February 13, 2013

National documents committee has a unique world-leading system

WARREN FREY

digital media editor

A national construction-focused documentation group is on a country-wide tour to revamp its unique system, while seeking input from key stakeholders.

“Elements of the practice are present in the U.S. and U.K., but not a standard system,” said Canadian Construction Documents Committee (CCDC) chair Walter Strachan.

The Architectural Institute of British Columbia in Vancouver hosted a packed seminar recently for a presentation led by Strachan about the committee’s latest work.

“CCDC is responsible for the development, revision and improvement of Canadian standard construction documents,” he said.

The committee implements working groups to put documents through a detailed revision before taking the documents out for consultation.

Once input has been considered, the final version of the document must be approved unanimously in order to become a standard contract.

CCDC goes through this process to create standard documents that “put the risk where the risk belongs,” in a project, he said.

By going through the process, the documents reduce the risk of disagreements and litigation, since they are balanced and not biased towards any one stakeholder, Strachan said.

Mark Mulholland of Markham, Ontario-based BLJC explained the Guide to Pre-Qualification, a new document that helps to explain the pre-qualification process.

The guide is built from current industry best practices, and may affect CCDC 11 documents, but will not be affected by them, he said.

The guide is written for owners, consultants, general contractors and project managers, Mulholland said.

It is meant for all types of construction and aims to pre-qualify general contractors, subcontractors and project managers regardless of the size of the contract.

The other objective for the guide was to make it a transparent, fair, accurate and well-documented process.

The guide is intended as a set of model documents, and is not an “out of the box solution,” he said.

There should be components that can be reused though, he added.

Mulholland also explained the 2012 master agreement, is “an agreement between two parties that set out terms and conditions for a defined period of time for use with multiple projects.”

The purpose of the agreement is to provide a tool for owners and contractors to enter into project specific contracts easily without having to renegotiate individual terms.

Project specific requirements are identified within a work authorization form which references the master agreement, he said. CCDC 2 is the foundation of the master agreement.

The approach to development of the document was to develop one master agreement with an engagement mechanism, along with work authorization. The intent was not to adjust the terms and conditions of CCDC 2.

The document is currently under development, Mulholland said.

Pierre Gallant of Vancouver-based Morrison Hershfield discussed the Guide to Construction Project Delivery Methods, which falls under the CCDC umbrella of documents. It is intended for most project delivery mechanisms. Gallant cited Design Bid Build, Design Build, and Construction Management as examples.

He said it also provides an objective view of delivery methods, describing what each project entails so industry members can make their own decisions.

The guide will provide a summary description of each contract within the guide, and incorporates CCDC 2, 3, 4, 5A/B, 14 and 18.

The approach while developing the guide was to maintain consistency with other CCDC documents while reviewing CCDC documents.

The guide is also written from the owner/consultant perspective across all levels of sophistication, he said.

“The process of creating the guide has just begun, and the document will likely be finalized within three to four years,” he said.

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