Situation of Insurance for Projects Will Be Determined Soon
Mr. Gholamreza Tavakkol Moqaddam was employed by the National Iranian Gas Company in 1984. He had already worked as managing director of a construction company for 2 years and another 2 years with the Ministry of Energy as senior engineer for design and calculation of concrete agricultural water distribution canals in Varamin and Garmsar.
After employment in the National Iranian Gas Company, he started to work in contracts department. In 2003 and for a period of 2.5 years, he worked as official in charge of specialized affairs with Gas Supply Department of the National Iranian Gas Company. Then in June 2006, he was appointed in charge of contracts and engineering assessments department of Gas Engineering and Development Company.
Gholamreza Tavakkol Moqaddam was born in 1952 in Shiraz and graduated from civil engineering course in 1980.
Accepting us with exemplary patience, he started to talk about contracts affairs by saying, “Gas Engineering and Development Company consists of different departments with different duties. One department focuses on projects which is the frontline of executive activities in the company. Other departments specialize in contracts affairs, legal affairs, HSEQ affairs and other fields which support projects. The main duty of contracts affairs is to formulate necessary contracts, study and approve final statements, and study and approve tender bid papers and other related activities.”
Tavakkol Moqaddam also noted that the contracts affairs department was the first body at the National Iranian Gas Company which obtained ISO 9001:2000 certificate before 2003. High quality of projects and optimization of activities are major components of the certificate and the department is still working along the same lines.
He added that the contracts affairs department was a powerful department which worked within the framework of laws and regulations concerning tender bids, the bylaw of oil industry transactions and other instruments which are notified by the Ministry of Petroleum. It also follows suit with internal circulars of the National Iranian Gas Company and the Gas Engineering and Development Company.
“The contracts affairs department has representatives in all projects which are in charge of contractual services and the department monitors projects though them. The material which is fed back to us is put to expert studies and answers are given according to principles and regulations,” he added.
Tavakkol Moqaddam also mentioned formulation of various directives for enforcement of contracts, assessment of statements, project delay and appraisal of projects as other duties of the contracts department. He noted that a uniform frame for contracts has been approved for the gas industry and has been recently endorsed by the board of directors before being notified to various project managers to be implemented in coordination with the managing director of the company.
Tavakkol Moqaddam stated that contracts are underway both as price list and single article, adding, “Due to complexities of some projects, the first option is usually preferable to the second option.”
He added that implementation of single article contracts, which has been recently approved, would be possible after proposed by the project manager and confirmed by the managing director because it is seldom used as the risk of project in terms of predicting the size of the project and executive conditions is higher, though payment is easier. “Therefore, we usually use the price list method which is more complicated, but less risky,” he said.
Head of the contracts department of the Gas Engineering and Development Company also noted that the situation of insurance for projects will be determined soon, adding, “Due to high number of projects underway by the Gas Engineering and Development Company, all-risk insurance and mechanism used to do it is of special significance and reports have been prepared and sent to the managing director.”
Tavakkol Moqaddam said correcting consumption pattern should not be limited to saving on water, power and gas, adding, “We must describe correct consumption of all material and spiritual resources…. In other words, everything should be where they are meant to be to optimize cost of projects and prevent extravagance. A committee has been established at the company with a representative from the contracts department. They have made good decisions which will enter into force through cooperation of the managing director.”
“Anyway, good consumption, reducing wasting of time in administrative processes, increasing specialized knowledge, effective exchange of information, facilitating regulations and preventing repetition are among major steps which constitute good examples of correcting consumption model, which will lead to higher quality and saving on time and expenses,” he said.
Asked about the relationship between employers and employees, the official noted that every person should do their job and be a role model because this would raise the spirit of the whole system and strengthen collaborative work. “I have good relations with my colleagues and I am satisfied with all of them,” he added.
“I expect my colleagues to do more than before by fulfilling their commitments and increasing their presence in various activities of the company,” he said.
Tavakkol Moqaddam said a bitter recent memory for him was hearing news about demise of the spouse of one of his colleagues and mentioned group activities which led to obtaining ISO 9001:2000 certificate as one of the best memories of his service period.
Tavakkol Moqaddam will be retired in December 2012. He thanked his wife for her efforts in raising their only child who is now studying in the second grade of Farzanegan High School.
He advised his colleagues at the contracts and engineering assessments department to be more diligent and finish projects in the shortest possible time. He also advised project managers who have requested the department to see into their problems to provide papers and documents with sufficient quality and quantity in order to get a more complete and rapid response.
“The project managers should give logical answers to claims raised by contractors and consultants, so that, there would be no need to forward those claims to our department unless in exceptional cases,” he said.
As the last word, he thanked the managing director for his logical guidance, patience and high spirit and said all that has been achieved by the department was a result of his colleagues’ sincere efforts.
“Therefore, I thank all of them and all other colleagues in the company who have worked for the excellence of the company. I highly respect them,” he concluded.
Public Relations Department of Gas Engineering and Development Company
