Workshop Identifies Real Improvements for Flow of Payment
Citing that such a conversation was long overdue, owners, architects, engineers, general contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers came together in Calgary June 15th 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