Using Industry Standard CCDC Contracts

What are CCDC Contracts

The Canadian Construction Documents Committee (CCDC) develops, produces, and reviews standard construction contracts, forms and guides. It is a national joint committee, formed in 1974, and includes representation from across the Canadian construction industry.

The committee includes two construction owner representatives from each of the public and private sectors, as well as representatives from four national organizations. All CCDC Documents are endorsed by these national organizations:

CCDC representation also includes a lawyer from the Canadian Bar Association (Construction Law Section), who sits as an ex-officio member.

Accessing CCDC Contracts

Descriptions of the various CCDC contracts and explanatory guides can be accessed here

To download and use the following documents you will need to purchase a registration number from any of the Alberta Local Construction Associations

Benefits of Using CCDC Contracts

CCDC documents are used in contractual arrangements across the Canadian construction industry. They provide cost savings through balanced standard contract forms, and help to ensure standardization for bidding and contracting procedures. Each year, more than 50,000 copies of CCDC documents are sold.

By using uniformed and standardized documents from CCDC, practitioners in the Canadian construction industry are using documents that are:

• relied upon as familiar industry standards,
• developed through a collaborative and consensus-based approach that allows for the serious consideration of rights, interests and obligations of all parties,
• protect the interest and preserve the rights of all parties involved in a construction project, and
• provide balance, uniformity and standardization for bidding and contracting procedures.

CCDC documents can help reduce claims and disputes, and the added expense and time associated.

Here are two videos by owners who speak to the benefits of using CCDC contracts:

Boris Dragicevic Vice President of Facility Development for the University of Calgary

And Omer Gobeil and Tyler Kacsor from the City of Lethbridge Purchasing department.

CCDC Resource Library

Source and Link	Source Type	Title	Purpose	Category	Year
General
CCDC	Association	CCDC Bulletins	Explain clauses and represent industry best practices	General	1998-2017
ConstructConnect	Journal	CCDC documents can help restore trust and manage risks	Promote use of CCDC	General	2008
Construction Canada	Journal	Dawn of the ‘super contract’	Advocate for reducing the number of CCDC contracts	General	2014
SHK Law	Law Firm	Supplementary Conditions In Construction Contracts	Discusses supplementary conditions	General	2016
Miller Thomson	Law Firm	The Ins and Outs of Statutory Appeals of Arbitration Decisions	Clarify arbitration	General	2018
Ontario Construction Report	Journal	Collaboration and CCDC adherence vital for complex development project success	Promote use of CCDC	General	2018
CCDC2
Miller Thomson	Law Firm	CCDC 2 – 2008: NEW AND IMPROVED	Introduction of 2008 changes	CCDC2	2008
Jenkins Marzban Logan LLP	Law Firm	CCDC2 – 2008 Stipulated Price Contract	Overview of changes in 2008 CCDC2	CCDC2	2008
ConstructConnect	Journal	New CCDC2 includes significant changes	Introduction of 2008 changes	CCDC2	2008
Construction Law Canada	Journal	Does The CCDC Dispute Resolution Clause Require Arbitration?	Discusses meaning of arbitration clause in CCDC2	CCDC2	2013
Glaholt LLP	Law Firm	THE ROLE OF FUNDAMENTAL BREACH IN CCDC 2 CONTRACTS	Clarifies contractor fundamental breach in CCDC2	CCDC2	2014
Dentons	Law Firm	Indemnity, Insurance, Waiver, and Warranty Provisions of the CCDC-2 Stipulated Price Contract	Explains advantages and disadvantages of CCDC2, and indemnity, insurance, waiver and warrenty provisions	CCDC2	2015
CCDC5
Jenkins Marzban Logan LLP	Law Firm	CCDC5a – 2010 Construction Management Contract for Services	Overview of CCDC5a and CCDC5b	CCDC5	2010
Burnet, Duckworth and Palmer LLP	Law Firm	Construction Management Standard Contract	Explains differences in CCDC5a and CCDC5b	CCDC5	2013
Langlois	Law Firm	Demystifying Construction Management Contracts	Explains CCDC5	CCDC5	2018
CCDC 14 & 15
Blaney McMurtry LLP	Law Firm	New CCDC Design-Build Contracts	Introduces new CCDC14 and CCDC 15 documents	CCDC14/15	2013
Construction Law Letter	Journal	An Initial Review Of The New CCDC 14	Introduces new CCDC14 and CCDC 15 documents	CCDC14/15	2014
Borden Ladner Gervais	Law Firm	Updated Design-Build Contracts	Introduces new CCDC14 and CCDC 15 documents	CCDC14/15	2014
Fredricton Northwest Construction Association	Association	CCDC14 Design-Build Stipulated Price Contract	Very brief overview of CCDC14	CCDC14
CCDC30
Miller Thomson	Law Firm	CCDC Introduces Integrated Project Delivery Contract	Summary of IPD	CCDC30	2018
Ontario Construction Report	Journal	CCDC30: The new Integrated Project Delivery contract takes design and construction collaboration and risk sharing to a new level	Introduction to CCDC30	CCDC30	2018
Osler	Law Firm	Integrated Project Delivery model in Canada: What you need to know	Summary of IPD	CCDC30	2018

Understanding the Risks of Non-standard Contract terms

With funding support from Alberta Economic Development and Trade, ACA has undertaken an initiative to improve understanding of risk allocation within the terms of non-standard commercial contracts.

Approximately half of Alberta contractors have 20 or fewer employees and nearly 80% have fewer than 100 employees. Many of these contractors lack access to legal expertise to help them understand and appropriately price in their bids the risk that they are obliged to carry, arising from non-standard commercial construction contracts. This problem is not unique to Alberta, indeed, the Canadian Construction Association, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, Consulting Engineers Canada, Construction Specifications Canada, and owner groups established years ago the Canadian Construction Documents Committee (CCDC) to create and promote standard CCDC contracts and guides. CCDC contracts have been tested in the courts and are generally well understood by all stakeholders.

While some owners (procurers of construction) embrace CCDC, many have retained counsel to create non-standard contracts which generally oblige contractors to carry all risks. Large well-resourced contractors can retain counsel and frequently negotiate different terms. Small to medium sized contractors frequently bid work without an understanding of the risks they may bear and fail to price accordingly.

This leads to unsatisfactory performance in the construction market in the following ways:

Many sophisticated contractors will refuse to bid, limiting the pool of bidders, and are frustrated that the subsequent bidding distorts the true market price
The winning bidder frequently underprices the true cost, and either fails to perform, or can only perform after expensive disputes and rework through change orders. Jobs are at risk due to failure of the bidder, and / or the purchaser is dissatisfied with poor performance and unanticipated problems of quality, schedule, and cost.

ACA’s initiative includes the following:

Collect, analyze, and publish the risk and cost implications of terms frequently found in commercial construction contracts in Alberta,
Publish and disseminate the findings of the analysis,
Support workshops or other discussion forums to review findings of construction value chain stakeholders, including owners, consultants, and contractors,
Develop new or add to existing educational seminars for Alberta contractors to educate contractors, and
Develop an online repository of the preceding and recognize users of standard contracts in order to sustain the initiative

Further Information

Non-Standard Contracts Can You Afford to Ignore Them Part 1
Non-Standard Contracts Can You Afford to Ignore Them Part 2
Non-Standard Contracts Can You Afford to Ignore Them Part 3