Nebest Consultancy Group

Nebest Consultancy Group is a holding which includes various engineering/consulting offices in the Netherlands. The organisation can provide tailor made solutions with respect to all inspection and research matters associated with infrastructure, industrial and offshore projects. Nebest can also provide inspection and consulting services for mechanical and electrical installations as well as real estate facility management services. Furthermore, we can render not only inspection and consulting services in the field of coatings, but we also carry out non-destructive test inspections (welding, exchangers, tanks et cetera).
 
Our project management activities are focussed on both large and small renovation and new construction projects. You can find Nebest people working on infrastructural projects as well as refineries, offshore platforms, chemical plants, nuclear and thermal power plants et cetera. The knowledge and experience of Nebest staff in the field of maintenance advice is utilised to design new infrastructures to ensure that future maintenance operations are more efficient and more cost effective, i.e. life cycle engineering. Finally, our operations include the development of new systems for inspection of and research on concrete, steel, brickwork, wood and other materials.
 
Clients
Nebest clients include industries (a.o. petrochemical companies, offshore, power plants), the Dutch Ministry of Transport, provincial and local authorities, district water boards, housing associations, project developers and (main)contractors world-wide.
 
Engineering and consultancy
As a result of many years of experience Nebest has managed to build up a high degree of expertise in inspection and maintenance advice (concrete, steel, petrochemical plants, offshore, brickwork, wooden structures and installations). Our organisation is active in a wide range of civil, coating, mechanical and electrical projects. Because of its close associations with prominent foreign information centres, Nebest has managed to accrue exclusive know how and experience in the development and application of new research techniques.
 
The expertise of our engineering and consultancy activities spans the following fields:
  • visual inspections of structures and mechanical or electrical installations;
  • detailed analysis on site or in the laboratory;
  • focussed technical inspections;
  • non-destructive inspection techniques;
  • inspection of petrochemical and offshore projects;
  • advice on pipeline preservation, including monitoring;
  • coating consultancy;
  • advice on repair and protection, including technical assistance in writing or analysing paint specifications;
  • preparation of repair and protection specifications, including coating systems and cathodic protection for maintenance and new construction;
  • advice on structural maintenance based on the latest technology;
  • development and application of new, objective measurement and inspection techniques;
  • structural inspections and monitoring, using sensors, both traditional and wireless;
  • analysis and advice relating to problems associated with steel preservation layers;
  • advice on concrete preservation such as cathodic protection, including engineering and monitoring of these types of structures;
  • consultancy for insurance companies.
 
The importance of planned maintenance and management is increasingly being recognised. As a result Nebest is receiving many requests for structural inspections from local authorities. This is usually followed up with short and long term maintenance advice, for instance:
  • engineering of durability aspects in the design phase;
  • expert judgement of fireproofing design;
  • quality control during design and performance of new construction and renovation projects, including risk analyses, writing of quality assurance plans, auditing of quality assurance plans and processes and day-to-day quality control on site;
  • monitoring of key parameters throughout the life-time of a structure, such as progress of degradation processes (e.g. chloride ingress or carbonation), structural integrity, structural deformation and corrosion. Monitoring can be anything from a visual inspection at large intervals up to advanced continuous sensor instrumentation;
  • design and engineering of renovation works.
 
Client comments:
‘We will definitely reduce costs in the long term. Structural maintenance can be compared with maintenance of your own house. If doors and windows are not painted on a regular basis, they will eventually have to be replaced. Obviously the same applies to bridge decks, abutments or supports.’
 
Comments from Bouwdienst Rijkswaterstaat (Construction Department of the Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management) on the construction and supervision of two tunnel shafts and transverse connections between the shafts on the Westerscheldetunnel:
‘The drilling and installation of the tunnel shafts and transverse connections were high risk factors during the construction phase. We wanted to maintain continual supervision. A piece of concrete breaking off a tunnel segment is not acceptable. Repairs have to be implemented quickly and efficiently as the drilling process continues. Supervision is not merely focussed on the monitoring of quality but also on risk management and clear communication with the contractor and the client.’
 
Project management
Our project management department is the ideal organisation to provide overall supervision for new construction, maintenance and renovation projects associated with infrastructure, construction, industry and offshore. Supervision is focussed on the preliminary, implementation and management phases of a project.
 
During the preliminary phase Nebest has extensive experience relating to the following:
  • inventory of current status;
  • preparation of risk analyses;
  • preparation of specifications and cost calculations;
  • advice on and supervision of tender procedures;
  • supervision of the application of coating and other conservation systems on steel, both on new constructions and during maintenance;
  • supervision of the installation of cathodic protection systems, both on steel and concrete projects.

During the implementation and management phase the following operations are involved :

  • management;
  • site supervision;
  • provision of independent advice and supervision on quality aspects, both to the contractor and the client;
  • technical assistance in writing and/or analysing specifications, including paint specifications;
  • maintenance of specification administration;
  • preparation of maintenance plans;
  • management support;
  • survey;
  • audit.

The project management’s hands on approach covers operations from the very start of a project right up to the hand over of the project.

 Knowledge management

These activities are focussed on the acquisition and transfer of knowledge, viz.:

  • purchasing of specific information/know how via licences or agencies;
  • application of this know how for the benefit of activities within the Nebest group;
  • sale of information/know how via licences or otherwise;
  • transfer of information/know how via courses, seminars, workshops, congresses, in company training sessions and publications in various countries;
  • organisation of courses and seminars, a.o. on quality assurance systems;
  • training of workers and inspectors active in the petrochemical and the offshore industry.

When the occasion arises Nebest will set up joint ventures with companies in the Netherlands or abroad. Developments in concrete maintenance are moving at a fast pace, even for those who have been working in this sector for many years. As a result ‘Concrete damage, analysis and repair methods’ is one of the more popular courses included in the package provided by Nebest.

Comments from a course participant:
‘Having successfully completed various courses I have become a force to be reckoned with. Now that I am in a much better position to recognise and designate matters, consultations with contractors run much more smoothly. I would recommend the courses to anyone involved in concrete and steel based projects. Even participants who have been working in the industry for many years benefit a lot from the courses. As far as I am concerned complicated phrases or difficult words are no longer a problem – I can see right through them.’

Nebest Consultancy Group

In addition to its activities in the Netherlands the Nebest Consultancy Group is increasingly focussing on international markets, not just with respect to inspection, consulting and supervision operations but also to obtain information/know how on new developments.

Would you like to receive more information? Please do not hesitate to contact us for further information or to arrange a meeting to discuss our activities and operating methods.
Nebest B.V.

Schoonhovenseveer 31-33
2964 GB Groot-Ammers
Postbus 61
2964 ZH Groot-Ammers
- Tel: 0184 601 766
- Fax: 0184 601 211 

E-mail: mail@nebest.nl