August 16, 2010

Canadian Construction Documents Committee finalizing new contract forms

PATRICIA WILLIAMS

staff writer

The Canadian Construction Documents Committee (CCDC) is putting the finishing touches to a long-awaited suite of standard contract forms to be used in conjunction with the construction management project delivery method.

CCDC 5A is intended for use when the construction manager acts as an agent of the owner, providing advisory services.

The owner contracts directly with the trade contractors to perform the construction work, using a new companion CCDC 17 document.

CCDC 5B is used when the construction manager provides pre-construction advisory services to the owner and then undertakes actual c3onstruction.

The construction manager engages trade contractors as subcontractors and is responsible for their performance.

“What we found was that we couldn’t develop one document that would address both the project delivery scenarios,” said CCDC chair Walter Strachan, a principal in Halifax-based CBCL Ltd. Consulting Engineers.

He said the suite of documents will fill a void that previously existed.

The documents will be unveiled at a series of cross-country seminars this fall sponsored by CCDC, a national committee responsible for development, production and review of standard Canadian construction contracts, forms and guides.

The committee includes representation from four national associations as well as public- and private-sector owners.

CCDC 5A replaces Canadian Construction Association (CCA) standard contract document 5-1988, while CCDC 17 takes the place of CCA 17-1996. CCDC 5B is brand new.

“I think the industry has been waiting for this,” said CCA president Michael Atkinson, whose association approached CCDC a few years ago and proposed that the existing two CCA contract forms be converted into CCDC documents.

“While construction management is in favour with many owners, there has never been a standard contract form that covers both (advisory) services and construction.

“Contractors and owners basically have had to take other standard documents and amend them and reshape them to try and fit a square peg into a round hole.”

CCDC secretary Eric Lee, the CCA’s senior director of industry practices said the new CCDC 5B is “a very complicated” document, given that the role of the construction manager undergoes a major shift during the progress of the project.

He said this type of “construction manager at risk” approach is particularly popular in Alberta and British Columbia.

In Ontario, the pending publication of the new documents got a thumbs up from Clive Thurston, president of the Ontario General Contractors Association (OGCA).

“There certainly is a market for these documents,” he said. “We constantly receive calls with regards to project management and construction management contracts. I think these documents will be extremely helpful to owners, contractors and subtrades.”

Thurston said OGCA is prepared to host a seminar at its offices and also make its webinar system available free of charge to aid participation by contractors.

CCDC has representation from CCA, the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies-Canada, Construction Specifications Canada and the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.

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