星空传媒

Davis Langdon has been shortlisted for the most sought after project management contract in UK construction, the role of programme manager for the entire London Olympics building works.

The London Development Agency is understood to have identified five or six preferred companies and groups last week for the job, out of 50 bidders.

It will announce the official shortlist in up to a month鈥檚 time, according to Steve Davies, senior project manager at the LDA. The final decision was 鈥渕onths away鈥�, he added, because the details of the contract were still being thrashed out.

Davis Langdon has been shortlisted as part of a consortium it formed with contractor Mace and giant accountancy firm Deloitte. The consortium is widely viewed as the frontrunner in the competition.

Others understood to have their hats in the ring for the job are Turner & Townsend, Bovis and US firms Bechtel, Fluor Daniel and Hill International.

Jon Coxeter-Smith, partner in Davis Langdon鈥檚 sports division, is leading his firm鈥檚 contribution to the consortium.

The programme manager role includes overseeing the pre-Olympics construction phase, the Games themselves, and the post-Games removal or transformation of facilities.

The LDA has issued a separate request for proposals from engineering and environmental consultants to advise on demolition, remediation and other works in the run-up to the Olympics. The LDA said it was keen to use smaller companies and encouraged such firms to form consortia.

Tenders have also been invited for project managers and QSs to work on the Olympic Velopark.

The composition of the Olympic Delivery Authority will not be finalised until the Olympic Bill is passed in Spring 2006, although aspects of the Olympic building programme, such as the Aquatics Centre, are already underway.