. This allows the client to participate
on the risk which leads to the benefit of a
lower insurance premium.
What is ‘alternative risk transfer’ and what
are the benefits?
In simple terms, alternative risk transfer is a
mechanism where the insured participates
on the risk as opposed to insuring the entire
risk – similar to excess on personal insur-
ance where the first portion is for your own
account. The advantage of this is that the cli-
ent receives company tax benefits (as there is
being participated in the own risk), and from
an insurance point of view a lower premium
is being paid as a smaller portion of risk is
being insured.
What are the benefits of getting issued a
guarantee through PCBS as opposed to
another similar company?
Firstly, for an existing client we are able to is-
sue guarantees within 24 hours. The second
is the quality of our guarantee (it is global
credit rating) – it is widely accepted – by both
public and private entities. This gives us the
advantage over other similar offerings.
Another benefit, especially for bigger
contractors branching out into Sub-Saharan
Africa, is that PCBS – though its fronting
partners and Guardrisk International – is
able to offer foreign currency guarantees.
This is why we brand ourselves as Africa’s
guarantee specialists.
Who are you clients?
About 60% of our client base is BEE contrac-
tors – these are contractors doing work for
national government, provincial government
or municipalities. About 25% are specialist
engineers with the rest being blue chip cli-
ents who operate in both the public and the
private sectors.
It has always been our underwriting
philosophy to enhance small to medium
enterprises – specifically in the construction
industry. Many of these contractors have
the technical capacity but lack the financial
knowledge about how to run a business.
This leads to them often struggling to access
financial services.
It has therefore been a conscious decision
for us to find a model with which to address
this risk and at the same time allow the client
to grow his/her business.
We intend to continue focusing and
growing these SMME contractors as we have
seen many of our clients growing from small
contractors to medium sized contractors.
Have younoticedan increase in thenumber
of guarantees you issue?
We have seen a year-on-year increase in the
number of guarantees issued compared to
a very slow last quarter of 2012 which is an
indication that the construction industry is
recovering from the slowdown.
●
Brian Africa – marketing and business
development executive of Performance
and Custom Bond Services (PCBS).
