IAKS Switzerland held its autumn seminar at Berner Westside shopping and leisure centre on 22 November 2018. The subject of the event was “Sports buildings: from the idea through to operation”. Awaiting the numerous attendees was a broad range of information and speakers.
The seminar kicked off with Beat Wittwer of the Swiss Advisory Office for Accident Prevention who used practical examples to draw attention to in some cases serious errors in design and construction. The round of questions at the end of the talk indicated that attendees attach great importance to this subject and are highly sensitised to it.
After this, the two IAKS Switzerland Executive Board members Roger Gut and Markus Gutknecht introduced their audience to “Pre-planning planning”. A feasibility study by specialists, and the inclusion of everyone involved in the project and community leaders constitute a solid foundation for successful pre-planning planning.
Marco Sacchetti, lawyer at the Office of Public Procurement in the Canton of Thurgau, highlighted in his talk the differences in legislation on the canton level and its application in practice. Compliance with and observance of the applicable legal framework is an absolute must in public tendering procedures and calls for expert knowledge that should be bought in from outside if it is not available internally.
Antoine Hahne (architect) and Serge Beslin (Director) of the new Malley CSM sports centre impressively illustrated the sums that an architect has to spend up front in order to participate in a project of this size. They presented the architectural strategy as well as the project, planning and marketing stages.
The afternoon block of talks was opened by Dr Anton Henniger (Kanzlei Henninger AG) on the subject of rights and duties in public procurement. Even if much is already defined by the existing legal framework, he recommends courage in exploring existing leeway in order to achieve the desired goal with good preparation, argumentation and communication.
Lawyer Manuela Häfliger (Fellmann Tschümperlin Lötscher AG) addressed the subject of public liability. Her audience was surprised to learn that not only sports facilities but also access ways and equipment may possibly be subject to plant owner liability, and some attendees are sure to seek clarification in the aftermath of the seminar. Since there is no patent solution for preventing conflict, each case must be analysed individually.
Melanie Klaes spoke out in favour of a culture of friendliness (Agentur für Freundlichkeit). She pointed out that a kind and positive attitude to life is capable of improving performance and makes it easier to deal with unpleasant experiences. This applies just as much to one’s private life as to work.
This talk marked the end of the series of talks. It was followed by a memorable inspection of the plant of Bernaqua fun pool with Andreas Grimm (fun pool and plant manager).
The perfectly organised conference offered not only plenty of information but also time for conversations in the breaks and made a lasting impression.
The next IAKS Switzerland autumn seminar will take place on 21 November 2019. Further details to follow.
photo: IAKS Switzerland
