BCCA drives change in public procurement practices

Educational facility managers take note:

BCCA drives change in public procurement practices

The Capital Asset Management Framework (CAMF) was established in 2002 with the best of intentions – improving competition and transparency, and strengthening accountability within the public procurement process. However, haphazard application of the Framework left B.C.’s construction sector with questions about the Province’s commitment to those ideals.

It looks like answers – and improvements – may be close at hand.

Calling for a long-term infrastructure plan in an opinion paper published in January 2013 entitled Fair and Transparent: Implementing the CAMF for Construction Procurement, the British Columbia Construction Association (BCCA) took a big step forward to resolve these issues.

Within Fair and Transparent, the BCCA outlined its ideals for the planning, execution, operation and disposal of capital assets in the B.C. public sector – calling for implementation of the Framework as true government policy and a set of structured rules and the need for a formal means of industry input on provincial infrastructure planning.

Then, at the BCCA Construction Summit on January 25th , 2013, the provincial government and the BCCA announced their commitment to a new Infrastructure Forum that would work to resolve the issues and move industry procurement practices forward.

What follows is an outline some of the key issues as identified in Fair and Transparent, with details on the new Infrastructure Forum.

CAPITAL PLANNING

Long-term planning is too often overlooked, particularly in the B.C. provincial public sector, hindering counter-cyclical spending when stimulus is needed and costs are low, and also creating difficulties in any opportunities to reduce future costs or stabilize resourcing of capital asset management functions. This lack of foresight often causes waste in spending, and therefore causes fiscal restraint – thereby preventing adequate planning of pending capital projects by owners, increasing costs and reducing effectiveness of service delivery. The public sector must provide adequate funding for pre-planning operation to prevent these oversights and mismanagement in the future.

COMPETITION AND TRANSPARENCY

Current practice in public sector procurement is out of line with the construction industry. The CAMF principles demand open, fair, and transparent construction procurement practices, but the lack of application increases the potential for higher construction costs when bidders and competition are restricted. The social and economic benefits of a strong construction industry are a considerable contributor to the province’s wellbeing.

Binding government policy must be implemented as policy to ensure procurement is competitive and transparent – this same condition must be applied to local and provincial government, eliminating the “bundling” of projects, and with much greater attention paid to local conditions when projects are packaged.

PREFERENCE OF PROCUREMENT APPROACH

Current practice within the provincial government has created a prejudice toward the design-build procurement approach. However, the BCCA believes that public procurement practice should avoid the “one size fits all” mentality.

The BCCA calls for unbiased criteria in choosing the procurement approach; this must be included in binding government policy, to allow design-build, design-bid-build, construction management or other approaches to suit the current market, opportunities and projects.

OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY

The current structure in the Framework is based on audits. This has, again, been rendered ineffective for two reasons: because CAMF is implemented as a guideline and not upheld as policy, and because too few audits have been performed (with too few of these being performed independently).

Independent performance audits must be implemented on

public capital asset management, including local governments and provincial government agencies.

The accountability of government and of government agencies can be vastly improved in three ways: through the creation of a strong group within government who can provide

NOW:

Using Fair and Transparent as a guideline, the new 14-member Infrastructure Forum will work to improve government’s infrastructure procurement practices and use of construction industry resources. The committee will have representatives from both government and industry: five construction industry representatives (including members with multiple trade affiliations), two representatives from design consultants’ associations, and deputy ministers representing the ministries of Advanced Education, Innovation & Technology, Citizens’ Services & Open Government, Education,

Health, and Transportation & Infrastructure. The committee will be co-chaired by the Deputy Minister of Finance and the B.C. Construction Association (BCCA) board chair. Three special advisors have been named: policy, capital planning and project approval advice, through implementation of independent audit systems through the Auditor General, and to eliminate all conflicts of interest, ensuring that government agencies do not compete with the

A REAL FORUM FOR INPUT

private sector. b

Dafco_ThridPg_Horizontal_Ad 7/18/12 9:08 AM Page 1 • Manley McLachlan, president and CEO, British Columbia Construction Association (BCCA) • Philip Hochstein, president, Independent Contractors and Businesses Association of B.C. (ICBA-BC) • Sarah Clark, president and CEO, Partnerships B.C.

The Forum represents greater ability to effect change through the improvements suggested in CAMF, ensuring meaningful communication between industry and government. This is a unique opportunity to enable continued, cost-effective public investment in construction.

“The Infrastructure Forum is an important step in strengthening public-sector procurement processes,” says Manley McLachlan, BCCA president and CEO. “With nearly $80 billion worth of construction underway in the province now, and more expected in the future, we’re looking forward to continued, steady progress on this issue.”

BETTERProducts for a GREENEREnvironment

Strategically located manufacturing sites

decreased fuel consumption during transport

High efficiency

longer filter life

Low pressure drop

less energy consumption

Compact design

less material usage

Unique design

less manufacturing scrap

Compactible/Incinerable

reduced solid waste

Dafco Filtration Group will continue to develop new and innovative products leading the way toward a greener tomorrow.

D AFCO F ILTRATION G ROUP ®

Phone: 1-888-628-3458 www.dafcofiltrationgroup.com • email: info@dafcofiltrationgroup.com

Canada Green Building Council Member Patented GeoPleat™ Technology

THE CANDIDATES SAY:

Premier Christy Clark and MLA Adrian Dix attended the BCCA Construction Summit on January 25th, 2013 and had much to say on B.C.’s construction industry.

When asked “Will your government implement bundling on public projects?”, the candidates replied:

“I don’t think one-size-fits-all ever works in a province like British Columbia; and I think this idea that ‘bigger is always better’ is actually not accurate. I think it misses lots of the nuances of how the real economy works, so we are not pursuing a mass bundling for procurement, recognizing we want to ensure that the procurement we do benefits not just the people that are going to be using the schools but also the people who are building the schools and the people that work at those businesses.” – Premier Christy Clark (LIB)

“I think generally not. It may be [suitable] in some cases – for example, the case of the hospitals in Comox, Courtenay and Campbell River, there is some utility in that – depending on the model of financing the government has. […] What we need to do is not exclude options, because we have to be cost-efficient. But we must ensure that if we’re going to move to bundling, that it does not preclude the participation of local businesses.” – MLA Adrian Dix (NDP)

Hear the candidates’ full responses to this question and many others from the BCCA Construction Summit – including their commentary on B.C.’s construction sector, and a Q&A session discussing PST, private investment, procurement, trades training, green building, small business and more. Watch the videos at www.bccassn.com/summit2013.