Small But Mighty

The Alberta Construction Association in partnership with the Edmonton Construction Association held the second “Optimizing the Flow of Money” Workshop on June 21st.  Though the group was small, it was mighty in its open and frank dialogue!

Whole team discussions were held in a “safe environment” between all stakeholders where many had never looked at it from others’ eyes.  The owner group does not have the contract between the sub-subs or the suppliers, and thus gained a much better appreciation of the payment process through the contractual chain.

We heard about the consultants’ payment timelines and can appreciate that when money is not flowing in synch with expenses, it is hard to spend more resources to address others’ payment processes.  The lack of complete paperwork by the contractors was expressed as a concern by those certifying and processing payments.  Hearing and getting the WHOLE picture is integral for everyone’s understanding of our collective roles in finding a solution.

So what are the next steps?  Each company committed to go back and look at a process in their organization to review all the steps in their process, implement a change and report back what they discovered.  The processes being reviewed include:  job start up communications about payment process, progressive release of holdback, standardized progress claims documentation, internal training and education of staff, and review of progress claim process.

If you did not participate in Part I, there may still be an opportunity to participate by those underrepresented groups.  Contact facilitator, Debbie Hicks at dshicks@shaw.ca.