Background
Kitololo Consultants is one of Kenya’s best known indigenous engineering consultancies. Having been established in 1975, it has been operational for longer than many other firms in the industry and has been involved in numerous multidisciplinary projects spanning both public and private sectors over the years.
The firm has been engaged as a consultant on projects implemented or funded by the Government of Kenya, World Bank, African Development Bank, USAID, EU, other bilateral and multilateral aid agencies, parastatal corporations, local authorities, public companies and private developers.
Initially known as Kitololo & Partners, the firm underwent structural changes in 1984 and adopted its current name.
Today, Kitololo Consultants, the brainchild of seasoned engineer A.S. Kitololo, is an independent civil and structural engineering company offering professional services to public and private sector clients in project planning, design, management, construction supervision, contract administration and maintenance programming.
Due to the constantly evolving nature and complex dynamics of the construction industry, the firm found it necessary to form an arm that would complement its core work of civil and structural engineering. Kitololo Management was therefore set up in 1983 as an in-house specialist subsidiary to deal effectively with all aspects of project management and supervision of construction operations.
Guiding Values
Kitololo Consultants understands that a close working relationship with clients is essential in order to understand their needs and offer suitable solutions.
The firm constantly endeavours to find new and innovative ways of meeting these needs. In every project, suitably qualified and experienced professionals are assigned to guarantee quality control and timely completion.
Kitololo Consultants believes the role of the consultant must extend beyond physical completion of a project. The firm therefore aims at providing responsive service before, during and after each project.
Core Competencies
Kitololo Consultants has a strong human resources base that is well versed with the following broad areas in which the firm provides services:
Project Services
The firm undertakes site selection and investigations to advise clients on the suitability of the site for the envisaged project. This is a critical service because not every project can be undertaken at any site.
Many developers or project owners mistakenly believe that they can put up any type of structure on any land they purchase. However, factors such as general characteristics of the soils in the work area and environmental considerations are critical.
Kitololo Consultants also provides Project Management services (to ensure work is done to the required standard, within the stipulated budget and time), Project Planning, Feasibility Studies, Cost Estimates and Engineering Control.
Project Design
Before the commencement of any project, there are several key tasks that engineers insist on performing. These include Topographical Survey which gives detailed information about terrain and surface features. This information is essential for the planning and construction of any major civil engineering, public works or reclamation projects.
Kitololo Consultants provide this service in addition to producing Preliminary Design reports, Final Design, Specifications, Measurements and Quantities as well as Tender Documentation at the end of the exercise.
Project Supervision
Once a project commences, the most important control is keen supervision. Even the best designed projects will go wrong if the consultants who did the designs fail to check the quality and accuracy of the work being done. Kitololo Consultants stays with the project until its completion, providing vital services along the way such as Site Management, Construction Supervision, Quality Control, Materials Testing, Cost Control, Contract Administration and Maintenance Scheduling.
The firm also does the Final Accounting and provides As-built documentation (which typically describes the project as has been built and not what was necessarily planned on paper).
Specifically, the following are the civil engineering services offered by Kitololo Consultants:
Roads
The firm provides the complete package – from initial survey and design to auxiliary services such as Traffic Control Systems. Kitololo Consultants will undertake Preliminary Studies and Route Selection, Topographical and Materials Surveys as well as Alignment and Pavement Design. In addition, the firm has expertise on Storm Water Drainage, Parking Facilities, Bus Terminals and Bridges and Culverts.
Water
In water projects, Kitololo Consultants provides its expertise in Rural and Urban Masterplans, Intake and Treatment Works, Reservoirs and Elevated Storage Facilities, Pipelines, Distribution Networks and Pumping Stations dams. Other areas the firm handles are Irrigation, River Training Works and Pollution Control.
Sewerage
Kitololo Consultants can produce Masterplans, design and oversee Sewer Networks, Sewage Treatment and Disposal, Trunk Sewers and Sea Outfalls as well as implement Industrial Sewerage Systems.
Structures
The firm has experience and expertise on Soil Investigations, Foundations Design, Low and Highrise Structures, Factory Buildings, Office Blocks, Residential Housing and Public Buildings. It has also done extensive work involving Liquid Containing Facilities, Retaining Walls, Silos, Storage Tanks, Bridges and Culverts, Dams, Elevated Highways, Marine Structures and Structural Surveys.
Others
Other services include advice on Building Regulations, Investment Analyses, Financial Planning and Technical Audits. This therefore makes Kitololo Consultants a one-stop centre for engineering and relates services.
Experience
In the nearly four decades that Kitololo Consultants has been active, the firm has been appointed as the civil and structural engineers in many projects.
Buildings
The firm was the engineering consultant on a 22-storey building project housing lecture theatres, auditorium, offices, lecture rooms and a helipad. The tower consisted of reinforced concrete frame with large spans ranging from 8 to 20 metres clear and two-level basement car parking area. It has also overseen 14 and 20-storey buildings with similar challenges, among others.
In special projects category, Kitololo Consultants has overseen a church sanctuary in Kampala, Uganda with three-level basements, 7-metre cantilevered balconies in reinforced concrete, a clear roof span of 28.8 metres in structural steel and 33-metre-tall bell tower in reinforced concrete.
Factories
Kitololo Consultants were appointed engineers in the construction of storage godowns and dried leaf processing plant at Thika for BAT (Kenya). The structure had a clear span of 41 metres and 138 metres long. The roof consisted of 3-pinned steel arches bearing on reinforced concrete columns.
The firm also provided consultancy services for Kwale Cashew Processors Limited in the company’s Cashew processing complex in Kwale, South Coast, Kenya. The works comprised the main factory building -32 metres wide and 160 metres long – administration block, staff housing, water supply, sewerage and access roads.
Hotels
In the hospitality segment, the firm has done a 300 bed five-star hotel on the Kenyan South Coast comprising four storey structures in reinforced concrete, swimming pool, water supply/storage systems, sewerage, access road, storm water drainage.
Development Infrastructure
Among projects accomplished here are a Sub-division scheme in Nairobi Outer Ring Road, Embakasi, comprising 155 residential plots and 50 industrial plots. Infrastructure services included roadworks, water reticulation, sewer networks, surface water drainage and street lighting. Kitololo Consultants was also engaged in another sub-division scheme in Eastlands comprising 1382 plots.
The works involved the design of road works, water reticulation, sewerage networks, street lighting and six different type houses, flats and shopping centre.
Other major projects Kitololo Consultants has accomplished are in Housing Development, Institutions, Roads, Water Supply and Sanitation. The firm has also undertaken Specialist Services such as consulting for UN-Habitat in the production of Lesotho Building Regulations, Somalia Simplified Building Regulations and Uganda Building Regulations among many others.
For more information on Kitololo Consultants, please visit www.kc.co.ke
