construction business nov/dec 2012 digital edition

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November/December 2012 Vol. 10 No. 1

2012 VRCA Awards of Excellence

buildEx VAnCouVER

2013 pREViEw

ConstRuCtion sAfEty

GRAnt MCMillAn, CoCA

1 0 t h A N N I V E R S A R Y I S S U E

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Dan [email protected]

Cheryl Mah

Robin Brunet

Susanna Chu

Teresa Coady

Alison Koper

Ron O’Neil

J. Marc MacEwing

Mike Mckenna

Blair Rebane

Doug Sanders

John Singleton

Jean Sorensen

Melanie Teeteart

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Construction Business is British Columbia and Alberta’s construction magazine. Each issue provides timely and pertinent information to contractors, architects, developers, consulting engineers, and municipal governments throughout both provinces. Complimentary copies are sent bi-monthly to all members of the Architectural Institute of B.C., B.C. Construction Association, B.C. Roadbuilders and Heavy Construction Association, Consulting Engineers of B.C., Construction Specifica-tions Canada — B.C. Chapter, Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association, B.C. Ready-Mixed Concrete Association, Independent Contractors and Businesses Association of B.C., Urban Development Institute of B.C. and Vancouver Regional Construction Association.

Inside

Industry Focus10 Construction SafetyGoing beyond Fall ProtectionSafety Does PayFrom Good to Great and Beyond

Departments04 Message from the Editor

14 Architect Corner The State of Sustainable Design

16 the Legal fileTendering Law — A Busy Decade10 Years and Counting“Extra” LiabilityCompletion Issues

30 Industry News

06 Connections Grant McMillanAs president of COCA, Grant McMillan has been making a difference in health and safety for more than 30 years. He was honoured with the VRCA’s Lifetime Achievement award for exemplifying leadership and excellence in the construction industry.

31 Special Supplement 2012 VRCA Awards of Excellence

Cover PhotoBC Place won a VRCA Landmark Award for PCL Constructors Westcoast.

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construction business November/december 20124

Editor’s Note

Celebrating 10 Years

this issue of Construction Business marks the 10th anniversary of the publication. Looking back over all the past issues, it’s amazing how far we’ve come since the first

issue. In the past 10 years, we’ve changed the layout design, introduced new features, expanded our cov-erage to Alberta and launched a new website. Al-though the people here have changed a bit over the years, the integrity and value of our content has not.

While this is our official 10th anniversary, this issue isn’t really about us. It’s about you — the industry we cover. We want to celebrate what the industry has accomplished and the changes that have made real impacts over the past decade. My hope is we have contributed to the conversa-tion about the various important issues that the industry has faced by showcasing the people and projects that have made a difference.

We would like to take this opportunity to ac-knowledge the invaluable support of our many

contributors, readers and advertisers over the years. Without your support, we couldn’t pro-duce the quality publication that we do.

Like our very first issue, this one puts the spot-light on the VRCA Awards of Excellence. Back in 2003, Surrey Central City by PCL Constructors was the big winner for a project over $10 million by a general contractor. The marketplace and val-ue of construction have grown significantly since then with the top award now for over $40 million.

And almost as if planned, a project by PCL once again graces our cover. This time for the complex renovation of BC Place, which was hon-oured with the Landmark Award. For a project over $40 million, Graham Design Builders won its first Gold Award for the incredibly challeng-ing Kelowna and Vernon Hospitals P3 Project.

In addition to the project awards, VRCA honoured specific companies and individuals. The recipient of the 2012 Lifetime Achievement

Award (and our profile in this issue) is Grant Mc-Millan of COCA.

To help mark our 10 years, a few regular con-tributors take a look back at the past decade. In our legal file, some significant changes in con-struction law are highlighted, while Teresa Co-ady (one of the pioneers in sustainability) shares insights into the evolution of green design.

It’s been a pleasure getting to know you all and covering the issues that make this industry so dynamic. Thank you for sharing your stories and expertise.

Cheryl Mah Managing Editor

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winter weather has arrived, bringing with it an increased risk for some of the most common accidents in the work-place — slips and falls. Rain, snow, and ice make many surfaces on construction sites more slippery than usual.

As those of us who have worked in construction know, when wet wood gets frosty, it’s like stepping on glass. Even when working indoors, water dripping from snowy or wet clothing and footwear onto smooth fin-ished floors can be treacherous.

But slips, trips, and falls are common year-round. Would it surprise you to hear that in the five years, from 2007 through 2011, construction companies reported almost 3,700 slips, trips, and falls where workers were injured? In more than 2,000 of those, the worker fell to the ground, ending up with everything from broken bones, concussions, and lacera-tions to strains and sprains.

Slippery surfaces are one of the hazards behind these numbers, but there are many others. Uneven ground, debris and other obstacles like poor lighting, carrying bulky objects, and improper footwear are on the list. I’m sure you can add to this from your own experience.

So what can we do to avoid these costly incidents that are taking work-ers out of action? Quite a lot. First off, we need to make sure that proper footwear is being worn. Second, that proper “housekeeping” is being done. Keep walkways and work areas free of debris and equipment, including trailing power cords. If possible, even out the highest-traffic routes around the site by filling in the worst depressions or flattening mounds of dirt. With the shorter days, it’s vital to have proper lighting

both inside and outside, so everyone can see not just what they’re doing but where they’re going.

On the personal side, everyone needs to make sure that individuals are not coming to work impaired by substances or lack of sleep. And, let’s be especially careful of distractions: I might think that talking on my cell while walking around the job site is efficient multi-tasking, but it won’t seem so smart if I slip or trip.

Training workers is one of the most important ways to prevent slips, trips, and falls. If everyone knows what hazards to watch for, and takes responsibility for fixing the situation wherever possible, there will be fewer incidents. For example, if sand or gravel is readily available, icy patches can quickly be made safer.

And by the way, if you live in an area where the weather isn’t often re-ally cold, you could be even more at risk of serious problems when win-ter gets going. In colder regions, people are generally better prepared for events like ice storms and for heavy frost or snowfall — they own the right equipment and know how to drive and walk in snow and ice.

You can’t control Mother Nature, but you can control conditions on your work site. Let’s all end the year safely and enjoy the holiday season free of injuries.

Please let me know what you think of this topic or any construc-tion safety issue. Call me at 604.214.6989 from the Lower Mainland or toll-free elsewhere at 1.888.621.7233. Or email [email protected]. I’d like to hear from you.

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StaY oN Your fEEt aNd StaY IN oNE pIECE


Connections

Managing Health and Safety

Grant McMillan has been a tireless advocate for effective and fair safety regulations and work practices in the construction industry. The president

of the Council of Construction Associations (COCA) has successfully helped to educate the industry as well as lobbied for changes on Work-SafeBC issues for more than 20 years. His hard work and dedication to industry safety was rec-ognized by the VRCA with the 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award.

“I was really honoured and pleasantly shocked,” he says. “I’ve enjoyed working with the COCA board — a great group of volunteers who devote hours of their time for the industry as a whole and I enjoy the different issues as they come up.”

McMillan has seen the construction safety culture improve significantly over the years with training, regulations and enforcement. But he remembers going to worksites and being “as-tounded that people weren’t wearing hard hats” and other personal protective equipment.

“Now on most ICI sites, it’s very rare to see anyone not wearing equipment,” he says. “There has been a greater recognition by everyone about the importance of health and safety and there has

been a lot more work done in terms of training supervisors and workers to recognize and miti-gate hazards.”

COCA has played an important role repre-senting the industry on legislative, regulatory, policy and practice issues within the workers’ compensation system in B.C. since it was formed in 1992. Over that time the association has saved the industry an estimated $522 million in re-duced WorkSafeBC costs.

“We’ve been effective on many different reg-ulatory changes that make things simpler, fairer and more effective. A good set of regulations works to protect everybody,” says McMillan, who is particularly proud of how COCA was able to persuade WorkSafeBC to begin writing safety orders on workers as well as employers.

The umbrella organization represents the in-terests of 16 construction associations in B.C. with membership from a broad cross section of the industry. COCA also assists individual con-tractors with their WorkSafeBC concerns.

“Contractors have so many things on their plate including getting work that WorkSafe will never be their top priority and that’s where COCA comes in,” says McMillan, who also served as the

BY CHERYL MAH

founding chair of the Construction Safety Asso-ciation of B.C. (CSABC) for five years.

CSABC was established in 2002 by COCA as the first province wide construction safety associa-tion with the aim of reducing both injuries and cost to the contractor. It subsequently merged with the Construction Safety Network in 2010 to form the British Columbia Construction Safety Alliance.

“Back in 1996, the COCA board on my rec-ommendation determined that we should be looking at the creation of a construction industry health and safety council that would be focused on health and safety issues, training and some form of certification,” says McMillan.

Prior to COCA, McMillan spent 17 years at WorkSafeBC. He joined the agency in 1974 as director of community relations before becom-ing general manager of administrative services.

“Initially I was going to be a lawyer,” recalls McMillan, who completed a Ph.D. at Syracuse University in New York. “And then I became in-terested in university teaching.”

When the recession hit in the early 70s and university jobs dried up, he applied for a job at the Worker’s Compensation Board (now Work-SafeBC) and to his surprise, was hired.

“I was involved in publications, presentations, public speaking… which were similar to my uni-versity teaching activities,” says McMillan

During this time, he also completed a certifi-cate in Occupational Safety and Heath from the Foundation Program of Simon Fraser University.

When he became general manager in 1984, his responsibilities included a multimillion dol-lar land acquisition and building program for the agency’s regional offices. In 1991, he started his own company called West Coast Safety Consul-tants and was hired by the construction industry to help develop what would become COCA.

Since that time, McMillan has written health and safety manuals, a book on claims cost man-agement and assisted large companies with health and safety programs. His main focus is working closely with WorkSafe officials and gov-ernment on regulations and legislation.

“The ongoing concerns really are the level of regulations — it has to be kept reasonable and workable,” says McMillan, noting COCA has responded to more than a dozen position papers from WorkSafeBC in the last year.

COCA works with WorkSafeBC to resolve regulations that need improvement or are incon-sistent. For example, the association was success-ful in changing the regulation that controls the retrieval of traffic cones and resolved the con-flicting set of regulations between WorkSafeBC

COCA president Grant McMillan received the

prestigious 2012 VRCA Lifetime Achievement

Award for his leadership and excellence in

the construction industry.

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walls that required us designing steel columns that were offset and hung on each level from a roof beam. The UBC Pharmacy Building is just one of our recent projects. On each, we’ve offered our clients intricate yet elegant structural solutions, developed in a highly collaborative environment. To fi nd out more about these innovative and highly detailed engineering solutions, and how Nature designs snowfl akes, please visit our website. You’ll see a number of very intricate structural solutions there.

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Connections

and the CSA on the requirement for top guard-rail heights on system scaffolding. The practice of inspecting mobile cranes is another issue that needs additional clarity.

COCA also assists individual contractors on issues and/or concerns such as inspections or clearance letters.

“Clearance letters are not well understood by contractors but they can provide an avoidance of paying someone else’s workers compensation bill when that other company works with them, but fails to register with WorkSafeBC or pay their as-sessment to WorksSafeBC,” says McMillan.

A common problem in the construction in-dustry is the lack of knowledge about how the WCB system works and how to access all the services available. COCA works to fill that gap.

A notable change for 2012 was the introduc-tion of a new legislation on mental disorder claims (Bill 14) which also includes provisions for bully-ing and harassment. It came into effect on July 1.

Through an education campaign, COCA has been actively informing employers about the new law and how it could affect them and most importantly, how to prevent such claims.

“We think that the legislation itself was rushed in without full consultation — full research,” comments McMillan. “It’s a big concern of ours.”

Despite significant improvements in health and safety, challenges in the industry remain.

“We still have workers who think they are in-vincible. Some employers think they need not

comply with a regulation and that they can do this one quick thing this one time,” cites McMil-lan. “And I think in some cases the labour rela-tions friction gets in the way of health and safety.”

McMillan adds there still needs to be universal buy in from everyone about fall protection.

“That’s the number one killer — number one cost in the industry is falls from heights,” he says. “We’ve got a lot more work to do there.”

The upcoming provincial election in 2013 is a concern for many in the industry including COCA.

“If the government changes in May 2013, what will that mean for the industry with respect to

WorkSafeBC, regulations, claims management and levels of assessments charged,” says McMillan.

The global economy is another concern because it has an impact on the assessment rates paid by em-ployers. The return on WorkSafeBC’s investment portfolio has decreased significantly since the down-turn in 2008, explains McMillan, and as a result, “as-sessments on employers will have to increase.”

Controlling costs and managing claims are top priorities for COCA. The ICI sector currently has the lowest historical average assessment rate ($3.27 per $100 of payroll) as well as the lowest ever injury rate.

However, the duration of claims has increased significantly over the last three years, according to McMillan. The average time off on claims is about 74 days up from an average of 50 days.

“We’re working with WorkSafe to try to effec-tively and safely return injured workers to work in a more reasonable timeframe,” says McMil-lan, adding that means employers need to focus on improved and accelerated Return to Work as well as Stay at Work programs.

Safety is paramount on any job and McMillan stresses “proper training and verifying that train-ing on a regular basis” is key.

“A lot of progress has been made and the em-ployers and workers in the industry deserve cred-it for what they’ve done over the last 30 years,” he says. “The struggle now is to ensure we continue to maintain a good safety record and claims are managed effectively.”

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Construction Safety

the CSA, and many of its Technical Committees (TC’s), have been un-dergoing significant changes in recent years. The Z259 TC has also experi-

enced significant change in the past several years.To understand the most recent developments

of the CSA Z259 TC, it is important to gain an insight into the recent history of this commit-tee, especially as it relates to the fall protection industry as a whole. That history would enable a person to see the world of working “at-height” through the lens of this collection of profession-als from across Canada and the United States. In addition, this will allow greater clarity of the in-tended future of this TC.

Approximately five years ago, the TC members elected a new chair, with a vision to revitalize the TC and put in place initiatives designed to increase output of high quality published standards while increasing or maintaining the quality of these stan-dards. Although there was some trepidation on be-half of the membership, once in place, the new chair set about to commission an Executive Committee (EC) and, more importantly, making “live” every single Technical Subcommittee (TSC) and putting in place a chair and vice-chair of each of these. It is at the TSC level, under the guidance of its respective chair, that much of the technical work takes place.

The key term behind these and many other initiatives is “relevance”. The TC chair, and the membership had the belief that the Z259 TC was losing relevance in the marketplace. For each new standard that had been written in the past, two more were needed. With each publication, therefore, the Z259 TC was losing ground and rel-evance as a place where manufacturers, designers, engineers and OHS professionals would turn for the best standards in fall protection equipment.

A new era in the CSA Z259 technical CommitteeAfter working hard on the membership side, each new TSC had names and faces that were now associated with it. Work began, and this new framework was constantly challenged to adjust, alter and modify workflows in order to produce results. These measures, radical at the time, have become the commonplace structure of the Z259 TC. It is exciting, therefore, to review the stan-dards that have been published in the past year and to provide this readership with the near term and long term vision of this committee. The stan-dards cited are in order of publication. [Editors note: titles have been shortened for this article.]

Z259.12-11 Connecting Components: october 19, 2011This is an exciting standard as it paves the way for two significant elements: soft connections and a

higher gate strength for connectors. These chang-es will allow for harnesses, for example, that have very limited metallic components. Electricians may be one of the beneficiaries to this change.

Z259.14-12 fall Restrict (wood Poles): January 31, 2012The achievement of this TSC was to modify the testing protocols, while maintaining the initia-tives that were brought about by the Quebec ice storm some 20 years ago. With a new protocol, a new testing house was obtained by the CSA and now we are beginning to see new initiatives from this part of the work-at-height industry.

Z259.2.5-12 fall Arresters and Vertical Lifelines: January 31, 2012There were several significant measures that we put in place in order for this completely rewritten stan-dard to come to life. The first item on the agenda for this TSC chair was to separate rigid ladder climbing systems from the flexible systems the standard now covers (creating a new TSC). From there, new test-ing criteria could be tailored to the flexible vertical systems, enabling manufacturers to concentrate on a more unified body of equipment.

Z259.15-12 Anchorage Connectors: february 10, 2012Most TC members would agree that this was standard, and the members surrounding it, faced significant challenges. Two chairs and many years later, this standard covers an area of the indus-try that was sorely lacking. With a broad scope of equipment this standard addresses came an equally novel approach to writing this standard. This standard uses normative annexes, which are an integral part of the standard, to cover every-thing from tripods, deformable anchoring devices, multi-person devices and everything in between. For someone working in construction, for exam-ple, this standard covers a significant and broad range with countless workplace applications.

Z259.2.3-11 descent Control devices: february 10, 2012Based upon an international standard, this stan-dard seeks to include devices that are safe and

based upon current design ideas while at the same time, exclude devices that are considered to be outdated in design.

Z259.10-12 full Body harnesses: March 7, 2012One of the few of our standards whose prod-ucts are actually worn by the user. This updated standard sought to incorporate initiatives from industry, while at the same time, include the changes made to the Z259.12-11 standard as previously mentioned.

Z259.2.4-13 fall Arresters and Ver-tical Rigid Rails: october 18, 2012This standard is one of the very first worldwide standards that addresses the “fall back scenario” that has been responsible for injury and death. This testing protocol was very challenging to ensure consistency and leaving out false posi-tives and false negatives.

Near term future: Z259 tCZ259.2.2-13 Self-retracting Devices: mid 2013

This standard is almost ready for the next step: review by the public at large.

Z259.17-13 Systems Selection: mid-2013This TSC worked tirelessly to develop a stan-dard that can be used to bring all other stan-dards into a view of application. It will be very useful to the OHS professional and many oth-ers whose work involves the application of CSA Z259 standards.

Long term future: Z259 tCIn our last meeting in Winnipeg (October, 2012), there was an ad hoc committee whose purpose was to determine new directions and prioritize. While we cannot divulge the full ex-tent of those discussions, suffice to say that this committee is poised to move well beyond fall protection. Z259.2.3-11 (part of this TC for many years) has always been focused on one piece of rescue. Other rescue devices, rope access, training and other initiatives are sure to become part of the realm of this TC.

For more information, visit www.ohs.csa.ca. To have input to upcoming standards, go to www.publicreview.csa.ca.

Ron O’Neil is director of Fall Protection Group Inc, a leading organization in all in-dustries where personnel work at height. He has been involved with fall protection and high-angle rescue for more than 20 years. www.fallprogroup.com

Going Beyond fall protectionAn Update on the CSA Z259 Technical Committee BY RON O’NEIL

November/december 2012 construction business 11

Construction Safety

there is the saying that “safety pays”, but for years safety has been seen as just an-other operational expense for some in the B.C. construction industry. Now,

a change to WorkSafeBC’s Experience Rating (ER) System means the safer you are, the fewer premiums you pay.

Employers who have fewer serious injuries, and whose employees Return To Work (RTW) sooner after an injury, can earn discounts on their base rate of up to 50 per cent over time.

Alternatively, firms with more frequent and more serious injuries and inefficient RTW sys-tems may face surcharges of up to 100 per cent on their base rate over time.

Starting in 2013, WorkSafeBC’s experience rating system for construction (currently capped at 33.3 per cent surcharge and 33.3 per cent re-bate) will begin to rise, eventually reaching the 100 per cent surcharge and 50 per cent discount mark by 2016. The change will align construc-tion with all other provincial industries.

While the vast majority of construction employ-ers are expected to experience a smooth transition to the new rates (indeed, many will benefit from higher discounts) there are those who will pay sig-nificantly more, as the surcharge ceiling is raised.

That is, unless they take action to improve cur-rent safety and injury management systems.

Many contractors are glad about the change. Some contractors feel there have been many years that companies, who operate with health and safety excellence, have had to pay for com-panies with poor safety or for whom safety is not a priority.

However, we are focusing on the workers and the families, who have lost loved ones that have to pay the ultimate price.

With worker safety as our number one pri-ority, the B.C. Construction Safety Alliance (BCCSA) is concerned with reducing injuries all-together and improving safety.

The alliance is leading an outreach initiative that will offer at-risk employers the opportu-nity to work directly with BCCSA regional safety co-ordinators to prepare for the changes to come.

Our safety advisors will visit the jobsite to help employers identify ways to reduce accidents and improve safety.

One of the most effective ways to prevent in-juries is to develop and implement a health and safety and injury management program.

One way to do this is by guiding companies through the Certificate of Recognition (COR) program.

COR is a program that encourages compa-nies to implement health and safety and injury

management systems that meet regulatory re-quirements and maintain them through annual independent audits.

It recognizes and rewards employers up to a 15 per cent incentive payment that is applied to a company’s WorkSafeBC base assessments.

For example, a COR certified company with a payroll of $750,000 could receive an incen-tive payment of up to $4,800 dollars annually.

For companies worried about the cost of do-ing business, especially in light of the Work-SafeBC premium changes, COR could help.

Construction employers in B.C. need to rec-ognize that the best way to reduce insurance costs is to prevent injuries. But, ultimately, keeping workers safe is just the right thing to do.

Mike McKenna, is the executive director of the British Columbia Construction Safety Alliance.

The BCCSA is the construction industry’s non-profit safety association, which provides no-cost services designed to help reduce in-juries and improve safety. For more informa-tion on the initiative, which is being offered in partnership with WorkSafeBC, or to access the BCCSA’s regional safety co-ordinator service call 1.877.860.3675 toll-free.

WorkSafeBC’s Experience Rating Set to Change BY MIKE MCKENNA

Safety does pay


Construction Safety

Since collaboration began in 2009 with the formation of the On-site Con-struction Safety Committee, safety continues to clock many volunteers

hours of attention. The City of Calgary, Alberta Occupational Health & Safety and the Calgary Construction Association (CCA) have been working on new features to continue to enhance the construction industry’s focus on safety by not settling on “that’s good enough.” In conjunc-tion with the North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) week in May 2012, the committee unveiled three new safety initiatives moving the construction industry in Calgary beyond “good”: the 2nd Edition of the On-Site Construction Best Practices Guide, the Advanced Weather Forecasting System, and the Public Protection Site Safety Plan.

The Best Practices Guide 2nd Edition has ex-panded the collaborative process beyond con-struction management discussing what works best, to the committee members consulting with the employees on site for ideas on how to improve the guide. One of the suggestions was to number the guide like construction specifications to make it more “construction” friendly. During consulta-tive meetings, the committee members fine-tuned language to become more streamlined and thus easier for workers to find the information at their fingertips and mentor others on its use.

The second new initiative is the requirement for an advanced weather forecasting system with the goal of reducing incidents of building materials being blown off construction sites. As of January 1, 2012, it is mandatory for any con-tractor who is building a structure five storeys or taller, within the downtown core or the beltline district, to have access to an advanced weather forecasting system.

The forecasting system, developed by the City of Calgary, with RWDI AIR Inc. and ISL Engineering and Land Services Ltd., is a project that was designed and developed for construc-tion sites with a target of advising contractors,

in advance, of hourly forecasted maximum gust conditions at specific locations and elevations. The following are the features of the system de-veloped by RWDI Air Inc.:

• Available 24 hours a day • Forecast conditions are displayed hourly and

are updated every three hours • Forecast can be delivered by email at pre-

defined times (e.g. 6 a.m. and 3 p.m.) • Provide advanced warnings of up to 48 hours • Compatible with multiple web browsers and

optimized for mobile devices • Customizable alerts that allow users to spec-

ify wind gust thresholds at different working heights and who should receive them

• Relay of Environment Canada weather alerts • Alerts can be delivered as an email or SMS

text message to on-site personnel, safety of-ficers and decision makers

• Advanced auditing that keeps a record of each weather forecast, alert, and the recipients

For more detailed information about the sys-tem, please download the Advisory Bulletin on The City of Calgary website www.calgary.ca

While it is mandatory to have an advanced weather forecasting system in place prior to con-struction, other systems that provide site specific wind gust predictions at differing elevations may be considered to be an equivalent if acceptable to the safety codes officer.

How it works — Early wind warnings are pro-vided directly to superintendents of construc-tion sites and any personnel the superintendent deems appropriate. Their role is to use the system as a tool to help ensure construction materials on their sites are secured to ensure the safety of the public is not compromised by construction ma-terials coming off of construction sites.

“The contractors from the Calgary Con-struction Association will find this a useful tool especially given the variations in our weather conditions. As a masonry contractor working on exterior scaffolding in the downtown core, this

will greatly assist us in being aware of weather changes so that we can respond in advance”, states CCA chair Serena Holbrook of Pockar Masonry Ltd.

The last significant initiative, in this latest grouping, is the enhanced Public Protection Site Safety Plan. Effective May 1, 2012, the City of Calgary requires these plans be submitted as part of the process to receive a building permit. The site safety plan does not apply to every building. It is required if a construction project meets one of the following criteria:

• The height of the project is five storeys or greater

• The project is designated as a high building as per article 3.2.6 of the current Alberta Building Code.

A site safety plan will not be required when you initially apply for the permit, and they will not be reviewed at the front counter. A plan is required before the permit is released for any excavation work to begin and drawings must be posted in view of all site personnel on the project before construction or demolition oc-curs. The city is not an approval body of safety plans, but must review them in order to release the building permit.

The summary components of a public protec-tion site safety plan are:

• Site plans or drawings• General information• Hoisting and Lifting

Bob Robinson of Westcor Construction Ltd., co-chair of the On-site Construction Safety Committee expounds on the value of collabora-tion used to enhance the standardization and con-sistency of safety plans, “It is commendable when industry shares their individual existing plans in a roundtable, open setting in partnership with the City of Calgary to get the best, most user friendly plan that will allow industry to fulfill the goal of creating safer work environments.”

All of these initiatives are part of industry and its partners’ goal to ensure people feel safe in public spaces. In their continual efforts to go from good to great and beyond, all can be proud of their work in placing the safety of employees and the public in the forefront.

This article was provided by the Calgary Construction Association.

from Good to Great and BeyondBob Robinson (right), president & CEO of West-

cor Construction and co-chair of the CCA’s On-

Site Construction Safety Committee with Brad

Hammond, team leader of business develop-

ment & pre-construction services for Westcor

Construction at their construction site of Amica

Mature Lifestyles quality residents along 85th

Street S.W. in Aspen Woods.

Self-Erect Crane Transported by Barge

L ocated in the picturesque, natural surroundings of eastern North Vancouver, Deep Cove has blossomed into a thriving neigh-bourhood since its early days as a summer retreat. Vast, rugged forests shadowed by Mount Seymour and the accompanying waterfront host a variety of outdoor activities and are a visual delight.

One property owner’s vision of building their waterfront home in this dream-like location came with the unique obstacle of getting building materials to the job site.

Eagle West Crane & Equipment got to work, helping to assess the situation. Due to the restricted access and the approximate one year duration of the project, a crane was the best solution. With a lack of space, the overgrowth of surrounding nature and road con-ditions unfit for construction equipment, putting a crane at road level was unrealistic. After consulting with the client it was decided to take to the water; the Potain GTMR 331 self-erect crane would be brought to site using a barge.

The barge, equipped with a mobile crane, belongs to JJM Construction. Using the on board crane, Eagle West hoisted the self erect onto a custom engineered pad aboard the barge. Next, the Potain made its voyage across the waters of the inlet. Once in the bay, Eagle West offloaded and installed the crane at water level. The under hook height requirement for this project was 75’. Therefore, the crane was erected in a luff position allowing supplies to be hoisted, preventing damage to the landscape.

“It’s not common to use a crane to build a three storey house, but this site was challenging at its best,” noted Stefano Iorizzo of Belmar Developments. “Eagle West’s crane has helped dramatically with this custom home project.”

Whether your project is straight forward or includes barging a crane, Eagle West can help you turn your vision into a reality.By Kathleen Wiebe

SPECIAL AdVERtISING fEAtURE

to connect with Eagle west truck & Crane Inc., please direct your inquiries to: Gary davey, marketing manager, Eagle west Cranes. www.eaglewestcranes.com

Before it could be set up, this crane had to set sail


architect Corner

Green design has evolved significantly over the past decade in Canada and around the world. Where once it was an option, sustainable design has become the state of play in our industry and many in the industry are questioning where it will lead.

On the one hand we have consultants who have spent many hours educat-ing themselves and accrediting themselves in the various certification programs that are on offer now; we have trades and GCs who have under-taken training in new technologies and their in-stallation and operation; and we have authorities who have rewritten by-laws and codes to meet the new social demand. On the other hand, we have an emerging reaction by the development and public building communities to the spiral-ing costs and the uncertain performance results associated with many of the measures put in place to achieve sustainable design. The term sus-tainable has been stretched to mean all things to all people, now incorporating references to both new and existing buildings, to tenant interiors, to road-works and utilities infrastructure, and to the master-planning of communities. With over a decade of experience behind us, trends are emerging that point the way to what sustainable design might mean in the future.

The single new building, which has been the focus of so much of the sus-tainable design movement in the past decade, will see radical changes in the way it is measured and designed. The introduction of Building Information

Management (BIM) into the design stages means that all work will soon be modeled for performance before it is built. This will include modeling for energy density as well as for daylighting, ventilation, facilities operations, interference, costing, wind, water use and a myriad of other metrics that will begin to be plugged into the 3D+ design models. Modeling will not

end once the building is built, but will continue year after year with updates to reflect building upgrades and actual performance — smart build-ing systems will link back to the original building model so that no data is lost. There will be a shift away from a focus on mechanical and electrical design to reduce operational energy, combined with a new shift toward the study of structural modeling to optimize and reduce materials used in construction, and toward the modeling of the supply side management of materials and the digi-tal fabrication of repetitive or unique elements to reduce embodied energy. The guesswork of the past decade will be mostly eliminated as models become more accurate and actual performance will begin to align more closely with the predicted

design models. Very high performance buildings will cost no more to build than poor performance buildings as the rate of construction efficiency is enhanced dramatically with the BIM modeling process.

Existing buildings around the world are being examined for retro-fit potential. While they contain a great deal of embodied energy, it is the operating energy and the durability that is a concern. Many older

the State of Sustainable designBY TERESA COADY

With over a decade of experience behind us, trends are emerging that point

the way to what sustainable design

might mean in the future.

UBCO Engineering and

Management Building


architect Corner

buildings are consuming almost twice as much energy per square metre as newer buildings are being designed to consume. The more recently built buildings often have a very short lifespan, especially around the durability of the envelope. When the original structure and some of the finish materials can be maintained, and the envelope and electrical and mechanical systems can be radically upgraded, these older build-ings can be market competitive while maintaining history and adding character to the neighbourhood. There is a growing concern that we have overbuilt in the developed world now, and that the only reason we are seeing the uptake of new space in the cities is because rural space is being abandoned worldwide. With so much demolition and new con-struction, there is a growing awareness of the impact of landfills on our communities. Waste from construction and demolition will soon be targeted as undesirable, and banned in some communities, especially in Europe. We are already seeing an increase in the number of buildings targeted for retrofit, rather than demolition and replacement.

The focus on single buildings is morphing around the world now into a focus on community — one building itself cannot really be transforma-tive, but a network of buildings connected to community based energy and water and eco systems can be. To this end, visionary cities around the world are now embracing guidelines that blur the lines between public and private utility systems and that rework the rules around engineering standards for roads and sidewalks and public spaces to incorporate more green space, reduced traffic roadway and lane allowances, fewer on street parking and parkade spaces, more community plazas and gathering areas, community gardens, green roofs and cooperative spaces for community needs like daycare, library, police and continuing education. Even the highrise residential building is now being looked at as a community, with common area floors for gathering and activities, with lock-off or multi-generational unit options, and with active businesses at the street. The highrise office building is now likened to a learning campus with options for community interactions supported by the design of common floor ar-eas for the use of the building community incorporating gardens, exercise areas, daycares, lounges and social support spaces that enhance the day to day working experience and leading to better attraction and retention of skilled workers.

Evolving concepts of sustainability and what it means to be a green city or a sustainable community, threaten the traditional models of remote retail malls and suburban housing sprawl, isolated industrial lands and the mega industry based city. The digital lifestyle and work options, cost of living and quality of life issues are causing people to choose to aban-don car ownership, and the lifestyle that goes with it. Cooperative car plans are growing around the world, ranging from smart cars and bicycle share programs to limo clubs with luxury vehicles on call without mark-ings. This is already resulting in greater demand for public transit systems worldwide, and the renewal of the urban cores in many cities once con-sidered abandoned after the workday. There is also a shift away from the mega city to the mid size city as a livable option, and those cities that are in this size range and have maintained a sustainable urban core, are expe-riencing a renaissance of development.

In summary, it seems that while the advent of the sustainability move-ment in the early years was the purview of the maverick, the recent uptake has been overwhelming and has embraced the whole of the design and con-struction and development industry, but so far with mixed results. As the teams of specialists that make up our industry begin to cross fertilize ideas, the resulting synergies are already yielding quantum shifts in benefits to so-ciety. For awhile now, we have been using the new digital age technologies to create updated versions of industrial age buildings — now, we are begin-ning to see a shift to the construction of digital age buildings and develop-ments in support of future communities .

Teresa Coady is the former president and founding partner of B+H BuntingCoady Architects, and now sits on the United Nations Environ-mental Program (UNEP) Sustainable Building and Climate Initiative (SBCI) Advisory Board. She is also an active board member with the International Initiative Sustainable Building Expo (iiSBE).

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Legal file

No issue in construction law over the last decade has received more judicial interpretation and industry comment than that of tendering. There have been

numerous cases heard by both provincial trial level courts and courts of appeal across Canada. Judicial inconsistency and lack of clarity has ultimately re-sulted in the Supreme Court of Canada consider-ing tendering issues on multiple occasions over the last 10 years. While it is rare for Canada’s highest court to involve itself in commercial disputes, the law of tendering has become an exception.

It is very difficult to succinctly summarize tendering law in Canada given the amount of ju-dicial interpretation that has taken place during the last decade. However, there are fundamental principles that those in the construction industry can take away from these cases. While legal in na-ture, these principles impact the construction in-dustry in Canada on a daily basis. As a result, all participants in the construction industry should have a working knowledge of these principles.

First, the two contract analysis set out in the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Ron Engineering has been affirmed and followed on

numerous occasions by both provincial courts of appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. This analysis provides that there are two con-tracts in the tendering process. The first con-tract (the tender contract) arises between the tenderer and the bidder upon the bidder sub-mitting a compliant bid in response to a tender call. The second contract (being the ultimate construction contract) arises between the ten-derer and the winning bidder. The net result of this two contract analysis is that the tenderer owes various express and implied duties in con-tract to each of the compliant bidders.

Second, the tenderer can only award the ul-timate contract to a materially compliant bid-der. Acceptance of a materially non-compliant bid will be a breach of the terms of the tender contract that came into existence between the tenderer and those bidders who submitted com-pliant bids. Moreover, the Supreme Court of Canada has made it clear on numerous occasions that a tenderer owes a duty to treat all compli-ant bidders fairly. A tenderer who accepts a non-compliant bid will also breach the duty of fair-ness that it owes to each compliant bidder.

Third, a tenderer must award the ultimate con-tract to a materially compliant bidder based on the terms and conditions of the call for tenders. In evaluating bids that a tenderer receives, a ten-derer must materially comply with the terms and conditions set out in the call for tenders. For ex-ample, a tenderer can contract out of the lowest bid winning the ultimate contract but the criteria must be clearly stated in the tender documents. Courts have recognized that failure to award the ultimate contract in accordance with the terms of the call for tenders will be both a breach of the tender contract as well as the duty that a tenderer owes to each compliant bidder to act fairly in awarding the ultimate construction contract.

Fourth, the existence of a privilege clause does not necessarily give the tenderer an absolute dis-cretion to do whatever it wants in the tender process. Typically, a privilege clause may say some-thing such as “the lowest or any tender need not necessarily be accepted”. However, the existence of such a clause in and of itself does not override the tenderer’s obligation to follow the process set out in the call for tenders and evaluate bids using the criteria it has established in the call for tenders for considering and awarding the ultimate con-struction contract. While a tenderer can reserve the right to not award an ultimate construction contract at all, should it not receive a low enough bid, such right must be clearly set out in the ten-der documents. It is clear that Canadian courts will carefully examine the exact words used in a privilege clause and not allow a tenderer to escape its own process simply because some form of privi-lege clause is contained in the tender documents.

Judicial decisions over the last 10 years have es-tablished that owners need to carefully consider and draft their tender documents to ensure that they clearly set out both the tender process and the criteria upon which bids will be evaluated. Owners who fail to ensure their tender documents clearly establish the tender process and the criteria upon which bids will be evaluated risk finding themselves embroiled in legal proceedings commenced by an unsuccessful bidder. Moreover, preparing well drafted tender documents is only half the battle in avoiding claims by unsuccessful bidders. Owners must also ensure that they strictly follow the terms and conditions contained in the tender documents in awarding the ultimate construction contract. Failure to follow the process that an owner has es-tablished in the tender documents with respect to the award of the ultimate construction contract will also significantly increase the risk that an unsuccess-ful bidder will challenge the tender process. .

Doug Sanders is a partner and professional engineer with Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. Blair Rebane is a partner of the firm. Contact them at 604.687.5744.

tendering Law — a Busy decadeBY BLAIR REBANE AND DOUG SANDERS

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CONSTRUCTION BUSINESS

Richmond Oval

BC & ALBERTA’S CONSTRUCTION MAGAZINE

January/February 2007 | Vol. 4 No. 2

PLUSVANCOUVER’S DIRECTOR OF PLANNING

BRENT TODERIAN

OLYMPIC CONSTRUCTION

BONDING AND INSURANCE

ROOFING

ARCHITECT CORNER

LEGAL FILE

PM

40063056P

M 40063056


2007 CEBC Awards of Excellence


March/April 2007 | Vol. 4 No. 3

PM

40063056

N O W I N S I D E !

PLUSBENTALL 5 PHASE 2 • DANA TAYLOR MCABC • WATER & WASTE • CONCRETE


Vancouver International Airport

Expansion Project

BC & ALBERTA’S CONSTRUCTION MAGAZINE May/June 2007 | Vol. 4 No. 4

N O W I N S I D E !

PLUSR I C H A R D C A M P B E L L E C A B C • R O O F I N G • R O A D B U I L D I N G

PM

40

06

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56

WWW. C O N S T R U C T I O N B U S I N E S S . C A

Endorsed by the leading construction, design and architectural associations, Construction Business is the publication of choice by advertisers who want to reach the decision makers in the multi-billion dollar B.C. and Alberta construction marketplace.

To advertise your products, services and expertise or for more information on customizing an advertising program, please contact:

Dan Gnocato604.549.4521, ext. [email protected]

Advertise in Construction Business... and get it working for you!


Richmond Oval


January/February 2007 | Vol. 4 No. 2

PLUSVANCOUVER’S DIRECTOR OF PLANNING

BRENT TODERIAN

OLYMPIC CONSTRUCTION

BONDING AND INSURANCE

ROOFING

ARCHITECT CORNER

LEGAL FILE

PM

40063056P

M 40063056


2007 CEBC Awards of Excellence


March/April 2007 | Vol. 4 No. 3

PM

40063056

N O W I N S I D E !

PLUSBENTALL 5 PHASE 2 • DANA TAYLOR MCABC • WATER & WASTE • CONCRETE


Vancouver International Airport

Expansion Project

BC & ALBERTA’S CONSTRUCTION MAGAZINE May/June 2007 | Vol. 4 No. 4

N O W I N S I D E !

PLUSR I C H A R D C A M P B E L L E C A B C • R O O F I N G • R O A D B U I L D I N G

PM

40

06

30

56

WWW. C O N S T R U C T I O N B U S I N E S S . C A

Endorsed by the leading construction, design and architectural associations, Construction Business is the publication of choice by advertisers who want to reach the decision makers in the multi-billion dollar B.C. and Alberta construction marketplace.

To advertise your products, services and expertise or for more information on customizing an advertising program, please contact:

Dan Gnocato604.549.4521, ext. [email protected]


Legal file

ten Years and CountingBY JOHN R. SINGLETON, Q.C.

So many changes in so little time.

The last 10 years has seen some significant changes and events in the construction industry in B.C., both in

the way the industry operates and in the law that governs those operations. Let’s look at some of the major stories.

One of the worst problems to ever plague the construction industry in B.C. — leaky condos — peaked and then finally dissipated by the middle of the decade. After 1,500 or more lawsuits by strata corporations, the problem with marrying a build-ing boom to new building technologies was finally solved and the industry has largely moved on from that unfortunate experience. Although the most significant aspect of this was the impact it had on homeowners, it also demonstrated the strength and depth of B.C.’s construction industry in its signifi-cant contribution to solving and identifying a long term solution for this landmark problem.

New technology and new laws have also wound their way into the construction industry over the past decade.

In the case of technologies, the building in-formation modeling system (BIM) came into

its own during this decade to a point where this technology is now widely employed on projects offering integrated project delivery (IPD). This form of project delivery, amounting to a collab-orative effort from design to completion of con-struction, has every chance of reforming the way in which projects will be developed in the future, and enhancing the prospect of more efficient and cost-effective project delivery.

And of course the green building industry has introduced multiple new technologies into B.C.’s construction industry: green roofs, geo-thermal systems, multiple new products adver-tised to breed energy efficiency, and so on, are now readily available and employed in the rush to obtain silver, gold or platinum environmen-tal certification. The green building industry has become and will more so become an indus-try unto itself as its technologies are mandated by building codes and standards, and as they find wider acceptance by designers, builders and developers. With it, of course, comes new risks for the industry and new ways in which to assess and manage those risks, but the industry has always been up to the challenge.

Layered over these changes in the past decade are some significant changes in the law.

The law of tenders changed radically with the decision in Ron Engineering in 1985 and has continued to evolve since then. Until the turn of the century the evolution in this area of the law was mainly focused on explaining the Contract A / B analysis and the rights and entitlements the tender contract, Contract A, brings to builders and trades. Since then, there has been more of a focus on what rights and protection is afforded to owners by privilege, discretion and limitation of liability clauses which have crept into tender conditions over the past decade. An owner’s right to negotiate during the bidding process, to award contracts to non-compliant bids and to be immune from claims even where the tender con-ditions are not complied with, would have been seen as heresy at the turn of the century. Now the courts have recognized that as long as ten-der conditions of this nature are clearly worded they will be enforced by the courts. That is not to say that provisions of this nature may not one day be seen as unenforceable as a matter of pub-lic policy, but, for now, the silver lining brought


Legal file

about by Ron Engineering is not as bright as it originally appeared.

There have been other significant changes in the law generally resulting in a more favourable treatment of the industry.

During the leaky condo debacle many con-tractors and trades found themselves without insurance coverage because of court decisions finding that actions by strata corporations in-volved only claims for pure economic loss and not property damage, a risk not covered by their liability insurance. The Supreme Court of Canada reversed this line of thinking in the case of Progressive Homes Ltd. v. Lombard General Insurance Company, 2010 SCC 33 in determin-ing that defects in materials and workmanship arguably constitutes “property damage”, result-ing in the availability of wider coverage for con-tractors and trades when faced with claims for correcting construction defects.

In another insurance case, Canadian Na-tional Railway v. Royal and Sun Alliance 2008 3 SCR 453 the Supreme Court of Canada reinter-preted the phrase “faulty workmanship” as that term was used in builders risk or course of con-struction insurance policies. Prior to this case, workmanship or materials were determined to be “faulty” if they did not serve their intended purpose, whether or not the contractor, trade or material supplier installing or supplying them was negligent. The cost of repairing or replac-ing faulty workmanship or materials was not

covered by these policies The Royal and Sun Alliance case modified this test. Materials and workmanship are now deemed to be faulty if and only if they fail to meet the highest recog-nized standard of care available in the industry. That is, they can be unfit for their intended pur-pose, but if they meet the highest recognized standard, they are not faulty. Perhaps only a

slight change in favour of the industry, but with significant consequences.

In B.C. there has also been reform in the area of limitation periods. Effective January 2013, the ultimate limitation period will have been reduced from 30 years to 15 years and a six year limitation period previously applicable to some claims in

the industry will have been reduced to two years. Although there will be vigorous debate over the meaning of some of the provisions in the legisla-tion introducing these reforms, the bottom line is that the industry will be exposed to claims for a shorter period of time than was previously the case.

A final change over the past 10 years worthy of noting, is the wide spread adoption in B.C. of the public private partnership model for de-livery of public infrastructure projects. B.C. is a leader in this area both nationally and interna-tionally through the efforts of PartnershipsBC. This project model has delivered billions of dol-lars worth of projects annually in B.C., and is likely to do so for many years to come. Its adop-tion in B.C. has been a major reason for the buoyancy of B.C.’s economy.

Yes, over the past 10 years there have been multiple changes in the world of construction in B.C. which, together, point to a bright future for an industry which has not only remained robust over the past decade, but also is now well positioned to absorb what is estimated to be many billions of dollars worth of annual construction activity in the coming years. One might therefore expect the next decade to be equally challenging and again marked with more reforms as this industry adapts in this dy-namic segment of our economy.

John Singleton, Q.C., is a partner at Single-ton Urquhart LLP in Vancouver.

Effective January 2013, the ultimate

limitation period will have been reduced

from 30 years to 15 years and a six year

limitation period…. will have been reduced

to two years.


Legal file

the Problem“Extra work” is work that falls outside the origi-nal scope of the contract. Almost all construc-tion projects invariably result in extra work being performed by a contractor (or subcontractor). Most construction contracts provide for changes to the original scope of work through “change order” or “extra work” clauses.

In reality, given the demanding and com-plicated schedules on large multi-faceted construction projects, procedures for obtain-ing executed change orders are not always followed. Time constraints may require a contractor to move forward with extra work without the proper paperwork. This is often compounded by the fact that the individual with the authority to execute a change order on behalf of the owners is not always on-site. The work is then carried out without formal documentation in place.

Disagreements inevitably arise between the contractor and owner: Was the work within the scope of the original contract or outside of the contract? Is extra compensation warranted for the work or not?

the RiskContractors and owners face risks when they fail to properly follow procedure in relation to change orders.

Contractors may find themselves out of pock-et significant sums of money by relying on oral assurances from project managers or other on-site supervisors to the effect that the contractors will be compensated for the extra work. Owners may find that the project cost skyrockets over the contract price if they are held to account for these undocumented extras.

the test The test for determining liability for extras re-quires a contractor to establish the following four elements:

1. Does the work performed fall outside the scope of work originally contemplated in the construction contract? If so, the work was in fact an extra. There is a grey area where the answer may not be so obvious i.e. the supply of materials of a better quality than the mini-mum quality necessary to fulfill the contract

“Extra” Liability Managing the Risk of Extras in Construction ContractsBY MELANIE TEETEART AND ALISON KOPER

without authorization from the owner (ex-press or implied) is not an extra. The contrac-tor generally bears the burden of proving that the work performed or materials supplied were outside the scope of the contract and were in fact extras.

2. Did the owner or a duly authorized agent authorize the extra work by giving express or implied instructions?

3. Was the owner informed or necessarily aware that the extras would increase the cost?

4. If there was a provision in the construction contract requiring changes to be in writing, was that provision waived by the conduct or acquiescence of the owner?

If the answer to all these questions is yes, the owner will be responsible for the cost of the extras.

No Change order: what now?What happens when the contract requires a writ-ten change order for extras but none is obtained?


Legal file

…a contractor should be wary of

performing extras and then requesting

authorization from the owner after

the fact.

The contractor’s failure to obtain a change order does not guarantee that an owner will be free from liability for the extra work. Courts can and do find in certain circumstances that an owner has waived the express requirement for a change order by its conduct on the project.

For example, if the requirement for change orders was regularly ignored during construc-tion, courts will often find the parties waived the change order provision by their conduct. Courts have held that it would be unreasonable to allow the owner to rely upon the terms of the written agreement in the face of such evidence.

If the contractor provides clear evidence show-ing that the parties did not intend to be bound by the terms of the written change order provision —then the owner may have to compensate the contractor for the work.

How does a contractor know when the evi-dence is clear enough? Courts have generally found that clear evidence exists when the follow-ing elements are present:

• knowledge on the part of the owner that the performance of the extras would in-crease the cost

• verbal instructions from the owner or a duly authorized agent directing the contractor to complete the extra work

• assurances from the owner that the work has been approved

• implied consent evidenced by the owner

encouraging the work or failing to object to the work

• the owner benefiting in some way from the extras (e.g. improving the safety and integ-rity of the project)

• an arrangement adopted by the parties for dealing with extras that is different from that provided for in the written contract.

Nevertheless, a contractor should be wary of performing extras and then requesting authoriza-tion from the owner after the fact.

A contractor should also avoid completing ex-tras following vague promises by the owner, such as instructions to “Do what is necessary and re-imbursement will be provided” or “Don’t worry, I’ll see you’re all right”. On their own, such as-surances are not enough to prove that a change order was not required. This is especially so if the

owner is not advised in advance that the work be-ing performed is considered extra work outside the original scope of the contract.

Conclusion“Extra work” will arise on many construction projects. In a perfect world, written authoriza-tion for extra work should be obtained prior to performance of that work. In reality, that does not always occur. This can lead to uncertainty, delay, and costly legal proceedings while the par-ties dispute what part of the project is outside the scope of the contract.

Liability for extras will be determined on a case-by-case basis, having consideration for the terms of the contract, the nature of the work and surrounding circumstances. If a change order cannot be obtained, a contractor should keep thorough records evidencing all of the circum-stances surrounding the completion of extras, in-cluding how they were authorized and by whom. A court will look for acquiescence on the part of the owner or a duly authorized agent or a pattern of conduct whereby the parties adopted an ar-rangement to deal with extras outside the terms of the written agreement.

Melanie Teeteart is an associate at Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer, who practices in the areas of commercial and general litigation as well as construction. Alison Koper is a student-at-law at the firm.

CONSTRUCTIONHEATING

AERIALLIFTS FORK

LIFTSGENERAL LINEEQUIPMENT

(604) 451-WEST (9378) www.WesternOne.ca

We’re there for you!We’re there for you!


Completion IssuesBY J. MARC MACEWING

the British Columbia Builders Lien Act treats completion, whether it be the substantial completion of a contract or subcontract or the completion of

an improvement, as a critical trigger for the com-mencement of lien filing and holdback release periods. The current version of the Act intro-duced new provisions which helped to clarify the criteria applicable to identifying the achievement of the completion milestone. However, those provisions did not end all uncertainty concern-ing the tests for completion, and in fact gave rise to some new questions as to how they operate in relation to each other.

A recurring issue is the relationship between the “3-2-1” cost to complete formula provided in Section 1(2) for determining substantial comple-tion of a head contract, contract or subcontract and the use or readiness for use for the purpose intended criterion provided in Section 1(3) for determining completion of an improvement or a substantial part of it.

Many people assume that those provisions are intended to provide alternative means of de-termining completion for a given construction project, and it is often thought that a contractor should be entitled to the issuance of a certificate of completion at such time as the first of those milestones can be said to have been achieved. Those assumptions can cause conflict on a proj-ect, if a contractor believes that the owner or its consultant is inappropriately refusing to issue a certificate with the result that the release of hold-back will be unjustifiably delayed.

Such problems arise from a mistaken interpre-tation of the completion provisions, which ad-

dress the various possible scenarios arising from single head contract and multiple trade contract projects and construction for which no comple-tion certificate is issued.

In particular, it appears from a close reading of the Act that the completion criteria set out in Sections 1(2) and (3) are not interchangeable. Further, there is no provision in the Act which indicates that those sections are intended to ap-ply according to the order of occurrence of the events which they anticipate.

To the contrary, Sections 8(2)(b) and 20(2)(b) indicate that the only scenario in which completion of an improvement is relevant for the purposes of the Act is when no Certificate of Completion is issued and there is no head contract. Only in that case is the status of the improvement to be taken into account in de-termining the applicable builders lien filing and holdback release periods.

It is suggested that this analysis is consistent with the presumed policy interests of the Build-ers Lien Act. It is true that general contractors and subcontractors are typically keen to hasten the release of holdback. However, if “substan-tial” work remains to be carried out under a contract or subcontract, it is reasonable to as-sume that the Act intends to protect the poten-tial lien rights of those performing that work, rather than to cut short those rights if early use of the improvement intervenes.

Another common issue relates to the differ-ences between the Act’s substantial completion criteria and detailed additional requirements which are often set out in contracts for recog-nizing substantial performance of the work. The

relationship between those provisions can run afoul of the expectations of the parties and com-plicate a payment certifier’s understanding of its duties. This is because of confusion between the operation of the statutory criteria for recogniz-ing completion as a trigger for the lien filing and holdback release periods and contractual deliver-ables which relate to other considerations such as warranties, indemnities and payment.

The principles which are applicable to statu-tory vs. contractual completion goalposts are set out as follows in The Continuing Legal Educa-tion Society of B.C. British Columbia Builders Liens Practice Manual at Page 5-13:

Construction contracts occasionally contain definitions for substantial performance or comple-tion which vary from the one contained in the Act. These may be used to calculate warranty and indemnity periods and for other contractual pur-poses, but they do not override the Act definition for lien purposes.

This means that only the criteria set out in the Act should be applied to the determina-tion of completion as regards the commence-ment of lien filing and holdback release pe-riods, while differing contractual criteria are applicable only to contractual concerns. With respect to the basic contractual concern of payment, this apparently does not mean that a contractual defence to payment based on de-layed or non-performance of contractual com-pletion requirements will be overridden by the expiry of a holdback release period triggered by the Act, since Section 8 (4) provides that payment of a holdback “may”, but not must, be made after expiry of the holdback.

Related to both of the above issues is the interplay of builders lien and deficiency hold-backs. Holdback as security against a con-tractor’s repair of deficiencies is commonly retained separately from, and additional to, builders lien holdback, often in an amount which is double the estimated cost to repair. If deficiency holdback is not expressly provided for by contract, it may be implied as a standard construction trade practice.

The question arises whether or not the dou-bled repair estimate amount is to be included in the calculation of the cost to complete for the purposes of the “3-2-1” formula for determining completion of a contract or subcontract.

It is suggested that the answer is no. In the first place, the Act makes no reference to deficiency holdback. Further, Section 1 (2) refers only to the “cost” at which the work to be done is capable of completion or correction.

J. Marc MacEwing is an associate counsel with Shapiro Hankinson & Knutson Law Corporation.

Legal file

WElcOmE

We look forward to seeing you February 13 & 14 at the Vancouver Convention Centre. BUILDEX is Western Canada’s largest industry event of its kind with 13,000 professional attendees from the Property Management, Architecture & Design, and Construction & Renovation industries. Delegates visit over 65,000 square feet of exhibits on our tradeshow fl oor and attend more than 55 industry-leading seminars. It is a great industry event that you cannot aff ord to miss.

Western Canada’s Largest Conference and Tradeshow forPrOPerty MANAGeMeNt • iNteriOr DeSiGN • Architecture • reNOVAtiON • cONStructiON • reAL eStAte

timE & lOcatiOn

Wednesday, February 13 9:30AM – 5:00PMThursday, February 14 9:30AM – 4:00PM

Vancouver convention centre West – exhibition LevelBUILDEX Tradeshow – Halls B & CBUILDEX Seminars – Second Floor

Why attEnd?

NETWORK with over 13,000 professionals from Vancouver’s interior design, architectural, construction and property management industries.

eDucAte yourself by attending one of 55+ CEU accredited seminars off ered by leading industry professionals.

DiScOVer more than 65,000 square feet of exhibits showcasing products for interior design, architecture, construction and property management.

EaRly biRd dEadlinE

JanuaRy 30Register by January 30 to benefi t from lower seminar prices, plus you will receive your badge in the mail before the show! Avoid line-ups and save time.

FeBruAry 13 & 14, 2013VAN CO U V ER CO N V EN T I O N C EN T R E W E S T

BuiLDeX is about designing, building and managing real estate

reGiSter Atwww.buildexvancouver.com

B U I L D E X V A N C O U V E R S H O W P R E V I E W

GOLD SPONSOrS

PLAtiNuM SPONSOrS

DiAMOND SPONSOr

SiLVer SPONSOrS

MeDiA SPONSOrS

For the latest updates and to register online, visit www.buildexvancouver.com. See you February 13 & 14.

BuiLDeX Vancouver is about designing, building and managing real estate.

show preview cb.indd 1 12/13/12 11:24 AM

WElcOmE

We look forward to seeing you February 13 & 14 at the Vancouver Convention Centre. BUILDEX is Western Canada’s largest industry event of its kind with 13,000 professional attendees from the Property Management, Architecture & Design, and Construction & Renovation industries. Delegates visit over 65,000 square feet of exhibits on our tradeshow fl oor and attend more than 55 industry-leading seminars. It is a great industry event that you cannot aff ord to miss.

Western Canada’s Largest Conference and Tradeshow forPrOPerty MANAGeMeNt • iNteriOr DeSiGN • Architecture • reNOVAtiON • cONStructiON • reAL eStAte

timE & lOcatiOn

Wednesday, February 13 9:30AM – 5:00PMThursday, February 14 9:30AM – 4:00PM

Vancouver convention centre West – exhibition LevelBUILDEX Tradeshow – Halls B & CBUILDEX Seminars – Second Floor

Why attEnd?

NETWORK with over 13,000 professionals from Vancouver’s interior design, architectural, construction and property management industries.

eDucAte yourself by attending one of 55+ CEU accredited seminars off ered by leading industry professionals.

DiScOVer more than 65,000 square feet of exhibits showcasing products for interior design, architecture, construction and property management.

EaRly biRd dEadlinE

JanuaRy 30Register by January 30 to benefi t from lower seminar prices, plus you will receive your badge in the mail before the show! Avoid line-ups and save time.

FeBruAry 13 & 14, 2013VAN CO U V ER CO N V EN T I O N C EN T R E W E S T

BuiLDeX is about designing, building and managing real estate

reGiSter Atwww.buildexvancouver.com

B U I L D E X V A N C O U V E R S H O W P R E V I E W

GOLD SPONSOrS

PLAtiNuM SPONSOrS

DiAMOND SPONSOr

SiLVer SPONSOrS

MeDiA SPONSOrS

For the latest updates and to register online, visit www.buildexvancouver.com. See you February 13 & 14.

BuiLDeX Vancouver is about designing, building and managing real estate.


BUILDEX Vancouver Show Preview www.buildexvancouver.com

FlOORplan & FEatuRES

SpOnSORS

CAFE JOB BOArD BOOth 612 BOOth 1030BOOth 1631 BOOth 1031 WiNe BAr & BiStrO

Over 400 organizations have already booked exhibit space on the 150,000 sq. ft. show fl oor. For a full exhibit list, visit www.buildexvancouver.com.

Want new business? Book exhibit space now.

Only 10 booths still available. For more information, contact:

Michael Pelsoci at [email protected] or 604.730.2034Ben Carson at [email protected] or 604.730.2032


www.buildexvancouver.com BUILDEX Vancouver Show Preview

WORKplacE 20/20tOMOrrOW’S WOrKPLAce tODAy see the future at this year’s bUilDeX vancouver and get an insider’s look at WorKPlace 20/20, a 2000 sq ft feature area on the tradeshow fl oor.

these specially designed commercial offi ce spaces refl ect the ever changing needs of society and are more than just functional, they refl ect the growing needs of modern businesses and their employees. the design teams not only considered how the employees use their workspace but they considered the whole work environment including transportation needs, employee interaction and translating company brand into the workplace. each space highlights the newest trends, designs and technology from leading commercial offi ce furniture designers and manufacturers.

open your eyes to what tomorrow holds for workplace design and become a leader in your industry.

iN PArtNerShiP With

N e W F O r 2 0 13

nEW FOR 2013: pRESEntatiOnS On thE ShOWFlOOR

Adding excitement and energy to the 2013 showfl oor will be interactive presentations from various industry leaders and suppliers.

A confi rmed schedule of events will be announced soon.

bc WOOd paViliOn

In partnership with BUILDEX, members of BC Wood will be featured in a 2000+ sq. ft. exhibit. For a list of pavilion participants, search booth #1812 in the online exhibitor listing.

clubOnE

A VIP program for BUILDEX Attendees off ering:

• A VIP Lounge with complimentary snacks & coff ee• A separate check-in counter at registration• Coat and parcel check• Additional networking opportunities and more!

To be eligible for ClubONE VIP you and/or your company must spend $1000 or more on seminars. All ClubONE qualifi ers will be notifi ed prior to the event via email. For more information contact Gillian Wright at 604.730.2058 or [email protected].

S P O N S O R E D B Y

hayS JOb bOaRd REtuRnS FOR 2013

Visit the job board online and at the show to post and seek employ-ment opportunities. For more information visit www.buildexvancouver.com and click on “On-Site Job Board”.


BUILDEX Vancouver Show Preview www.buildexvancouver.com

OVER 55 EducatiOnal SEminaRS are available at bUilDeX vancoUverVisit buildexvancouver.com for complete seminar details and to register.

aSSOciatiOn SEminaRSSEminaRS

WEdnESday, FEbRuaRy 13cOnStRuctiOn KEynOtE: 2:30pm – 4:00pm // W29 • AdApt or die! How will You Survive tHe Next 10 YeArS?

VRCA has assembled a panel of respected industry participants to help you navigate through the turbulence that lies ahead.

Moderator: Keith Sashaw, President, Vancouver Regional Construction Association

Panel: Sarah Clark, President & CEO, Partnerships BC Mike Demers, Partner, Jenkins Marzban Logan LLP Cris Munro, SCMP, CPSM. C.P.M., Principal, CM2 Ventures Inc.

8:30am – 10:50am // W07 • BreAk SmArt GrouNd: diGitAl BASicS to REVOlutiOnizE yOuR buSinESS

Learn how to smoothly transition your bidding and project management processes from the old world of paper and sealed envelopes to efficient digital process that reduce cost and increase accuracy.

10:30am – 12:00pm // W12 • FiNdiNG Skilled workerS: A demANd-Side Guide to FASt lABour SourciNG

Get practical information on exactly how to access skilled workers from large pools.

1:00pm – 2:30pm // W21 • HSt to pSt: proviNciAl tAx SpeciAliStS Help SimpliFy thE tRanSitiOn

The nuts and bolts of the upcoming tax transition.

SEminaRS

thuRSday, FEbRuaRy 148:30am – 10:00am // t02 • tHe eSSeNce oF tHe weSt coASt Spirit

This session provides an overview of the West Coast Modern aesthetic — from its early begin-nings to its current incarnation. It explores some of the unique creative processes and technolo-gies that architects use to shape today’s West Coast architecture.

10:30am – 12:30pm // t13 • liviNG AFFordABlY iN GreAter vANcouver

This session provides a rare opportunity to dialogue openly with an expert panel of profes-sionals involved in the affordability of Greater Vancouver housing. Is affordable livability in greater Vancouver a real possibility or an ever-receding horizon?

Moderator: David Beers, Editor, The Tyee

Presenters: Brian J. Jackson, MCIP, General Manager, Planning and Development Services, City of Vancouver Dane Jansen, Architect AIBC, R.A. State of Washington, LEED AP, Principal, DYS Architecture Sean McEwen, Architect AIBC, S.R. McEwen Architect Brent Toderian, MCIP, President of TODERIAN UrbanWORKs, President of the Council for Canadian Urbanism in Vancouver, former City of Vancouver Director of City Planning Heather Tremaine, Principal, Urban Fabric Group

1:00pm – 2:30pm // t14 • idp 2.0: collABorAtive deSiGN For tHe 21St ceNturY

This session takes an in-depth look inside the nuts and bolts of the modern integrated design process, using the recent VanDusen Visitor Centre project as a case study in cross-disciplinary collaboration.

3:00pm – 4:30pm // t22 • verNAculAr ArcHitecture: Not So SpeciAl — A cloSer look At reGioNAl ArcHitecture

This session explores the history of vernacular architecture in B.C. and takes a close look at how today’s architects are re-imagining the past.


C O - S P O N S O R S

thUrsDay, FebrUary 14 is

Architecture DAyS P O N S O R E D B Y

SEminaRS

WEdnESday, FEbRuaRy 138:30am – 10:00am // W05 • AN educAtioN pAtH to mANAGemeNt ANd owNerSHip

Have you ever thought about running your own construction company? Do you want to transition into a management role? Find out about resources that can help you make the most of your current skills, knowledge and experience and direct your education path toward greater career success.

10:30am – 12:00pm // W17 • mAkiNG eNerGuide work For You

EnerGuide is more than a number stamped on a home and this session will look at the basic principles of the program, why it was created and how EnerGuide can create a pathway to other certification programs.

thuRSday, FEbRuaRy 148:30am – 10:00am // t03 • leAderSHip iN SAFetY — tHe Next Step iN tHe EVOlutiOn OF SaFEty

Leadership in Safety discusses the importance of a safety management system but also discusses what lies beyond COR, and how leadership is the key to continual improvements and more successful production and safety outcomes.

10:30am – 12:00pm // t08 • SelliNG SuStAiNABilitY: How to proFit tHrouGH GreeN Home certiFicAtioN

Nervous about the market? Consider this: When buyers drive deals, green homes sell for more. That’s the conclusion of a survey of 1.6 million home sales in California, where, in the wake of the US market crash, certified green homes sold for an average of 9% more than comparable non-certified homes in the same communities.

SpEcial EVEntSthE 16th annual cEOS bREaKFaSt

This exclusive breakfast is attended by over 250 CEOs, Presidents and Senior Vice Presidents of the leading construction com-panies in British Columbia. This is an invite-only networking event held in conjunction with BUILDEX Vancouver.

bOma bc lunchEOn

Thursday, February 14, 2013 Reception: 11:30 am – 12:00 pm Lunch and Keynote: 12:00pm – 1:30pm

Speakers: To be determined

For up to date information and to register contact BOMA BC directly at http://boma.bc.ca/events-sponsorship/.

meet & Greet NetworkiNG receptioN

The annual Meet & Greet Reception will be held Wednesday, February 13th from 5:00 – 6:00pm in the Burrard Foyer on level 2. Come and network with over 600 industry profes-sionals and enjoy a complimentary glass of wine or beer and some delicious hors d’oeuvres.


C O - S P O N S O R S

M E D I A S P O N S O R


Are Your Most Valuable Assets Disappearing?

ICBA membership gives you access to a powerful suite of programs to help you attract and retain skilled workers

Call 1.800.663.2865 or visit www.icba.ca

Small and medium sized construction companies

can be at a disadvantage when employees and skilled job seekers look beyond their

wage rates

• Employee Health Benefits• Individual Pension Plans• Group Retirement Programs

• Exclusive hotel, gasoline, and retail discounts

• Apprenticeship Bursaries• Safety and Management Training• Wage and Benefit Surveys

ICBA_CB_NovDec2011.indd 1 11-12-14 4:29 PM

Prairie WoodDESIGN AWARDS 2012

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Industry News

PoRt MANN oPENSThe new Port Mann Bridge in Metro Vancouver officially opened to eight lanes of traffic on De-cember 1, meeting the target date set three years ago. The opening marks the culmination of almost four years of bridge and highway construction on the largest transportation project in B.C. history.

The on-time and on-budget opening of the new Port Mann Bridge is a major milestone for the Port Mann / Highway 1 Improvement Project, and the centrepiece of 37 kilometres of upgrades to one of the province’s most important economic corridors.

Construction will continue on the Port Mann Bridge and along the Highway 1 corridor through 2013. Crews will keep working to complete the bridge to its full 10-lane capacity and continue high-way widening and interchange improvements through Coquitlam, Burnaby and Vancouver.

In conjunction with the bridge opening, 10km of the eastern section of the South Fraser Perim-eter Road from Highway was also opened.

RodRIGUES APPoINtEdVancouver-based architect Sean Rodrigues has been appointed to the board of directors for the Canadian Architectural Certification Board (CACB) as voted by its members across Canada. His appointment to the three-year term follows 20 years of broad experience including serving as project manager for venue construction at the Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC) lead-ing up to the 2010 Winter Games. Since joining Stantec last year, he has taken on significant proj-ect management challenges across multiple sectors in B.C. including power and transportation.

The CACB is the only organization rec-ognized by architects across Canada to assess qualifications of graduates from architectural programs, accredit professional degree programs, and assess foreign architects against standards of competency for practice in Canada.

BoMBARdIER SELECtEdThe B.C. government and TransLink have signed a contract with Bombardier Transportation to supply 28 SkyTrain cars for the new Evergreen Line as well as the existing Expo and Millennium Lines. Bombardier was selected to supply the cars after successfully responding to a Request for Expressions of Interest in February 2012. The cost of the cars is $90.7 million.

The new $1.4 billion Evergreen Line will link Burnaby, Port Moody and Coquitlam with an 11-kilometre advanced light rapid transit line between Lougheed Town Centre in Burnaby and Douglas College in Coquitlam.

SNC-Lavalin Inc. has been selected as the pre-ferred proponent to design, build and finance the Evergreen Line project.

REdEVELoPMENt PLANSHarbour Center in downtown Vancouver is set to undergo redevelopment with extensive con-struction work starting in 2013. The food court and streetscape of the Harbour Centre will be upgraded, including higher ceilings and the re-moval of a portion of the second floor to accom-modate a two-story galleria. Designed by SSDG with project architects, DA Architects + Plan-ners, completion is expected by late 2013.

A GLoBAL MERGERVancouver law firm Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP has approved a merger with Salans LLP and SNR Denton to create a new global law firm. Fraser Milner Casgrain will be rebranded as Denton’s Vancouver. The new global firm will have more than 2,500 lawyers in 52 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North Amer-ica. Salans LLP is based in Europe; SNR Denton has offices throughout the U.S., Europe, the Mid-dle East, Africa and Asia. The merger is scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2013.

INNoVAtIVE BUILdING oPENSThe Earth Sciences Building at the University of British Columbia officially opened its doors on November 19th. Using wood as its primary structure, this innovative five-storey building is North America’s largest panelized wood structure. It features an open-concept atrium, a free-floating cantilevered solid timber stair-case, and has a low embodied energy profile which sequesters carbon dioxide. Perkins + Will designed the building and Equilibrium Consulting was the structural consulting firm on the project.

hERItAGE AChIEVEMENtThe Heritage Canada Foundation (HCF) and the Kelowna Museums Society have presented a national Achievement Award to the City of Kelowna, B.C., for the Laurel Packinghouse Re-habilitation Project.

The award recognizes the extensive structur-al work undertaken by the city to stabilize and upgrade the historic Laurel Packinghouse, the first designated heritage building in Kelowna and the oldest remaining packinghouse in the province. Located in the heart of the city’s cul-tural district, it is home to the B.C. Orchard Industry Museum, the B.C. Wine Museum and VQA Wine Shop.

The HCF Achievement Award honours in-dividuals or groups for their achievement in heritage advocacy and volunteerism, and for projects that demonstrate a commitment to heritage conservation.

SAShAw LEAVES VRCAKeith Sashaw will be leaving his role as presi-dent of the Vancouver Regional Construction Association. As one of the familiar faces and principal spokespersons for the construction industry, Sashaw has been at the helm of VRCA since 2001. He will be assuming the role of pres-ident and chief executive officer of the Associa-tion of Consulting Engineering Companies — British Columbia in February 2013.

Prior to joining VRCA, Sashaw was execu-tive vice president of the ECABC as well as ex-ecutive vice president of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association of BC.

P3 hoNoURSThe Canadian Council for Public-Private Part-nerships has recognized the 2012 recipients of the National Awards for Innovation & Excel-lence in Public-Private Partnerships (P3s). The awards recognize outstanding Canadian P3s in the areas of project financing, service delivery, and infrastructure. The 2012 winners include several from B.C. and Alberta.

Gold award winners were Kelowna and Ver-non Hospitals Project (Service Delivery Award) , Graham Design Builders; and BC Cancer Agen-cy Centre for the North (Infrastructure Award), PCL Westcoast Constructors. A Silver Award went to the Fort St. John Hospital and Residen-tial Care Project (Infrastructure Award), Stuart Olson Dominion Construction. An Award of Merit went to Northwest Anthony Henday Drive, Flatiron Constructors Canada.

fIRSt ALBERtA CoNtRACtMainroad Chinook Contracting has signed an operations and maintenance contract to provide routine highway maintenance services for the South East Stoney Trail Project.

The Southeast Stoney Trail Project is a pub-lic-private partnership project with the Alberta Government and Chinook Roads Partnership. The contract is Mainroad’s first highway mainte-nance contractr outside of B.C. Traffic availabil-ity is anticipated to be in October, 2013.

2012 VRCA AwARds of ExCEllEnCE

General Contractor over $40 Million Graham Design Builders, Kelowna and Vernon Hospitals P3 Project

General Contractor $15 Million to $40 Million Stuart Olson Dominion Construction Ltd. Surrey Central Library

General Contractor up to $15 Million Vancouver Pile Driving Ltd., Ocean Concrete, Granville Island Plant, Dock Replacement

Electrical Contractor over $2 Million F & M Installations Ltd., BC Hydro GMS Units 6-8 Capacity Increase Project

Electrical Contractor up to $2 Million Houle Electric Ltd., Thompson Rivers University House of Learning

Mechanical Contractor over $3 Million PML Professional Mechanical Ltd., Fort St. John Hospital

Mechanical Contractor up to $3 Million Dual Mechanical Ltd., Annacis Centre for Research and Education

Chairman’s Trade Award Keith Panel Systems Co. Ltd., VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre

President’s Trade Award Coastal Mountain Excavations Ltd., BC Hydro Bridge River Generating Station Townsite Redevelopment

Manufacturer & Supplier Solid Rock Steel Fabricating Co. Ltd., Capilano Cliffwalk

Heritage Restoration Award Scott Construction Group, Hotel Georgia Restoration

Innovation Award Panther Constructors Ltd., BC Place Soccer Screens

Sustainable Construction Award Ledcor Construction Limited, VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre

Congratulations to all of our 2012 Awards of Excellence GOLD, Individual, Landmark and Safety Winners

24th Annual Awards of ExcellenceLandmark Award PCL Constructors Westcoast Inc., BC Place Roof Replacement & Facility Upgrade

Member of the Year Scott Construction Group

Educator of the Year Ron Coreau, VRCA

Outstanding Woman in Construction Award Jackie Trach, PCL

Construction Workplace Health and Safety Award Pacific Blasting & Demolition

U40 Heather Armitage, Active First Aid Inc.

Life Time Achievement Award Grant McMillan

Annual Safety Awards

ZERO ACCIDENT FREQUENCY McLeod Masonry International Corp.

GENERAL CONTRACTOR 200,000 AND MORE PERSONHOURS PCL Constructors Westcoast

TRADE CONTRACTOR 200,000 AND MORE PERSONHOURS Status Electrical Corporation

TRADE CONTRACTOR 10,000 TO 49,999 PERSONHOURS McLeod Masonry International Corp

Building Excellence


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ONCE AGAIN ON OCTOBER 19TH, THE construction industry recognized outstanding achievement with the presentation of the win-ners at this year’s Awards of Excellence evening presented by the Vancouver Regional Construc-tion Association.

As in previous years, competition was very stiff, with 260 entries plus being submitted, represent-ing more than $2 billion of construction activity. The presentation of the awards recognized the full gamut of construction, ranging from very large P3 hospital projects to the very latest in sus-tainable construction. A new category this year was for construction related to restoring existing buildings in the Heritage Category.

In the non-project categories, outstanding achievement was also recognized. VRCA’s own Ron Coreau, who retired as our director of educa-tion, was presented with the Educator of the Year Award in recognition of the fabulous job he did in developing our extensive education programming.

A new award presented this year was to recog-nize outstanding achievement to a VRCA U40 professional. The recipient of the inaugural award was Heather James of Active First Aid Inc. who es-tablished her own company a few years ago and has built it up to where it now employs nine people and

provides a valuable service to B.C.’s construction in-dustry. In addition, Heather has played a major role in starting up the VRCA U40 network, making it the tremendous success it is today.

The U40 was not the only age demographic that was recognized at the event. Marina Pratch-ett of the firm Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, was inducted into the prestigious Life Members Committee of VRCA in recognition of her out-standing contribution to the construction in-dustry, including serving as chair of the VRCA board of directors in 1996.

The highlight of the evening was the presenta-tion of the Landmark Award to PCL Construc-tors Westcoast Inc. for the BC Place Revitaliza-tion Project. This award is given out infrequently and only to projects that are grand in scale and transformative in their impact on Vancouver. Previous winners include the BC Transmission building, the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre Expansion and the Woodwards Build-ing. The revitalization of BC Place Stadium has added years to the life of this iconic building, and has created a sense of excitement and freshness to the downtown core.

VRCA is proud to be able to recognize a small portion of the inspirational and amazing projects

that are done every year by our members, and equally important the work done by the thou-sands of men and women who work diligently on the job sites and in the offices that make these projects come together.

Keith SashawPresident, VRCA

inspiRAtionAl woRk

Jardine Lloyd Thompson Canada Inc.Insurance, Bonding and Construction Risk Specialists

Congratulations to all the winners of the

2012 VRCA Awards of Excellence

Surrey | 604 583 9800 | 1 888 290 9240Vancouver | 604 682 4211 | 1 800 708 1144Victoria | 250 388 4416 | 1 888 216 8018www.jltcanada.com

V i c t o r i a | V a n c o u v e r | S u r r e y | C a l g a r y | E d m o n t o n | To r o n t o | O t t a w a | M o n t r é a l



BC PLACE HAS BEEN A VANCOUVER landmark since it opened in 1983. A major revitalization to the stadium, completed by PCL Constructors Westcoast in 2011, ensures it will remain an icon in the city’s skyline for years to come.

The familiar white air dome is now gone and in its place is the world’s largest cable-supported, fully retractable, fabric roof. It was a large scale structure that has not been done in North America before, requiring both lo-cal and international expertise to deliver the project successfully.

For their efforts on the $367 million job, PCL received the prestigious 2012 VRCA Landmark Award — its second such honour. The first was for the Vancouver Convention Centre in 2009. It’s only the fourth time that the award has been given out by the association.

Being involved in a project of this calibre has been a once in a lifetime experience.

“It’s one of the most complex engineering challenges that I’ve ever worked on,” says PCL senior construction manager Lorne Ebenal.

Construction began in April 2010 with BC Place officially reopening on September 30, 2011. The new roof required the installation of 36 steel masts, each one 50 metres long and weighing approximately 240 tons. They were shipped to the site in three pieces, assembled inside the stadium and then lifted into position over several months. About 18,000 tons of steel was used for the roof and its supports.

Ebenal says they had anticipated some chal-lenges on the mast and compression beam instal-lations but meticulous planning ensured every-thing went smoothly.

“The first ones took longer but once we worked out the bugs, the installations ran smoothly and efficiently,” he says.

Of course, working on a project of this scale and complexity meant overcoming many chal-lenges including an aggressive schedule which saw the project completed in 18 months.

According to Ebenal, the fact that this was a large global procurement project was the big-gest challenge. “The cables and the fabric and the retractable roof are all specialized components that aren’t readily available or manufactured in North America.”

Consequently, materials had to be sourced from all over the world: Thailand, Germany, France, Italy, Turkey, Canada and the USA.

Coordinating the fabrication and deliveries of the various components as well as ensuring the quality meets contract specifications was a huge logistical task.

To help manage and monitor everything, PCL had two full time managers dedicated to quality control and quality assurance (QA/QC).

PCL spent considerable time upfront with PavCo (BC Pavilion Corporation) and the de-sign team to develop the tender specifications, identifying the best construction solutions for delivering the project.

“The time spent upfront is what really produced the cost and time savings. We incorporated what we believed were the most effective construction methods to install the new roof as quickly and as safely as possible at the least cost,” says Ebenal.

The design allows for the fabric roof to retract into the centre of the roof opening, hidden above a suspended, four-sided electronic video board.

BY CHERYL MAHworld Class facility

lAndMARk AwARd PCL Constructors Westcoast BC Place Revitalization Project



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The masts support 35 km of 90 mm steel cable. With each span measuring up to 240 m in length, the roof support structure is similar to 18 suspen-sion bridges. The old roof fabric (720,000 square feet of it) and steel cable system were all recycled.

The new roof will be able to withstand what is referred to as the “50 year snow load,” supporting as much as seven million kilograms.

With more than 400 workers on the ground and at high elevations, safety was a top priority. Even before work started, safety was made a part of the tendering process.

“Our safety program was laid out in detail in the tender documents and when subcontracts were awarded we reviewed in further detail the safety requirements for the project,” says Ebenal.

PCL clocked 293,786 man-hours of work on this project with no lost time incidents.

The roof replacement (phase two) was just one part of a multiphase renovation to the stadium. Phase two also included a full upgrade to the interior as well as structural upgrades. Improve-ments included renovation of food court and team facilities; new seating; new playing surface as well as energy efficient mechanical and electri-cal retrofits. Designed by Stantec Architecture, the project incorporated a number of innova-tions and features such as new sport lighting, new sound system and fully automated retract-able seats. The structure was also brought up to modern seismic standards.

Lights that ring the facade is a prominent vi-sual feature. The new façade is clad with more than 64,000 square feet of transparent membrane panels using ETFE. ETFE foil is used extensively in Europe but this was the first time it was used in Canada.

As the new home for the Vancouver White-caps, a number of soccer related renovations were also done. The most notable is a flexible screen, which will limit the capacity of the stadium to

the seats required for soccer games. Installation of the one-of-a-kind screens earned Panther Constructors Ltd a VRCA Gold Innovation Award of Excellence.

The BC Place revitalization project was a com-plex feat of engineering, design and construction ingenuity. Despite all the challenges, the project team was able to deliver essentially a new world class facility for the city.



BY CHERYL MAH

General Contractor over $40 MillionGraham Design Builders — Kelowna and Vernon Hospitals P3 projectGold

A daunting Challenge

GRAHAM DESIGN BUILDER’S FIRST P3 project in B.C. was a daunting one — build not one but three major healthcare facilities si-multaneously in two cities. Not only did they overcome a myriad of complex challenges, they delivered the much needed healthcare facilities on budget and ahead of schedule. The successful outcome earned Graham a well deserved 2012 VRCA Gold Award of Excellence.

“It’s great to be recognized against our peers in the industry,” says Dave Corcoran, Graham’s vice president, major commercial projects. “Winning this prestigious award is a testament to the skill, dedication and professionalism of the Graham staff who worked on this project.”

The Kelowna and Vernon Hospitals (KVH) project was one of the largest and most complex construction projects in Graham’s 86-year history.

The $376 million project scope involved the construction of a new 358,000 square foot Centennial Building and a parkade structure at Kelowna General Hospital (KGH); a 36,000 square foot Interior Health and University of BC Faculty of Medicine Clinical Academic Campus; and the new 229,000 square foot Polson Tower at Vernon Jubilee Hospital.

The project is part of a major expansion of healthcare facilities in the Okanagan region for Interior Health Authority that will enhance pa-tient care for the rapidly growing population.

Construction started in 2008 and was complet-ed in three phases. The last building at KGH was

completed in January 2012, a full seven months ahead of schedule. Graham was the design-builder and worked closely with Stantec to design and construct the three buildings concurrently.

The new state-of-the-art facilities were con-structed on operating hospital sites requiring careful planning to minimize any impacts to pa-tient care services.

“We had to maintain full operation of the all fa-cilities while construction was going on, which was no easy task given that we had to relocate the main entrances and ambulance bays for both hospitals without interrupting any services,” says Corcoran.

In addition, Graham had to meet strict data regulations and compliance requirements and faced potential financial penalties for any sched-ule delays or non-compliance.

Another challenge was the sheer volume of documentation required for a project of this na-ture. To address this issue, Graham used an elec-tronic document control system by Aconex to better manage tendering, workflows and distri-bution of drawings. At the end of the day, more than 585,000 documents and 4,500 drawings were counted.

“It allowed us to manage the large amounts of documents that we had and by using the elec-tronic system we could easily send all the latest documents out to our subcontractors and they would get them in real time. We never had to worry about whether a subcontractor had the latest drawings,” says Corcoran.

Use of the Aconex technology not only helped Graham to streamline efficiency and pro-ductivity on the project, it also recently earned them a Constructech Vision Gold Award. The award honours companies that have successfully applied innovative technologies to their every-day businesses.

And innovation was a must on this project. A notable time and cost saving solution was the use of Graham’s in-house design for a column hung forming system.

“It allowed us to shave about four months off the schedule for the Kelowna Hospital,” says Corcoran, noting peak manpower was close to 600 for both sites.

While the majority of the trades were local, Graham used resources throughout B.C. to accomplish the work. Corcoran credits good working relationships for meeting the demands of the job.

The three buildings were designed to LEED Gold standards and include green features such as reflective roof surfaces, stormwater collection tanks for landscape irrigation, daylight harvest-ing and geothermal heating and cooling (KGH). Approximately 92 per cent of construction waste was diverted from landfill.

“What I’m most proud of is that we always put the patients first when decisions had to be made and everybody worked as a team to solve problems,” says Corcoran, describing his first P3 project as a very positive experience.



BY CHERYL MAH

General Contractor $15-40 MillionStuart Olson Dominion Construction Ltd. - Surrey Central LibraryGold

Innovative Public Space

THE NEW SURREY CITY CENTRE LIBRARY is not only a striking architectural landmark but more importantly serves as a civic anchor for the city’s changing downtown core.

Substantially completed in September 2011 by Stuart Olson Dominion Construction Ltd. (SODCL), the library is the centrepiece of a major civic initiative that will transform downtown Surrey. The new civic precinct will eventually include a new city hall, large urban plaza, performing arts centre and additional commercial space.

The library was built under difficult condi-tions — tight time frame and tough budget — but it’s a building everyone is proud of at the end of the day.

“We are really proud of being a part of the catalyst that will transform the city centre into a fantastic vibrant community and downtown,” says senior project director Gavin Yee. “This project is a world class city landmark where we can bring our children and families to enjoy for generations to come.”

Evoking a nautical theme on the outside, the library is a 77,000 square foot concrete and steel structure. It features study rooms, large children’s area, teen lounge, community meeting rooms, a fireplace and more.

Built under the federal and provincial stimu-lus programs, the biggest challenge was the tight time frame. The $36 million project required a fast-track schedule which meant an accelerated permitting process, a compressed design schedule, a focus on pre-manufacturing, and an aggressive construction schedule with multiple shifts and

overtime. From the day SODCL mobilized on site to substantial completion was just 18 months.

“Schedule was a major challenge as everything was accelerated to meet the federally funded infrastructure deadline,” says Yee, adding peak manpower was approximately 80-110. “Con-struction was proceeding at a fast pace before design and working drawings were completed.”

The building exterior consists of exposed cast-in-place concrete walls with knife edge corners and curved glazed curtain wall punched open-ings. The exterior walls were all formed in place to achieve the complex curved outward leaning angular walls designed by Bing Thom Architects. Approximately 7,900 cubic metres of concrete was used.

“Forming the architectural cast-in-place ex-terior concrete to achieve the complex curves and outward sloping angles was a major chal-lenge,” notes Yee. “Exterior formwork of this kind is very unique and innovative. The creativ-ity and exceptional work of our forming trade, Best Choice, was instrumental to the successful outcome and quality of work of this important feature of the project.”

Another major challenge was completion of the curtain wall and exterior glazing work. The glazing trade went into receivership during construction of the library, requiring SODCL to complete the supply and installation of the glazing scope.

The interior features a central atrium with a visually striking white drywall balustrade that interconnects the four floors. Each floor turns in a grand spiral up to the next, creating a unique

circulation while providing clear sightlines that allow visitors to orient themselves.

“Generally the ceilings throughout the li-brary is the exposed concrete structure as all the mechanical distribution is located under the raised access floor system that was utilized at each floor plate,” describes Yee.

The specific humidity requirements of a library meant mechanical systems were not typical.

Designed to LEED Silver standards, the proj-ect includes a number of sustainable features such as a partial green roof, white reflective roofing materials and extensive natural day-lighting. Approximately 75 per cent of con-struction waste was diverted from landfill.

The facility is equipped with the latest in technology, including more than 80 public com-puters and access to wireless service.

The library has been designed with future expansion in mind. The city’s population was predicted to outgrow the original proposed space in about five years. As a result, the city was encouraged to build in the excess space now, which is currently being leased by SFU for its continuing education programs.

SODCL earned a VRCA Gold Award of Excellence for their efforts.

“We recognize how privileged we are when given the opportunity to work on innovative, leading edge sustainable public buildings such as the City Centre Library and when extreme challenges are overcome through the collabor-ative relationships that we share with the city and all the stakeholders,” says Yee. “The final accomplishment is truly amazing.”

THE LIBRARY WAS BUILT

UNDER DIFFICULT CONDITIONS —

TIGHT TIME FRAME AND TOUGH

BUDGET…



BY JEAN SORENSEN

General Contractor up to $15 MillionVancouver Pile Driving Ltd. — Ocean Concrete Granville Island Plant, Dock ReplacementGold

Challenging Site

A CONGESTED AND BUSY SITE POSED the greatest challenge to Vancouver Pile Driving Ltd. (VPDL) when it took on the $1.5 million con-tract to build a new wharf and repair the fenders at the Ocean Concrete facility on Granville Island.

As well as dismantling the old timber wharf, VPDL had to work around the tourist site teaming with traffic on the water and land plus shifting tides, place two large cranes on site and at the same time keep the Ocean’s plant conveyer systems feeding its operation moving. The Granville Island site plays a key role in supplying Vancouver construction sites.

Coordinating the wharf replacement and do-ing it safely earned VPDL the VRCA 2012 Gold Award of Excellence in the category of general contractor up to $15 million.

The project, said estimating and engineering manager G. W. Carlson, P.Eng. is an example of VPDL’s ability to handle all aspects of a project. “We are more of a full service provider,” says Carl-son, adding that VPDL provides its own equip-ment and labour making it easier to ensure that safety standards are always met on site. As well, by having its men and equipment on site, there is a “hands on” aspect to any operation rather than simply taking a project management role.

Project manager John Zuk, who earned his first VRCA Gold Award in 2007 for a BC Fer-ries’ Swartz Bay Berth No. 2 project, says Ocean’s

Granville Island plant unloads barges using a self off-loading conveyor feeding a hopper. Material then goes from the hopper to conveyor system transferring aggregate materials to storage silos before proceeding to the batch plant.

While the crews worked on the wharf during the day, trucks loaded with aggregate were roll-ing into the yard to keep the plant operating. At night, the barges had to be unloaded.

“At the end of each day, we had to clear out of the way so that (Ocean’s) barges could come in and off-load at night,” tells Zuk.

When the old timber wharf was demolished, there was also the problem of providing a tempo-rary support frame for the conveyors. There were some existing steel support piles, but VPDL supple-mented them with temporary work piles and in-stalled beams spanning them to provide the needed support for the conveyor system. This structural al-lowed the conveyor systems to remain operational, but still provided VPDL with the room underneath on the waterfront access to proceed with the work.

Two cranes were needed on site to accommo-date the “live” conveyor system, says Zuk. One had the ability to work above the conveyor while the other telescoped and could work underneath it. The constant needs of accommodating the mov-ing conveyor system plus keeping the plant opera-tional required a strong “a team effort,” says Zuk.

“One of the job functions is to work with the co-ordinators and owner and appreciate what the owner has to go through. You have to understand their needs and be sure that their needs are met,” he says, adding that co-ordina-tion also involved meeting the needs of regula-tory federal agencies such as the Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Environment Canada plus the requirements of subcontractors on site. “You had to be working as a team, that is the main thing.”

VPDL was responsible to supply and install: a new pipe pile wharf foundation; a cast-in-place cope beam at the wharf ’s perimeter; a precast concrete deck and concrete topping slab; a new fendering system; a new lift tower and a new hy-draulic system for the lift tower.

A total of 24 steel piles were driven, ranging in length from 18.3 m to 27 m, into the glacial till using an impact hammer to form the foundation of the new wharf. Precast panels for the wharf ’s deck were brought in from VPDL’s North Van-couver yard. The fenders allowed the wharf to absorb shock from incoming barges.

VPDL has received five (three silver and two gold) VRCA Awards of Excellence over the last six years. “We are very happy with the VRCA and this program and the recognition that it brings to contractors,” says Carlson.



BY JEAN SORENSEN

Electrical Contractor over $2 MillionF&M Installations Ltd. — BC Hydro GMS Units 6-8Gold

Little Room for Error

ONE OF THE MOST DAUNTING TASKS A contractor can undertake is working on a 50-year old utility installation that offers limited infor-mation and involves climbing into a mountain-side’s 30-storey vertical shaft.

F&M Installations (FMI) earned a VRCA Gold Award of Excellence in the electrical con-tractor over $2 million division for its work on the Gordon M. Shrum electrical generation station located at the WAC Bennett Dam near Hudson’s Hope. The $4.2 million contract was to replace the conductor connecting three phases of the generator to the step-up transformer at the top of the lead shaft.

The generating station had increased the ca-pacity of output of GMS Units 6-8 and now needed to replace the three conductors trans-ferring power back to the transformers. The work consisted of installing an isolated phase bus (IPB), a generator circuit breaker, associ-ated transformers, ventilation fan, and potential transformer cubicles.

The work also involved removing the 200 me-tres of existing conductors, while placing the new ones in the work area, which comprised a section of the shaft with a 152-metre vertical drop. The conductors had to be aligned within an opening of 3.6 metres in diameter at an angle of 10 de-grees, leaving little room for error.

“This work comes in 50-year cycles,” says FMI vice-president Mike Crucil, adding that as such there is only a limited amount of experienced in-dividuals with expertise in tackling these unique projects. Some of the challenges involved seeking out information on what was done in the past and attempting to determine what might be found when the old pipe is removed. FMI also faced is-

sues such as how rock would re-spond to current standards that needed to be adhered to while installing the new conductor.

Planning became an integral part of the project, as several months went into detailing the current work, reviewing that done by other companies on similar projects, ensuring the right equip-ment was on site and planning worker safety.

“Safety was really our No. 1 concern,” says Crucil. “We had to consider what would happen if you even dropped a wrench [while in the shaft] and how any work would affect anyone underneath.”

Added safety measures were put into place by mounting a video camera to the working platform’s crane hook (in the 152-metre lead shaft) which recorded the work in progress and mitigated any problems that might be form-ing. Safety included “two or three measures” that could be effected if an employee became trapped or scaffolding failed and workmen needed to be evacuated. In addition, there were six individuals trained in rope access rescues at higher elevations to ensure optimum safety conditions.

The new conductor was fastened in nine sec-tions with galvanized anchors with five metre anchors into the rock, with each anchor at nine points along the shaft

“We did encounter existing conditions that were different from what we originally under-stood,” says Crucil, but BC Hydro and FMI both worked together to mitigate risks for

both parties when problems were encountered. Members of the team united to “to bring for-ward new ideas and efficiencies”. The team also prepared for conditions it knew it would be encountering such as winter, and attempted to complete as much work as possible before the colder temperatures set in.

FMI was able to complete the project ahead of schedule and under budget. “The VRCA Gold Award was the first award that FMI has applied for since its incorporation in 1985 and is a true testament to the team and the dedication that we devote to all our projects,” says Crucil.

Crucil says the work was a glimpse into the past as those on site experienced seeing the ear-lier work done under conditions 50 years ago.

“Some of it was amazing,” he says. “One won-ders how they did some of the high elevation work at that time.”



BY ROBIN BRUNET

Electrical Contractor up to $2 MillionHoule Electric — Brown Family House of Learning, TRUGold

An Electrical Showcase

WITH ITS FOUR-STOREY OPEN-SPACE INTERIOR, MASSIVE living wall and abundance of glazing, the Brown Family House of Learn-ing at Thompson Rivers University provides a majestic visual experience for visitors and end users.

For Reg Longmore, project manager, Houle Kamloops, the VRCA’s recognition of his company’s role in the electrical design of Brown Fam-ily House is especially satisfying considering it was his most challenging undertaking in recent years. “We began with very few finished electri-cal drawings about two and a half years ago,” he says. “In fact, for the first six months we were designing just to keep up with construction. It brought new meaning to the term `fast track.’”

Despite the lack of completed drawings, Houle was obliged to design the first two floors of the building plus the risers to the third and fourth floor. Houle ultimately provided turnkey services including power, lighting, complete design of the security, fire alarm and communication systems, plus integration of control wiring for the green roof and living wall valve system support.

In and of itself, this laundry list of challenges was daunting enough for Longmore and a crew of 10 people, but it was complicated by the fact that Brown Family House was designed to incorporate open con-crete style construction. This meant that all electrical conduits needed to be hidden inside the slabs, with very little conduit on the surface of the concrete.

Longmore elaborates: “We had to install 40,000 feet of conduit in the slabs, and less than 1,000 feet of conduit was installed on the surface throughout the building. Because the working drawings were frequently not ready to help us, we had to rely on precise measurements and our overall knowledge of the floor plans to determine the proper location of each box. Whenever we put something in during the rough-in stage, it also had to look good at the finished stage. If we had been off in any of our calculations, the result would have been ugly pieces of pipe coming out of the ceilings — which of course would have been unacceptable.”

For the Grand Hall portion of the facility (where conferences and large gatherings will take place), Houle was responsible for features such as the surround sound and audio video systems as well as wifi, perimeter LED lighting, and a dimmable lighting system.

“Like the rest of the facility, the Grand Hall is an amazing place,” says Longmore. “The acoustics are unbelievable.”

Extra care had to be taken with regards to the green roof and living wall, the latter of which stands 49 feet tall and 15 feet wide. “We en-sured that our penetrations through the roof and wall were exact,” says Longmore, adding that for the 16 months he and his crew laboured on the project, more than 500 RFIs and 380 site instructions were generated altogether.

Originally Brown Family House was supposed to have been an 11-month project, but Houle wound up staying for 16 months due to last minute additions.

“The facility was 90 per cent complete when new funding became available and new ideas were put into motion,” says Longmore. “For ex-ample, changes were made to the data and security system because it was decided that this system would become the hub for the entire universi-ty, not just this particular facility. Also, a Tim Horton’s was constructed on site at the very last minute.”

Longmore good-naturedly states that work on Brown Family House “gave a lot of us gray hairs, but the end result was well worth it. The final product is absolutely beautiful and a showcase for the capabilities of our Houle team in Kamloops.”



BY SUSANNA CHU

Mechanical Contractor over $3 MillionPML Professional Mechanical Ltd. — Fort St. John HospitalGold

overcoming Challenging Conditions

DON WIGHTMAN WAS SIX YEARS OLD when his father took him to work — at the WAC Bennett Dam construction site. Dan Wightman, a boilermaker, was in charge of installing the penstocks.

“I was raised around the province,” recalls Don. Four decades later, the founder and presi-dent of PML Professional Mechanical Limited has an award-winning project of his own in Peace River country.

At $297.9 million and 338,528 square feet, the Fort St. John Hospital is one of B.C.’s largest hospital construction projects in recent memory. The mechanical budget alone was $55 million.

The Great White North“There are inherent challenges working in the far north,” says John DeKam, PML’s design build manager.

Those challenges included keeping crews on site and efficient 1,200 km away from home. From September 2009 to May 2012, they worked 10-hour shifts, six days a week, with a week off every 25 days.

“Kudos to those guys,” says DeKam. “They sac-rificed their personal life.”

Then there were the logistical challenges of moving heavy equipment and materials over the Cariboo Highway in the dead of winter. Work-ing under a progressive design approach, PML had to order and install chillers, boilers, cooling towers and other major equipment before draw-ings were even completed.

The frost line was so deep, says Wightman, that all service lines had to be buried 10 feet

underground. During the first winter, with tem-peratures below -40°C, PML “took big rubber hoses, three to four inches in diameter, and laid them on the ground in an ‘S’ pattern, covered in tarp.” Propane boilers heated the frozen ground all night to allow crews to work in the morning.

Pursuing LEED GoldTargeting LEED Gold, Fort St. John Hospital required high-efficiency equipment and sys-tems. The large, centralized plant room houses a high-efficiency domestic water heating plant and five Viessman condensing boilers imported from Germany.

“These were some of the most efficient boil-ers that were available at that time,” says DeKam. “Peak boiler efficiency is achieved with the heat-ing systems design which provides low entering water temperatures.”

Throughout the long, extreme heating season, heating coils at variable air volume (VAV) con-trol boxes receive recovered heat from electrical IT rooms and other internal building gains. Sev-eral of the building’s 13 air handlers have high-ef-ficiency heat wheels to recover heat and moisture from exhaust air streams to warm incoming air.

For cooling, two main chillers provide chilled water to the air handlers and fan coil units throughout the building. Meanwhile, two small-er redundant chillers provide chilled water for 24/7 year round cooling equipment including precision cooling equipment in IT rooms. Waste heat from the condenser side of the chilled water plant heats interior spaces and preheats domes-

tic water. Recovered waste heat capacity short-fall is supplemented by the condensing boilers, with heating pumps distributing water to the building-perimeter heating terminals. The glycol heating systems which heat incoming air at the air handlers also rely on the Viessmann boilers.

“The chilled, glycol and heating water sys-tems have demand-based pumping using variable speed drives,” says Dekam.

A sophisticated BMS — which monitors and operates hundreds of mechanical building com-ponents — automatically adjusts the speed of the variable frequency drives (VFDs) and mechani-cal systems according to demand.

In Case of EmergencyIn the event of a major disaster, the domestic water heating plant, high-efficiency Viessman boilers and low-pressure steam humidification boilers — which all run on natural gas — rely on propane back up.

“It’s a dual fuel system,” Wightman explains, “with 72 hours of on-site stored propane as back-up if we lose our natural gas fuel source.”

And, he adds, “a 45,000-litre tank of diesel provides fuel for the emergency generators.” The remote fuel tanks and transfer systems would al-low the facility to function for three days with-out outside power or fuel.

For its work under challenging conditions in a remote location, building a complex, LEED Gold facility, PML received the 2012 VRCA Gold Award for a mechanical contractor over $3 million.



AS FAR AS JASON COLLETT, VICE PRESIDENT FOR DUAL Mechanical Ltd., is concerned, his company’s work on the Annacis Cen-tre for Research and Education (ACRE) is a classic case of providing an inordinate amount of mechanical systems at a fixed cost.

“The owners’ wish list kept growing even though our budget of $1.3-million was less than half of what we are used to working with,” he says. “We had to use all of our expertise and ability to think outside the box to get the job done.”

Located near the Annacis Island Waste Water Treatment plant, ACRE provides leading edge, locally-based research on managing and treating wastewater, promoting energy reduction, and mitigating envi-ronmental impacts. ACRE also functions as an education and training facility that involves participants in the multiple challenges related to water, energy, environment and sustainability concepts.

ACRE’s mechanical system consists of water source heat pumps served from the sewage treatment plant effluent through a heat ex-changer, an energy recovery ventilator, in-slab heating and terminal boxes. Dual also developed a complex rain water recovery system for flushing water closets and urinals and low flow plumbing fixtures; plus, for experimentation purposes, separate waste systems were created for acid, black water, grey water, yellow water and regular sanitary water. “Simply put, researchers can syphon off a variety of effluents in order to grow food or bacteria, or for other purposes,” says Collett.

With the heat exchanger acting as a central hub plus three heat pumps and a pipe system designed as a loop between the treatment plant and re-search facility, heating for the entire ACRE building comes from second-ary effluent, and the HVAC system also uses secondary effluent to reject heat while in cooling mode.

Dual has considerable expertise providing green systems to clients, but Collett says ACRE “was the first time we designed a system that uses ef-fluent, which we had to ensure was pumped back into the water process-ing system after serving heating and cooling purposes. The size of the un-dertaking was significant in that the pipe loop had to cover a length of at least 500 feet between the plant and the research facility.”

Dual designed radiant floor heating and cooling in ACRE’s office ar-eas; these systems allow the space temperature to be set back, reducing energy usage while maintaining optimum comfort levels. As for HVAC, a dedicated air system with heat recovery provides ventilation air to the facility, with an air handling unit and heat wheel used for this purpose. Exhaust/relief air is routed through the heat wheel to temper incoming air before being relieved from the building.

Other green initiatives include rainwater from the roof channeled into two underground storage tanks, pumped into the mechanical room and distributed to ACRE’s water closets. Dual developed this system so that full water treatment can be added in the future, thus al-lowing ACRE to use rainwater for all potable water uses. Additionally, make-up air for the lab exhaust system is transferred from other areas of the building, resulting in less of a need to heat outside air for lab use. Although this system will reduce heat recovery in the outside air ventilator, it is expected that the energy saved by re-using the air will be greater.

All told, the mechanical systems developed by Dual have resulted in the ACRE site becoming self-sustaining: no impact to existing city services.

“It was a challenge to achieve this within our budget, but it made total sense to use the plant’s waste on behalf of a facility that conducts research,” says Collett. “We’re very happy with the outcome.”

BY ROBIN BRUNET

Mechanical Contractor up to $3 MillionDual Mechanical — Annacis Centre for Research and EducationGold

Complex Achievement



BY CHERYL MAH

Chairman’s trade AwardKeith Panel Systems Co. Ltd. — VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor CentreGold

A work of Art

THE VISITOR CENTRE AT VANDUSEN Botanical Garden meets the highest standards in sustainable building design while achieving a beautiful iconic design that respects the ecology of its surroundings.

Designed by Vancouver based Perkins + Will, the 20,000 square foot facility is targeting LEED Platinum certification and Living Building sta-tus. It houses a gift shop, library, flexible class-rooms and a volunteer lounge.

Most eye-catching is the dramatic free-form roof structure. The roof edges are formed by mul-tiple undulating flower “petals” representing an orchid. The petals are highlighted by a project-specific architectural metal panel system that was designed, fabricated and installed by Keith Panel Systems (KPH).

The unusual design of the building with all its curves and bends presented a very unique challenge for KPH — as it did for most of the contractors working on it. KPS general manager Doug Dalzell describes the project as “a piece of art” and a once in a lifetime opportunity.

“We did some things on that building which we’ve never seen done on anything in the world,” he says. “It was an engineering, fabrication and installation challenge to get it all into place and have it as smooth and free flowing as it is.”

KPS was brought on board early by Perkins+Will and general contractor Ledcor Construction to provide a design-assist role.

In order to meet the design requirements, KPS relied on computer software, shop equipment, detailed drawings and testing to understand what would work and what would not.

“One of the biggest challenges was you’ve got different lengths of material for the blade on the

edge but it’s got to be continuously flowing,” ex-plains Dalzell.

Alucobond was chosen as the best material for the project — a product which KPS has used be-fore on a lion’s share of its projects. It also met Living Building standards.

“Alucobond enables you to be much more rig-orous with it than say an ordinary monolithic piece of metal but at the same time we still had to get it to go into all these shapes and forms,” says Dalzell. “Alucobond is alive and this proves it.”

KPS built a 30 foot model of the building and tested the “most demanding” areas with the product before fabricating and installing up-wards of 2,000 panels.

“Not only did we achieve what they wanted, we also did it at a price point that was feasible to do,” says Dalzell, explaining it could have cost 3 times as much as it did. Designing and installing the panels were a $860,000 contract.

The panels were prefabricated in the shop and shipped to the site. Accuracy was paramount as

they were finished panels with no room for mis-takes once on site. Installation went well, accord-ing to Dalzell.

“Not only did we achieve all the shapes and forms, we did it in a manicured approach,” he adds.

KPS successfully completed the four month project on time and within budget. Dalzell says it was truly a team effort by everyone (design-ers, Ledcor, City of Vancouver) that ensured this project exceeded expectations.

The centre has already been recognized with a number of awards from the architectural and en-gineering communities. At the VRCA Awards of Excellence, it was the top honoured project win-ning golds and silvers in different categories. KPS took home the Gold Chairman’s Trade Award.

“As a trade contractor, there are only two awards that you can get every year,” says Dalzell about the win. “So it’s very nice to be picked out of such a varied group of achievers and a huge challenge I would think for the adjudication people to try to weigh all the pros and cons of each project.”



WORKING IN A REMOTE LOCATION brings its own set of challenges such as rallying men, equipment and materials to the construc-tion site. But, when PCL Constructors West-coast took on the project of redeveloping the BC Hydo Bridge River town site (near Lillooet), it needed a company that could bring ingenuity to the infrastructure development.

Coastal Mountain Excavations Ltd.’s ability to bring those solutions to remote access sites, such as Bridge River (also known as Shalalth), has earned it the VRCA 2012 President’s Trade Gold Award of Excellence.

“The biggest issue was really all the gravel that was needed for the site development,” says Matt Woods, Coastal’s vice-president, as the company picked up the $2.5 million civil contract. The only gravel available was from a First Nations re-serve gravel pit, but the cost of gravel and royal-ties plus transportation costs to site made it a less than attractive deal.

Coastal’s solution was to move its portable crushing plant on site. “We processed the cut and fill gravel and they didn’t have to buy any,” says Woods, adding that it also negated the need for trucking gravel over longer hauls and provided a greener solution as rock was returned to many of its source areas.

As well as doing slab preparation and services for 10 new townhouse units for BC Hydro staff, the company also put in new roads to the newly developed area, plus staff buildings, the tennis court, paintball area and clubhouse.

The town site work produced the unexpected. It was a site with history dating back to the 1920s when the first hydroelectric work had started. Coastal’s equipment operator excavating an area hit concrete footings where no housing was known to exist.

Coastal stopped work immediately and began investigating. “We talked to band members (one was on site to examine all excavated material for artifacts), stakeholders and BC Hydro and final-ly got the history. It was a process of information gathering,” he says.

It was later discovered these were the remains of old houses that were used to accommodate Japanese residents, relocated from the Coast, in an internment camp during WWII. “It was a surprise to everyone,” says Woods, adding that his crew had been to the site to do tests on the ground and had not encountered any old services or foundations from old buildings.

The bottom line was that the concrete struc-tures, from buildings long since been razed, had to be dealt with. “We had to remove everything,”

says Woods, adding the mobile crusher on site proved a ready solution. It was equipped with a magnetic metal separator and able to catch steel rebar. The remainder of the concrete was crushed and reused on site for civil work.

“We didn’t have to truck the concrete away,” he says, adding it was again a greener solution.

The area’s remoteness also challenged Coastal. The road from D’Arcy to the townsite would not accommodate the transfer of the large construction equipment although it was only a few hours drive.

“Moving the equipment was an adventure itself,” says Woods, as a longer route taking 10 hours had to be used to move equipment from the company’s base in Whistler, B.C. “It was two days to move each piece of equipment — one day in and one day out.”

On site, Woods had eight excavators, loaders, a small backhoe, the crushing plant and some road paving equipment.

Woods says Coastal started work in May 2011 and completed in June 2012 although the proj-ect shut down for winter. The company is now working in two other B.C. locations, one at an Interior mine site.

“It is become more standard for us,” says Woods, speaking of working in remote or hard to access areas.

BY JEAN SORENSEN

President’s trade AwardCoastal Mountain Excavations Ltd. — BC Hydro Bridge River Townsite RedevelopmentGold

Remote Expertise



Sustainable Construction Award

Innovation Award

silVER Ledcor Construction LimitedUniverCity Childcare Centre at SFU

The new UniverCity Childcare Centre was designed and built to meet the Living Building Challenge (LBC) standards. The childcare center was Ledcor Construction’s first Living Building project. To qualify for Living Building Challenge (LBC) Standard certification, a building must generate more energy than it uses, collect or recycle more water than it consumes and be built and operated using non-toxic and locally-sourced materials.

The 5,700 square foot childcare centre annually generates more energy than it uses and it recycles or harvests more water than it uses. Ledcor obtained the majority of its materials from within a 500-kilometre ra-dius. By vetting and researching all materials Ledcor mitigated potential risks that were posed to the schedule and budget. This project required innovation beyond any standard form of construction. The UniverCity Childcare Centre opened in April 2012.

silVER PCL Constructors Westcoast Inc. BC Hydro Bridge River Generating Station Townsite RedevelopmentPCL had to demolish the existing town site at the Bridge River Generat-ing Station in the southern interior and construct new accommodations for the 40-member managerial and maintenance crew in this remote and mountainous location.

The job involved demolition of eight existing houses and construction of 10 new apartments as well as a new family house and various utility buildings. Redevelopment of the town site’s infrastructure and utilities was a large part of the project. Special attention was paid to sustainability. Even the foundations from the existing buildings were crushed and used as backfill.

It was a challenging site and much of the work was carried out while deal-ing with winter weather and poor soil conditions. PCL was able to value engineer the project and despite the many challenges it came in on budget.

Ledcor ConstructionVanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre

Panther Constructors LtdBC Place Soccer Screens

BC PLACE IS A 55,000 SEAT STADIUM. AS THE NEW HOME for the Vancouver Whitecaps, only the lower level seats are required for soccer games. Panther Construction designed and installed the unique soc-cer screens to block off the seats in the upper portion of the stadium when it is being used for soccer. The design intent was to create a more intimate environment for the lower level and enhance the fan experience.

THE VISITOR CENTRE AT VANDUSEN BOTANICAL GARDEN is a bold and ambitious statement about what is possible in the pursuit of beautiful and sustainable design. Wrapped by tall glass walls and a dramatic undulating green roof designed to resemble giant orchid petals, the centre is targeting LEED Platinum certification and Living Building status.

Designed by Vancouver based Perkins + Will, the 20,000 square foot build-ing marks the new and unique entry point to the 55 acre botanical garden.

Ledcor Construction broke ground in late April 2010 and successfully delivered the lump sum contract in 17 months. Officially opened in Octo-ber 2011, the single storey facility houses a large reception area, four class-rooms, volunteer lounge, library and gift shop.

Most impressive is the dramatic free-form roof structure. The building form is inspired by the shape of a native B.C. orchid with the central lobby as the stem and building’s wings and roof as the petals. The complicated geometry of the project, in particular the wooden curved roof, was the big-gest construction challenges.

“There are no straight lines on this project. Every four feet your details are changing fundamentally. Because nothing was typical it required a phenomenal amount of coordination,” says Ledcor project manager Rebecca McDiarmid.

The project features a number of state-of-the-art technologies to achieve a net zero footprint including a geo-exchange system, solar photovoltaics and solar hot water tubes, rainwater collection and black water treatment system.

By far the most difficult task was procuring the right materials. The LBC has a strict “red list” that includes many materials that are so ubiquitous that avoiding them is an onerous exercise. A great deal of research had to be con-ducted to determine what kinds of materials were appropriate for use.

The screens roll up with the use of eight power winches. They store in place on 1,800 linear feet of powered rollers that range in length from 33 feet to 46 feet. They can be deployed or removed in under 10 hours. The six month project was a $5.5 million contract.

The screens represent the only system of its kind in the world and have never been used anywhere else. They are the result of several mock ups Panther Construction created before hitting on the winning design. It is truly a one of a kind, designed-in-Vancouver innovation.

Gold

Gold



CONSTRUCTION VALUE: $15.2 million CONSTRUCTION VALUE: $10.3million

CONSTRUCTION VALUE: $39 million CONSTRUCTION VALUE: $8 million

silVER GENERAL CONTRACTOR Project $15 - $40 Million

Graham Construction and Engineering

River Rock Casino Resort, Hotel Expansion

Graham Construction and Engineering took on this unusual project that in-volved constructing a five-storey hotel building atop an existing and fully op-erational eight-storey parkade. It was a difficult site to work on — sandwiched between the existing hotel and a major rapid transit station and bus loop. It is an extremely congested location in respect to both vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The construction team had to develop a strict plan to work within the site con-straints and also keep both the parkade and the casino completely operational.

Both the designers and the builders had to deal with the complications that came about because the hotel is directly beneath the flight path for Vancouver International Airport and there was a construction ceiling limit of 147 feet. Despite these challenges the project was finished a full month ahead of schedule.

silVER GENERAL CONTRACTOR — Project $15 - $40 Million

ITC Construction Group — UBC Faculty of Law Building

The UBC Faculty of Law Building is a five-storey 150,000 square foot concrete structure consisting of 12 classrooms, a library, offices, stu-dent lounge and three elevators. Construction was complicated. At the outset ITC had to separate the old Curtis Law Building from the Law Library. The old building was demolished while the existing law library was fully operational during construction. The facility is built to LEED Silver with a number of green features including a geothermal system.

Stakeholder involvement in the design phase of the building was ex-tensive — so much so that the design changes carried on into the con-struction phase. For a four month period the dean and faculty put the construction on hold to implement design changes. Despite these delays ITC successfully delivered the project on schedule in August 2011.

silVER GENERAL CONTRACTOR — Project Under $15 Million

Syncra Construction Corp. — Musqueam Community Centre

Syncra Construction successfully completed this design-build project for the Musqueam First Nation. Designed by Burrowes Huggins Architects, the 31,000 square foot recreation complex includes a gym, fitness centre, change rooms, lounge, classrooms and office. Using natural materials was important to the Musqueam so the building features timber posts and beams, natural colours and open spaces. By utilizing energy efficient lighting and low flow fixtures the building minimizes its footprint and reflects the Musqueam Peoples’ respect for the environment. It was important to the Musqueam that members of the community could work on the project so Syncra employed band members as part of the construction team. There were many challenges during construc-tion including marrying the steel structure of the timber elements. The project started in August 2010 and was completed in March 2011.

silVER GENERAL CONTRACTOR Project Under $15 Million

The Haebler Group

Hillcrest Park Legacy Community Centre

The Hillcrest Community Centre in Vancouver was originally construct-ed to house the curling events during the 2010 Winter Olympics. After the games it had to be converted for use as a full-scale community centre.

It was a very challenging job for the contractor. Design work was an ever evolving process as it was a fast-track project. A host of problems were dis-covered with the existing building. Mechanical and electrical components that were supposed to have been installed on the base building project were not properly installed and the ice making system had service defects. There were 149 change orders issued totalling over $1.0 million — 11 per cent of the original contract.

The finished building offers a hockey rink, curling club, library, gym and community centre.



CONSTRUCTION VALUE: $46 million

CONSTRUCTION VALUE: $48 million

silVER GENERAL CONTRACTOR

Project Over $40 Million

PCL Constructors Westcoast

BC Cancer Agency Centre for the NorthThe 54,000 square foot B.C. Cancer Centre for the North in Prince George is a two-storey can-cer clinic with one level of underground parking and a link to the existing University Hospital of Northern B.C. PCL Constructors Westcoast delivered the P3 project ahead of schedule with substantial completion achieved in March 2012. PCL self-performed the structure and employed primarily local trades. The main challenge on the project was encountering extensive soft soils dur-ing excavation of the parkade. To make up the time, PCL introduced a form work system that expedited the process and added a second shift. Targeting LEED Gold, the centre features the first living roof of its kind in Prince George.

silVER GENERAL CONTRACTOR

Project Over $40 Million

Ledcor Construction Limited

IKEA Richmond Relocation

The new 350,000 square foot IKEA store in Rich-mond was successfully delivered by Ledcor Con-struction. It is built on a concrete slab above at grade parking. The building is clad in insulated panels and some curtain wall. Interior finished areas include of-fices, employee areas, main restaurant and kitchen area, children’s play area, double–height warehouse space and two storeys of retail space.

Ledcor used the latest technology (BIM) and considerable innovation was required to com-plete this project on a tight timeframe. Despite the size of the project there was not a single lost time accident.

LEVELTON CONSULTANTS LTD

Abbotsford • CAlgAry • CourtenAy • edmonton • KelownA nAnAimo • riChmond • surrey • ViCtoriA

www.levelton.com

Outstanding achievements in engineering were recognized at the Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards held in Ottawa on October 23, 2012. The Association of Consulting Engineering Companies - Canada presented its Beaubien Award for exceptional service to the association and the consulting engineering industry.

As recipient of the 2012 Beaubien Award, Neil Cumming, FACI, P.Eng. is recognized by his peers for his outstanding contributions to ACEC, the consulting engineering industry and the engineering profession.

About LeveltonAs one of the largest engineering firms in British Columbia, with offices in Alberta, the Company has played a role in most of BC’s major landmark infrastructure projects for the past 47 years. Levelton’s ongoing commitment to comprehensive and innovative solutions for clients has earned the Company a reputation for providing excellencein materials and geotechnical engineering, environmental sciences and building technology.

Neil is a recognized expert in the field of construction materials engineering and concrete technology and a leader in the industry as a businessman, educator and mentor.

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GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Scott Construction Group

GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Ledcor Construction


GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Scott ConstructionGroup

silVER TRADE CONTRACTOR – CHAIRMAN’S AWARD

Bridgewater Tile Ltd. — Hotel GeorgiaBridgewater Tile was recognized for its outstanding work during the res-toration of Vancouver’s Hotel Georgia. The result was more than just a tile job — it was a work of art. Specialty tile was brought in from Europe and installed over a layer of porcelain which went down first. It was very delicate tile and great care was taken to not crack or break any of it. The scope of their work included all bathrooms in the hotel along with the swimming pool, the spa and the kitchen.

silVER PRESIDENT’S TRADE AWARD StructureCraft Builders Inc.

VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre

StructureCraft Builders provided the structural/architectural wooden roof panels at the VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre. The green roof at the centre is supported by the curvaceous panels. The unusual de-sign of the building with all its curves and bends presented a very special challenge to StructureCraft, who pre-fabricated 71 panels in their shop in Delta and delivered them to the project as needed. All 71 panels were unique. They were pre-fitted with insulation, electrical wires and water pipes for the fire sprinkler system.

silVER TRADE CONTRACTOR – CHAIRMAN’S AWARD

Whitewater Concrete Ltd. — IKEA Richmond RelocationWhitewater Concrete faced difficult site conditions and access for its work done at the new IKEA store in Richmond. Working with Ledcor, White-water suggested installing a very large radius crane in the middle of the site to be able to reach every corner of the site and accommodate the amount of reinforcing steel required. A crane was located in Dallas that had a 280-foot boom. Once the crane was installed, however, it enabled the project to be completed on time.

silVER PRESIDENT’S TRADE AWARDM&L Painting Ltd. — Hotel Georgia

This was a very special contract on a very special project for M&L Paint-ing Ltd. Their scope of work on the Hotel Georgia restoration included painting, wall coverings, restoration of wood trim and paneling. It also meant finishing new wood to conform to the hotel’s period style and finish as well as using a faux finishing technique to match the original gold and silver leaf finish in lobbies and in the ballroom. Referring to historic photographs and existing gold and silver leaf in the hotel M&L used metallic paints and a faux finish technique to make highlighted areas look like the original.



silVER Ocean Concrete IKEA Richmond Relocation

Ocean Concrete supplied some 48,000 metric tonnes of material for the IKEA Richmond relocation project over a one year span. All the deliveries involved tight time spans and Ocean used and co-ordinated six different plants to meet the supply.There were as many as 82 trucks loads in one day with different mixtures. All had to be close-ly co-ordinated. The City of Richmond requires that 20 per cent of rainwater be collected and diverted away from storm drains. Ocean Con-crete used their pervious concrete product “Kurbis” to allow water to filter back down into the ground, one of the largest amounts of pervi-ous concrete used in the Lower Mainland. The contract was worth approximately $4.5 mil-lion. Ledcor was the general contractor for the 350,000 square foot IKEA store.

silVER Scott Construction Group Ltd.

Honour HouseHonour House is a 1930s era Georgian Mansion. It was purchased by the Honour House Society and rebuilt. Its role is to accommodate families of men and women of the armed forces who are in-jured and need to come to the Lower Mainland for medical attention. It is also open to the families of first responders such as firefighters and paramedics. Honour House is the first of its kind in Canada. It was made possible by the very generous support of the construction industry led by the VRCA and the B.C. Construction Association. Members of the in-dustry collectively donated $1.6 million nearly cov-ering the $1.8 million construction cost.

heritage Restoration Award

silVER ITC Construction Group Burns Block — 18 West HastingsITC Construction successfully renovated the cen-tury old Burns Block at 18 West Hastings into a modern 30 suite building featuring the smallest rental units in Canada. The micro-lofts combine heritage restoration with the creation of much needed non-subsidized rental housing in the area.

Traditional construction material would not fit inside the building. This meant the required struc-tural upgrades had major access issues. Space for material lay down was almost nil. This lack of stag-ing space meant ITC had to manage logistics to en-sure materials arrived “just in time”. Another chal-lenge was water leaking through cracks and joints in the original stone foundation walls.

THE CLIFFWALK IS A FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND structure located in Capilano Canyon in North Vancouver. It is 700 feet long and bolted to a rock face 300 feet above the Capilano River. The

Manufacturer & Supplier Award

BUILT IN 1927, HOTEL GEORGIA IS AN iconic landmark in downtown Vancouver and one of the city’s most prominent heritage buildings. It was closed for renovation in 2006 and reopened as the Rosewood Hotel Georgia in 2011.

Scott Construction undertook the $87 mil-lion restoration and renovation project in 2007, completing it on time and on budget in Decem-ber 2010. The hotel was gutted and the number of rooms was reduced from 315 to 156. New meet-ing spaces, a new restaurant and a new kitchen were added as well as an outdoor patio and salt-water pool. Electrical, plumbing and mechanical systems were replaced and upgraded and new elevators installed. Heritage materials were used throughout the common areas which were refur-bished in keeping with the original design. Peak manpower was 350.

Challenges included the busy downtown site. The hotel was flanked on two sides with busy streets, on another side with an eight-storey ex-cavation and on the backside with a laneway.

The project also spanned the Vancouver Olym-pic Games. To support Canadian athletes, the hotel was wrapped on two sides with the world’s largest Canadian flag. It also acted as a dust and debris barrier protecting pedestrians on the adja-cent streets.

new addition to the Capilano Suspension Bridge tourist attraction posed no end of challenges for Solid Rock Steel.

Initial plans for its installation had to be changed right at the start of the project as the cliff face ini-tially chosen was not capable of holding the neces-sary bolts, which totalled 1,825. Almost 81,000 lbs of steel was used by Solid Rock to fabricate the Cliff Walk, which is comprised of a series of bridges, plat-forms and stairs. The structure measures only 0.5 m in width. Consistent with the high level of custom-ization on the project, the Cliffwalk uses 236 indi-vidual custom steel ‘T’ posts to support the stainless steel woven wire mesh.

Due to the limited site crane access, each structural component had to be ‘small-sized’ in order to be ‘manhandled’ into place over the edge of the cliff face. Extensive 3D computer model-ing direct from the actual site survey model was utilized to achieve very tight tolerances to match existing site anchor-rods.

Gold

Gold

Scott Construction Group Ltd.Hotel Georgia

Solid Rock Steel Fabricating Co. Ltd. Capilano Cliffwalk

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GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Gauvin Construction

GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Graham Design Builders



silVER MECHANICAL

CONTRACTOR AWARD —

OVER $3 MILLION

Division 15 Mechanical

UBC District Energy

System Phase 1

This was the first phase of a four-phase project to convert the district energy system at the UBC from steam to hot water. When completed the full conversion is expected to cut UBC’s greenhouse gas emissions by 22 per cent. Major challenges include cre-ating and installing the new hot water system while the existing steam system was still running and servicing the

campus. Many of the mechanical rooms were already small and cramped even without the addition of the second heating system. Division 15 man-aged this problem by implementing for the first time laser scanning inside each mechanical room.

silVER MECHANICAL CONTRACTOR AWARD — UP TO $3 MILLION

Clairmont Mechanical Contracting Ltd.

Sunridge Gardens Senior Housing FacilitySunridge Gardens is a four-storey housing facility for senior citizens in Langley. Clairmont Mechanical finished the project on time and on bud-get. The scope of work included both the complete plumbing services and the complete HVAC services. There is a geothermal system for the build-ing’s heating and cooling requirements along with solar rooftop mounted collectors for the domestic hot water and energy-efficient hot water boilers and heat pump units.

silVER MECHANICAL CONTRACTOR AWARD — OVER $3 MILLION

Keith Plumbing & Heating Co. Ltd.

Polson Tower at Vernon Jubilee Hospital

Keith Plumbing & Heating Co was an active part of the team for the new Polson Tower at the Vernon Jubilee Hospital. A major challenge on this P3 project involved getting the new state of-the-art mechanical systems in the Polson Tower to work in conjunction with the existing system in the exist-ing hospital, which required many hours to complete. Despite that project was completed on schedule and under budget.

silVER ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR AWARD — OVER $2 MILLION

Mott Electric General Partnership — IKEA Richmond RelocationOne of Mott’s biggest challenges on this very large project was plan-ning and scheduling. It was a very fast-paced project and Mott met the deadlines by preparing detailed two-week look-ahead schedules com-bined with daily reviews. The major components of their schedule were manpower and equipment delivery. Mott clocked close to 40,000 man-hours over 12 months with the majority of the hours coming in the last four months.

silVER MECHANICAL CONTRACTOR AWARD – UP TO $3 MILLION

Trotter and Morton Building Technologies

VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor CentreTrotter and Morton was responsible for all aspects of the mechanical sys-tems installation for this unique project including plumbing, HVAC, con-trols, rainwater harvesting, heat recovery systems and solar thermal heat-ing. Some 85 per cent of the mechanical services are within wall cavities, concrete slab or below grade. Complicated HVAC systems utilize different sources of natural energy. An accurate and complex control system was pro-vided to maximize the use of these sustainable resources.



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Congratulationsto all VRCA 2012 Award

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GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Acciona/Stuart Olson Joint Venture

silVER ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR AWARD – OVER $2 MILLION

Status Electrical Corporation – Fort St. John Hospital

Status Electrical provided vital electrical and data cabling services on this project, overcoming many challenges. Storage was a major problem due to strict LEED requirements for dry storage of all conduit and materials used in the construc-tion. Status met this requirement with the construction of a 4,000 square foot Quonset hut for use as an on-site warehouse. Ten trailers were required to sup-plement the Quonset hut. Two million feet of wire and cable were used.

silVER ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR AWARD — UP TO $2 MILLION Houle Electric Limited UPS and distribution equipment end of life maintenance replacementChallenges included a very tight budget, an extremely sensitive customer, a high security site, management of environmental conditions such as dust con-trol and cooling. Throughout the project no interruption of the existing UPS system was permitted. The goal for the Houle team was to remove and replace an active mission-critical electrical system without loss of the power supply. The net result has been a significant gain in performance and reliability.

silVER ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR AWARD — UP TO $2 MILLION

Bridge Electric Corp. — VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre

The VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre is among the first “living buildings” in Canada, bringing its own set of unique challenges. This job for Bridge Electric was 17 months of fast-paced, race-to-deadline construction. The unique building was made even more demanding by the complexity of the various cutting-edge technologies used to ensure the building achieved the highest standards of energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.

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Individual AwardsConstruction workplace health and Safety Innovation Awards

OUTSTANDING WOMAN

IN CONSTRUCTION AWARD

Jackie Trach, PCL Westcoast Constructors

MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD

Scott Construction Group

U40 AWARD

Heather James, Active First Aid

EDUCATION LEADERSHIP AWARD

Ron Coreau, VRCA Director of Education

(retired)

A graduate from BCIT and originally from Sas-katoon, Jackie graduated with a Building Technol-ogy Diploma, majoring in economics. She then joined a glazing contractor and eight months later she transferred with them to Toronto. Two years later, she relocated to Vancouver and landed a job with PCL’s Special Projects team. She was the senior project manager on the pre-construction team for the $365 million BC Place roof replace-ment project. She was also senior project manager on the team that delivered the very successful P3 Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Cen-tre. She is currently serving as chair of PCL’s Dis-trict Systems Team (IT) in Vancouver.

Scott Construction group has been an out-standing supporter of VRCA initiatives. It played a key in making Honour House a tre-mendous success. Representatives of the com-pany have played and continue to be active in formulating VRCA’s Excellence in Sustainable Construction Certification Program. Scott was one of the companies that engaged in the pilot stage and earned their certification. The company has been a multiple award winner for many exciting and innovative projects. Em-ployees of this company are actively engaged in many of the boards and committees of VRCA, including the president & chief operating of-ficer of the company who has served on the board of VRCA for nine years, currently sit-ting as the chair.

Heather James started her own company, Active First Aid in 2009. The company provides short and long-term first aid and safety services to the construction industry in Greater Vancouver area. Through her efforts, she has grown the company from a one person firm to a team of 12.

Besides providing first aid and safety services to the industry, she has been an active volunteer with the VRCA U40 Network for several years. She has been an active “at large’’ member of the executive committee and has devoted her time and effort to help organize events, including the U40 golf tournament.

Ron Coreau joined VRCA in 2006 as director of education. Prior to VRCA, Ron was the dean of the Nelson Campus of Selkirk College, the director of Venture Programs at Kwantlen University College, the director of Continuing Education for the Uni-versity of Fraser Valley, and numerous other posi-tions in the field of post-secondary education. Ron has showed a passion for trades training, and is still contributing by participating with Skills Canada BC.

Under Ron’s guidance the education pro-gramming of VRCA has expanded considerably which has made a significant contribution to not only VRCA and the construction industry but his work has touched the lives of many others.

LIFE TIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Grant McMillan, COCA (see Connections on

page 6)

File: 311CB_8.75x12.25_Downpour-RCABC.indd Client: RoofStar (RCABC) Construction Business

design one Size: 8.75” x 12.25” Date: Oct 13, 2011

CYAN MAGENTA YEllOw BlACk “There’s a time to compare...” - Downpour Image

The best guarantee is one you’ll likely never need in the first place. And that’s exactly what a RoofStar Guarantee by RGC is all about. It covers

all labour, materials and includes a comprehensive inspection schedule (performed by independent, third-party inspectors) at key milestones in

a roof’s life. That includes installation — to make sure workmanship and materials are up to par. It also includes inspections at the two-year

mark for five-year coverage and the two-, five-, and eight-year mark for ten-year coverage. All of which helps ensure your roofing guarantee

lives up to its name.

RoofStar: New name. Same great guarantee.

THERE’S A TIME TO COMPAREROOF GUARANTEES & THE COVERAGE THEY OFFER

THERE’S ALSO A TIME WHENIT’S TOO LATE TO DO SO

ROOFING CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

GUARANTEED. BETTER.

604.882.9734 | RoofStar.ca

Portable Poly Dust Containment Enclosures Pacific Blasting & Demolition

DURING DEMOLITION WORK INSIDE OF operating buildings, the issue of dusts and con-taminants created from the tasks is always hard to manage effectively and efficiently. In the past small scaffold frame enclosures were erected, dismantled, moved and redone again and again so that floor tile removal and other demolition dust generating tasks can be done without caus-ing safety issues for adjacent people, businesses or the public. This was problematic with exces-sive costs, and risks of musculoskeletal I repeti-tive strain injuries to workers from handling materials plus the poly enclosures being less ef-fective from repeated modifications and a host of other issues.

To overcome these problems, Pacific Blasting & Demolition created the portable poly dust enclosure. It’s designed so it can be erected in a variety of sizes to match the productivity of the workers, site conditions, and types of equipment needed to do the tasks. The enclosure is mobile enough to easily navigate between obstacles, car-ried by only a few workers. Most importantly the enclosure provides an effective barrier between the work area and those around it.

This safely increases productivity of the work-ers, greatly decreases the risks of the spreading dusts outside of the work area, improves the ef-ficiency of the workers and decreases the risk of MSI I RSI injuries to the workers. This portable enclosure has been in use for several months at the Guildford Mall renovation with outstand-ing success in keeping the dusts away from businesses, other trades and the public inside an operating mall, providing a safe work area and without the issues associated with scaffold frame construction.

Annual Safety Awards

ZERo ACCIdENt fREQUENCY McLeod Masonry International Corp.

GENERAL CoNtRACtoR 200,000 ANd MoRE PERSoNhoURSPCL Constructors Westcoast

tRAdE CoNtRACtoR 200,000 ANd MoRE PERSoNhoURSStatus Electrical Corporation

tRAdE CoNtRACtoR 10,000 to 49,999 PERSoNhoURSMcLeod Masonry International Corp.

Gold

File: 311CB_8.75x12.25_Downpour-RCABC.indd Client: RoofStar (RCABC) Construction Business

design one Size: 8.75” x 12.25” Date: Oct 13, 2011

CYAN MAGENTA YEllOw BlACk “There’s a time to compare...” - Downpour Image

The best guarantee is one you’ll likely never need in the first place. And that’s exactly what a RoofStar Guarantee by RGC is all about. It covers

all labour, materials and includes a comprehensive inspection schedule (performed by independent, third-party inspectors) at key milestones in

a roof’s life. That includes installation — to make sure workmanship and materials are up to par. It also includes inspections at the two-year

mark for five-year coverage and the two-, five-, and eight-year mark for ten-year coverage. All of which helps ensure your roofing guarantee

lives up to its name.

RoofStar: New name. Same great guarantee.

THERE’S A TIME TO COMPAREROOF GUARANTEES & THE COVERAGE THEY OFFER

THERE’S ALSO A TIME WHENIT’S TOO LATE TO DO SO

ROOFING CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

GUARANTEED. BETTER.

604.882.9734 | RoofStar.ca

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