Having a cup of coffee with Jan as a technical advisor at the Department of Public Works

Jan van Meel, has been a very important and highly valued colleague since 2017. He currently does assignments for the Department of Public Works as a technical consultant.

With his glass always ¾ full and a healthy dose of humor, he always sees opportunities. His long working days start at 5:30 a.m., Radio 538 on in the car and start the day laughing at their humor. "Getting everything out of it both private and business, after all, you don't get anything for nothing.", is his mentality.

 

What is your fondest memory of BENK?

"For a while I worked one day a week at the BENK Rotterdam office to share my network with the colleagues, in order to increase opportunities in the infra department. That togetherness, humor, openness at every level and pleasant working atmosphere is what I really like. Playing pool and table tennis at lunchtime (Joey still wants a revenge I think hahaha;)) and the informal is certainly characteristic of this youthful organization."

Jan as technical advisor at Rijkswaterstaat

Jan's assignment for BENK PROJECTS is to provide technical advice for projects within public lighting at Rijkswaterstaat PPO (programs, projects and maintenance) on the two A-road maintenance contracts (West-Nederland South). His second assignment is in the contract team smoothness reporting and fog warning systems.

In recent years Jan has also performed assignments for the contract team pumps & pumping stations (aqueducts etc.) and for location Zeeland for public lighting. In the early years Jan also advised DNWG/ Enduris for grid connections in the Zeeland region.

Rijkswaterstaat is, of course, a very well-known body within the Netherlands. Its motto: "Working together for a safe, liveable and accessible Netherlands. That is Rijkswaterstaat" in itself says enough, but of course there is a lot involved. Besides the national highways, the waterways within the Netherlands are very important. The WNZ area (South Holland) is a very busy region in all kinds of ways and that makes it very nice to be able to take part.

As a technical consultant, he advises his technical manager, contract team, environmental management and asset manager at the administrators and contractors within the performance contract on a variety of issues. This may be in the areas of current technology and developments, bid and material pricing, working methods, and so on.

In doing so, he is a participant in the technical meetings (biweekly) with the managers and both contractors. This keeps them on the ball.

 

My goal is to submit the opinions to the contract team on the same day, allowing them to move forward again with the assignment to the contractor.

 

What do you like most about your work?

"I have been working in infratechnology in the contracting industry since 1996, and in 2017 I wanted to look across the table at how the processes work there. Especially the combination of the client side and my on the contractor side provides a lot of insights that I can apply in my daily work."

He stays sharp by constantly shifting gears and dares to share his knowledge and network. This ensures that projects run faster and parties benefit from the resulting strength.

7 years at BENK

Because he has been involved with the company for years, he is regularly asked to spar with BENK's management about market developments and opportunities for the organization. This makes him feel accomplished as a person and colleague, and makes him feel very appreciated within the team. Moreover, the summer barbecue and Christmas parties are always highlights where his presence is appreciated.

 

'The best compliment I've ever received? 'Without your advice, dedication and not wanting to let go I never thought I would have gotten this far.' I want the other person to get further than I will ever get and I think that's how it should be in life. But...... then you really have to want to do something for it!