Joe Fischer

6.20 AM

I awake and take my brown border collie, ‘Bear’, for a walk along the beach. Weather permitting, in the summer months I will go for a dip in the bay. A refreshing way to start the day. 

7.20 AM

Friday I swap out my regular bicycle commute to the city for the train. I take Friday’s after work as an opportunity to meet up with friends in the city or unwind with colleagues. The train gives me a chance to read for 20 minutes and relax before a busy day. 

8.00 AM

I enjoy arriving at the office early and eating breakfast overlooking the city and whilst I read the paper. My first task each day is to sit down at the computer and catch up on emails which usually consist of sub-contractor, consultant or client correspondence. I then will make revisions to my to-do list and mark off completed tasks. Today, I only have two meetings scheduled which means an opportunity to catch up on some much needed paper work.  

8.30 AM

I read over the Project Control Group (PCG) report to refresh myself before the PCG meets at 10:00am.  Ahead of the meeting, I will assess the projects progression and financials with the relevant Project Manager and Construction Manager. Additionally, I highlight any issue which I believe is pertinent to the PCG to ensure my colleagues are across the critical elements of the project and the meeting is productive. 

9.00 AM

A quick coffee with my team at one of our favourite local coffee spots. Then a short walk down to our client’s head office for our monthly PCG meeting. The monthly meeting is an opportunity for me to present to the PCG on the project programme, delays, any latent conditions which may have been uncovered, and the interface between OH&S and the operational hospital. Additionally, as the quantity surveyor is an apology for the meeting, I provide updates to the PCG on cost control.      

11.00 AM

A successful meeting with a great client. Johnstaff gave me the opportunity to gain industry experience whilst still completing my Bachelor of Applied Science (Construction Management) at RMIT. As result, I have worked with this client for two years and have been able to develop a strong working relationship. 

11.30 AM

Arrive back in the office and a phone call to the Project Site Manager to provide updates from the PCG. My next task is to action any items from today’s meeting. Today, I was required to write up a commitment requisition for a client change request.  

12.00 PM

I am out for Friday lunch to one of our favourite dumpling restaurants in China Town. 

1.00 PM

Back into the office to catch up on much needed work, given the smaller size of the project I have a large amount of responsibility, and therefore look after all aspects of the project. I am currently working through a fire compliance issue on the site where we are building. A lot of the older buildings have fire compliance issues that need to be addressed when new construction works are undertaken.   

Outside of managing the construction expansion of a private hospital in Kew, I am also managing a Melbourne City Town Planning and Heritage Victoria application for a large roof over an open plant room in East Melbourne. Having multiple projects running in different stages of their lifecycle means my days are never the same. I really enjoy the continuing challenges and learnings as I work on complex construction projects.

I Spend 30 minutes going through invoices from Sub-Contractors in an effort to reduce the amount of work I will have at the end of the month when completing the monthly project claim. This involves processing all the invoices and expenditures for the project in the last month.  

2.30 PM

I grab the Johnstaff ute from the office and head out to site for my second and final meeting of the day. I am meeting with multiple sub-contractors to discuss the new canopy at site. The steel has just been erected and tied back into the existing building. I am meeting with the signage contractor, cladding contractor, roofing contractor and the electrician. It is imperative to make sure all sub-contractors are on the same page as all the aspects of their works tie into each other, if one aspect is incorrect it will impact all other sub-contractors and ultimately cause defects, variation and delays to the overall project. The meeting went well and we collectively uncovered design issues in the architectural and services drawings. 

4.30 PM

Arrive back into the office just in time for the drinks trolley. Tie off any loose ends from the week. 

I issue out requests for Information to the Consults and Architects regarding the design issues uncovered during the canopy site meeting with the Sub-Contractors. I send out an email to the Sub-Contractors summarising the meeting that took place so the actions are in writing and everyone is held accountable moving forward with the canopy works. 

5.30 PM

I head into the family room to join my colleagues for a drink and have a laugh at the end of the week. After a couple beers I head out for dinner with friends and enjoy the amazing food Melbourne has to offer.