Deon Viljoen attributes the company’s success to the shared goals of the team. “We employ a fairly horizontal management structure at SMV Consulting Engineers where everybody takes responsibility for his/her deliverables and there is equal opportunity for all the team players. We have 22 permanent staff members and more than 80% of them come from previously disadvantaged backgrounds. We also run a special programme to help PDI students complete their civil engineering qualification and take a vested interest in the future of these students,” explains Deon.

Over the last few years, the company has been involved in numerous projects and have extended their offices to Midrand, Kempton Park, Tshwane, Polokwane, Mafikeng, Kimberley and other areas. “We acquired Civil Designer software two years ago and have rolled it out to some of our design offices to help with project designs. We have also invested in software training and have experienced an overwhelmingly positive reaction from staff. The package is fairly user friendly and the co-ordinate system is really terrific, what a pleasure!”

A current project that has allowed full use of Civil Designer’s design functionality, includes the R6,8 million Mabopane Taxi Rank Development (Tshwane). The new taxi rank, which required large-scale social interaction, was requested by the Tshwane Metropolitan Council. “One of the biggest challenges on this assignment was the high level of community participation surrounding the relocation of informal traders at the taxi rank. We therefore started by drafting a layout with everybody’s input during the meeting stage and only set out to prepare the final drawings once the layout was accepted. We also worked closely with the surveyor on the project for a detailed contour survey of the area before building the model and contour plan in Civil Designer,” explains Deon. The draft designs for the Mabopane Taxi Rank have since been completed with construction to commence soon.
 

Another project that Deon recalls with pride is the completion of a dual carriageway for a local provincial road. “In the beginning we found the transition from working with a single to a dual carriageway road to be extremely difficult. But fortunately we could rely on the Knowledge Base Support Centre to offer some guidance when we got stuck and we managed to complete the designs within the required timeframe. It’s great when you have that kind of support,” says Deon.

Besides government contract work, the varied portfolio of SMV Civil Engineers also includes private development work which keeps the company equally busy. The Malachite Mews Boksburg Development is one such multidisciplinary project that comprises of a 316 residential unit development. “We used Civil Designer quite extensively when planning the services for the units and it is great that you can switch from one module to the next. We used the Sewer, Roads and Stormwater modules to complete this project and it was an absolute pleasure to work with the program. The industry seems to be booming in private development work. Many of the units which retailed at under R600 000 per unit were almost completely sold out in the first week and there is already a waiting list for a further 60 units.”

The growth of this thriving company over the last ten years amidst the many political changes in South Africa has been both steady and full of promise. "The next step for SMV Consulting Engineers is to consolidate our position in the market as a company that delivers exceptional service and quality. We hope to attain our ISO 9001 accreditation in 2007 in support of our vision to be associated with quality," says Deon in closing.