UNOPS

What we do

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Physical Infrastructure Design Unit (PIDU)

UNOPS Physical Infrastructure Design Unit (PIDU) provides professional, cost-effective and timely design and project documentation services to the United Nations and its partners worldwide.

Launched four years ago the unit offers its services on a cost recovery basis and has seen steadily increasing demand. It is now a separate unit within UNOPS with a Governance Board that meets monthly to provide oversight and coordination.

Through the UNOPS network of regional offices and country and project operations centers, the unit has positioned itself as a global provider of infrastructure design services. From Sudan to Afghanistan to Sri Lanka, the impressive portfolio of completed projects showcases PIDU’s capacity to produce effective designs for, among others, schools, hospitals, bridges, water supply, sanitation, and harbour facilities.

The team

PIDU has a multi-disciplinary team of over 35 highly-skilled personnel with global experience including architects; civil, mechanical, electrical and structural engineers; drafters, quantity surveyors and other specialists. The team ensures that results are delivered in some of the most challenging environments worldwide, including post-conflict and post-disaster settings, and in tropical, sub-tropical, arid and temperate climates.

To improve the speed, quality and sustainability of infrastructure services that UNOPS delivers globally, joint consulting and implementation partnerships have been established with firms such as Arup, the global consultancy, planning, design and engineering firm, and with professional and educational institutions.

Services

PIDU provides:

Pre-project design advice
Feasibility studies
Proposal and concept design
Detailed design documents
Project schedules and specifications
Quantity surveying and bills of quantities
Contract documents to the international Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) standards

Capacity

An impressive portfolio of completed projects demonstrates PIDU’s design capacity. Examples include:

Schools and universities
Hospitals, clinics and laboratories
Government offices and community centres
Courthouses and police stations
Remand centres and prisons
Displaced persons camps
Temporary and permanent housing schemes
Water supply, surface and sub-surface storage and sanitation
Roads and bridges
Power generation facilities

Value-add

PIDU offers competitive pricing based on hourly rates, inclusive of all overhead costs. Partners receive progress reports, detailed estimates, and monthly invoices which are compared against original estimates for greater transparency and tracking efficiency.

Working with PIDU