Elliot Wessels

I have been involved in the construction industry for more than 26 years, of which 19 has been in planning / project controls. I worked my way up from a semi-skilled to my current position as Planning Manager. I spent 7 years in the field doing mechanical fitting, pipefitting and boilermaking. In the construction industry, you quickly learn how to do all disciplines, in order to ensure continuous work, both working on my own and also leading teams. This definitely gives me an advantage over planners that didn't have the experience of doing the physical work in the field. Most of my planning experience was gained while working for managing contractors likeFluor Construction, Technip France and KBR. I have also gained experience working for the owners teams such as Sasol Technologies and BHP Billiton. This experience makes me very good in analysing a schedule and picking up the mistakes. As per my CV, I have gained experience in various phases of the project, industries and disciplines, ranging from Conceptual Design, Feasibility Studies, FEED, through to Execution, Commissioning, Project Close-out and Ramp-up in the Refining Industry, Petrochemical and mining sector. I am very detailed orientated and precise in my work. I perform best under pressure and always enjoy a challenging project.While working with various companies I have gained experience and competence in a number of planning software packages, namely Primavera, Microsoft Projects, CCS and OpenPlan. Claim resolution and extension of time has always been an integral part of my job. I have also gained experience in NEC and FIDIC contracts. Report writing is also part of my current responsibilities and I endeavour to provide insight of possible issues and trends in my reports. I have also gained Construction Management experience by standing in for the Operations Manager for the past 3,5 years when he goes on R&R. I have managed all aspects of the project and at peak we had more than 1 600 employees on site. The combined total of all the projects was $149 million.