A Safer Kitchen for the Kids of St Joseph’s

Fri, 7 May 2010

REPORT 1: St Joseph's Home for Chronically Ill Children – Upgrading kitchen facilities in a home for chronically ill children

This project will upgrade the kitchen facility at St Joseph’s Home, replacing some of the old fittings, which no longer comply with the requirements of the Department of Health, with modern stainless steel equipment. This will provide a more hygienic and safer environment to prepare food for the children.

The project began in March 2010 and was due for completion at the end of April 2010.

Outputs

• The stainless steel stove canopy, complete with four louver frames has been installed, inspected for quality of work, and this part of the project is completed. The contractor has been paid for the completed work.

• The installation of the canopy resulted in the re-arrangement of the work area, and as a result the measurements of the tabletops required in the kitchen have changed. The company responsible for the installation has re-submitted work plans, which has resulted in delays to the original time frames. The final delivery and or conversion of the tabletop will take another four to eight weeks. No payment has been made for the table tops.

• The delivery of the stainless steel drip tray has been delayed, but is anticipated within the next two weeks. No payment will be made until the tray arrives.

Expenditure

The total budget for this project is R61,482 and has been paid in full.

Description	Budget	Expenditure
Canopy	28 805	28 805
Work tops	24 570	0
Drip tray	557	0
Sub-total	53 932	28 805
VAT	7 550	4 032
TOTAL	61 482	32 837

Challenges

As discussed above, the installation of the canopy led to a re-arrangement of the work area. This means that the rest of the project has been delayed by up to eight weeks. Fortunately, however, this will not have any impact on the cost of the project.

Monitoring and evaluation

The canopy was properly installed. It took the contractor an extra two weeks of work to complete the installation. The Director of the Home, the Fiscal Director and the Maintenance Manager reviewed the work and approved the payment. The Home worked closely with the Department of Health to make sure the work performed was in line with their recommendations. A Department of Health inspection is expected within the next 12 months.

Conclusions

The new equipment has already made a noticeable difference to the kitchen. The management of the Home as well as the head chef have all expressed their satisfaction with the progress thus far and look forward to the completion of the project. Although the project will take longer than initially anticipated, the new layout of the kitchen has created a space that is much better suited to the needs of the kitchen staff, and the Home is confident that the contracted company will be able to complete the work within the next eight weeks without changing the cost of the project.