Dear Colleagues: ACA supports the mission of Canadian Construction Innovations.  CCI advocacy has led to an unprecedented opportunity to access research funds at a level to make a quantum jump in our industry better serving client needs and thriving in an increasingly challenging competitive marketplace.

In support of CCI, ACA urges members to endorse CCI’s Letter of Intent, as outlined in Pierre Boucher’s email.  You may have value chains of preferred partners seeking to advance the use of a new material or process.  Or, there may be issues that are pre-competitive in nature where you would benefit from collaborating with peer contractors.

Please submit response prior to July 21.

Thank you for your consideration of joining the effort and accelerating the momentum of CCI serving our industry.

Click here for the letter to members of CCI.

Click here for membership form.

Citing that such a conversation was long overdue, owners, architects, engineers, general contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers came together in Calgary June 15^th for the first Optimizing the Flow of Payment workshop.  The unique format, in which participating organizations were asked to bring representation from both project management and accounting, revealed the value of involvement of the financial personnel in successful project execution.

The issues of a lack of transparency of contract requirements; of incomplete or inaccurate documentation accompanying invoices; of differing processes and timelines for different levels in the value chain, were common across all organizations – yet everyone agreed none of these problems were insurmountable!

Working first in a multidisciplinary format, then in single disciplines, highly engaged teams mapped current and improved payment streams. Participants accessed potential best practices from ACA’s expert panelists to view these videos please click here.

The proof of the workshop’s value?  Participants:

• Identified specific processes that they were going to review for implementation in their own organizations,
• Agreed to return in October for part 2 of the workshop to share what they had implemented, and
• Asked for the contact information of every participant to maintain the communication and collaboration

Some of the best practices identified include:

• Taking the Gold Seal ethics course to enhance shared understanding
• Identifying accounting contacts to ensure good communication flow
• Establishing documentation checklists accessible to all partners
• Involving the accounting contacts in the project kick-off meeting
• Having a draft or trial invoice of a small amount very early in the project to test systems and communication
• Paying undisputed amounts
• Progressive release of holdback
• Separating change orders from regular progress draws

The part 1 workshop is also scheduled for Edmonton this week.

Following the workshops, ACA will develop a best practices document for dissemination and advocacy to achieve widespread adoption.

Thank you to the following:

ACA would like to thank the Calgary Construction Association and its OAEC group, and workshop facilitator Debbie Hicks for their excellence in conducting the part 1 workshop.

ACA thanks the following participants:

Owners

Nicola Huppertz, AB Health Service

Dawnlesley Hamilton, AB Health Services

Max Amodio, AB Infrastructure

Andrea Medeiros, AB Infrastructure

Sofia Coutts, AB Infrastructure

David Lee, Cadillac Fairview Corp.

Yvette Schuler, Calgary Airport Authority

Nathalie Boyd, Calgary Airport Authority

Anita Ip, Calgary Airport Authority

Glenn Chanut, City of Calgary

Lynne Davies. City of Calgary

Mary Lifton, City of Calgary

 

Architects

Ralph Sandl, Dialog

Ken Preeper, Gibbs Gage Architects

Nancy Vruwink, Group 2 Architecture

Ancizar Ossa, Group 2 Architecture

Melody Zaleschuk, Kasian Architecture Interior Design and Planning

Katherine Robinson, Kasian Architecture Interior Design and Planning

Claudia Schaaf, Marshall Tittemore Architects

Colm Sheridan, Zeidler BKDI Architects

 

Engineers

Betty Pike, Read Jones Christoffersen

Chris Davis, Read Jones Christoffersen

Lorne Hildebrandt, Stantec Consulting

Sander Quartero, WSP Canada Group

 

Contractors and Suppliers

Larry Tennis, Bird Construction

Donna Woo, Bird Construction

Victor Jensen, Botting & Associates

Norm Kuntz, Burnco Rock Products

Lorette Metz, Burnco Rock Products

Colin Barclay, Canem Systems

Don Avant, Centron Group of Companies

Richard Heine, Centron Group of Companies

Shawn Weinkauf, Davidson Enman Lumber

Trevor Roy, Graham Construction & Engineering

Jim Clement, Graham Construction & Engineering

Elaine Reitmeier, Grant Metal Products

Sasha Cesto, Westcal Insulation

Maggie Pusztay, Westcor Construction

Val Stordy, Westcor Construction

 

Associations

Dave Smith, Calgary Construction Association

Gary Gies, Red Deer Construction Association

Ashley Dunn, Medicine Hat Construction Association

 

The federal government updated WHMIS rules in 2015. WHMIS 2015 includes new definitions, new harmonized criteria for hazard classification, and new rules for labels and safety data sheets (SDS). Employers importing hazardous products for use at their workplace and/or distribution are required to keep “specific purchasing information” for six years from the date of purchase. Employers selling hazardous products must keep “specific sales information”.

From October 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017 Alberta’s OHS inspectors may visit your workplace to inspect and promote compliance. One objective of this project is to build a list of suppliers in each jurisdiction. Inspectors may request a copy of your “specific purchasing information” and/or your “specific sales information,” and up to five SDSs/labels for your hazardous products. Inspectors may not provide advance notice of the inspection. If you have questions contact MMichelle.Kutz@gov.ab.ca. For up-to-date WHMIS information visit whmis.org.