UNITED NATIONS SELECTS SUBSIDIARY OF LEADING SWEDISH FIRM SKANSKA

AS CONSTRUCTION MANAGER FOR CAPITAL MASTER PLAN

 

The United Nations has selected Skanska USA Building Inc., a subsidiary of Skanska AB, Stockholm, Sweden, as Construction Manager for the pre-construction phase of the United Nations Capital Master Plan.  The Pre-Construction Phase Services Agreement for the renovation of the United Nations Headquarters was signed today in New York.

Alicia Bárcena, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Management, said: “The signing of the Agreement with Skanska is a major step forward to make the UN Headquarters a safer and healthier, more secure and more energy-efficient place for staff, delegations and visitors.  It will help us meet modern standards for building codes, fire safety and accessibility.”  Ms. Bárcena also underlined that Skanska has been a participant in the United Nations Global Compact since 2001.

Skanska is one of the world’s leading construction groups, with expertise in construction, development of commercial and residential projects, and public-private partnerships.  The group currently has 56,000 employees in selected home markets in Europe, the United States and Latin America.  Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, and listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, Skanska’s sales in 2006 totalled $17 billion.

Stuart Graham, President and Chief Executive Officer of Skanska, said: “We are extremely honoured to partner with the United Nations to help them create a modern and environmentally sound headquarters for its membership and staff.  We are committed to working in the same international spirit as the UN.”

Skanska was selected after a technical, contractual and commercial evaluation by the United Nations and independent outside senior industry experts in a competitive bidding process with three proposals altogether.

During the pre-construction phase, Skanska will review the current design drawings of the Capital Master Plan for constructability, value engineering, as well as cost-savings opportunities, and advise the United Nations accordingly.  Skanska will provide detailed cost estimates in light of current market conditions and projected future cost escalations.  This will be summed up in a number of guaranteed price contracts for the various parts of the renovation.  Upon submission of a guaranteed maximum price to the United Nations to perform the construction, the Organization has the right to accept or reject Skanska’s pricing.  It has the option to award the Construction Management Agreement to Skanska, which has been extensively negotiated and agreed to by the two sides.

The Capital Master Plan, mandated by the General Assembly on 30 June 2006, is the first thorough renovation project for United Nations Headquarters since it was opened in 1952.  The project will replace deteriorated systems, remove asbestos and achieve compliance with building and fire safety codes and modern standards for security, energy efficiency, sustainability and accessibility.  The Headquarters includes six buildings with a total of about 2.6 million square feet/241,000 square metres on 17 acres/6.9 ha.  The General Assembly approved a budget of $1.88 billion for the Capital Master Plan on 22 December 2006, to be borne by the Member States based on the regular budget scale of assessments applicable for 2007.  (See Press Release GA/10566.)

For further information, please contact Werner Schmidt, Public Information Officer, Capital Master Plan, United Nations, tel: 917 367 5420, email: schmidtw@un.org.  Please visit also www.un.org/cmp.

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For information media • not an official record