Constructing a synthetic sports facility is no easy feat. Depending on the size of the facility, schools are required to get the relevant council and WCED permissions before being able to build a synthetic sports facility.
We got in touch with synthetic sports field experts, Synsport, to help you understand how the process works. Synsport’s expertise stretch from an in-house engineer to the design and construction of the facility.
Q1) What are schools often unaware of in terms of what they need to do before they start constructing an astro?
The drawing up of plans, layerworks design and storm-water outlet details are often all required as part of the submission process.
We advise schools not to underestimate the permitting process, land development, site survey work, figuring out water drainage patterns and levelling of the field. The actual design of the field is what sets the tone for the construction process.
Q2) What is the role of an engineer and what can you expect to pay for their role?
It is difficult to give a price estimate as there are a lot of potential services an engineer can do. To give you an idea, these are the services our engineer, Leon Louw at Integrate can provide (We take as much pride in what happens during the planning phase and therefore recommend that our clients make use of our engineering team like Integrate):
Surveying of the site
- Feasibility studies
- Site Investigations
- Geo-Tech Survey (This details the ground conditions)
- Topographical Survey (This details the levels of the land)
- Topographical Survey (This details the levels of the land)
- Layer works design
- Stormwater design and connection to existing
- Side sections design
- Team Shelter design (if not “off-the-shelf” type)
- Plans of the sports facility for submission to WCEDDetailed plans for construction
- Detailed Bill of Quantities
- Supervision of the civils contractor during construction
- Professional Indemnity (He signs off on the work to ensure that the field has been built according to the correct specifications)
Q3) Can a parent or Governing Body member who is an engineer perform this role?
It is advisable to use an engineer that has experience in sports field design and construction. Making use of a parent who is an engineer in a different field can often lead to lengthy delays as they often don’t know the correct layerworks and drainage designs that are best suited to a synthetic sports field.
What we also often encounter is a parent with his/her own construction company wanting to tender on the base works element of the project. It is very risky for a school to allow this as it is very specialised work. A hockey astro that is to be FIH tested is built to very strict tolerances and often these tolerances are not met when schools make use of a parent’s services.
Q4) What is the process with town planning and how could this hinder the project?
Typically, projects for schools are located on the school’s property, which means the zoning and rights are in place to construct a sports field on the school’s property.
Even if the school funds the project themselves, they still require approval from the landowner (Provincial Government) to make the intended improvements on the land owner’s property.
These approvals take 4 – 6 weeks if all the information is provided correctly at the time of submission.
Thereafter, the local authority also needs to approve the plans prior to commencement of construction. Each local authority has its own timeframes for approval of plans.
Q5) What samples need to be taken before construction can be properly planned for (drilling holes, etc.)
The first step is to perform a Geotechnical investigation and Topographical survey.
Geotechnical Investigation
The Geotechnical investigation will give us vital information about the quality of the soil. This enables us to calculate what level of stabilization is required should there be high levels of clay material. It also enables us to calculate the correct compaction required and this then outlines the layerworks design that will be best suited.
Topographical Survey
The topographical survey will look at the high and low spots over the proposed area and allows us to calculate our cut-to fill ratios. This can be a huge saving to the school as we can ultimately cut from the high spots and transport to the low areas, thus reducing the amount of subbase material that needs to be imported onto the site.
Q6) What are some of the key budgeting items that need to be thought out before constructing an astro?
Generally, when schools first start the discussions around a synthetic sports pitch they will request a quote. This allows them to see if they have the necessary funds available OR if they have to arrange various fundraising initiatives in order to raise the funds.
Some schools take up to 5 years to raise the required funds and we would typically update the “budget estimate quote” every 12-18 months to keep them informed of increases.
In our budget quote, we always make provision for Engineers Fees and we allow a 5% contingency which is built into the project value. The 5% contingency looks to deal with foreign exchange movements on imported components and also looks to absorb inflation over the period when the school is trying to raise funds.
Q7) How would you work the budget required to build an astro?
We would typically use our most recent quote for a school/club in a similar area. This quote will be accurate to within 5%.
If the school is in an outlying area, we would need to do a fresh costing as we need to take into account staff accommodation, increased transport, closest quarries for subbase purchases, etc.
Q8) How do you budget and plan for long-term challenges with regards to maintenance of an astro?
When we construct a synthetic sports facility, we offer a 5-year maintenance plan built into the package. We also supply the school with the necessary equipment should they wish to execute the maintenance themselves.
Over and above this, we have an in-house maintenance team who carry out maintenance at facilities across SA. Schools can elect to take out a maintenance contract over 3, 6 or 12 months in they so wish.
From SchoolAdvisor’s side, we have no hesitation in recommending Synsport thanks to their incredibly impressive reputation and professionalism (you can view their 17 reviews here). If you would like Synsport to quote your school or if you would just like them to provide you with more info, complete the form below and they will get back to you ASAP.
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A word from SchoolAdvisor – the procurement experts
Before accepting a quote from any company, there are some important things we recommend schools do.
First, carefully assess the different quotes received and make sure you compare ‘apples with apples’. And second, visit various sites (like a school sports field) to compare the workmanship of the companies in question. You can also check each companies’ reviews on SchoolAdvisor as a starting point. Thanks to these amazing reviews, we can easily recommend Synsport’s service.
Here are some projects Synsports has done for top schools around South Africa
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