On-Site June 2021

JUNE 2021

THINGS LOOKING UP FOR

CANADA’S TOP CONTRACTORS

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VOLUME 66, NO.4/JUNE 2021

TOP CONTRACTORS 25 The Top 40

Our list of the country’s largest builders

27 Meeting pent-up demand Contractors prepare to shift out of neutral after a year focused on the pandemic

13

34 Top Five Under 50 A ‘small giant’ in the Fraser Valley

IN THIS ISSUE 5 Comment Mandatory proof of vaccine policies on the job site

7 News

The major developments

12 Construction stats

27

The key figures

COLUMNS 48 Software

48

Staying connected: Information flow isn’t just about technology

52 Risk IoT, machine learning and refining decision making in construction

54 Contractors and the law Are payment certificates the final say?

51 Index of Advertisers

13 The mini migration

43

Small machines have begun offering premium features as contractors look to comfort and technology

Influx of data gives construction firms the chance to take control of their pain points

Risk and reward

on-sitemag.com / 3

COMMENT

Widening vaccine rollout leads to questions about proof of vaccine policies

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After a slow start, the vaccine rollout in Canada has started to hit its stride. The number of doses administered regularly hit fresh daily records last month, and with more supply available, half of Canadians had received at least their first dose

by May 22. Health authorities opening clinics to all ages mean millions more will follow heading into summer, along with second doses for those already with one jab.

Though the job is ostensibly well over a quarter done, fully vaccinating the second half of Canadians will be far tougher than the first – and construction employers have a considerable stake in the outcome.

So far, immunizers have been dealing with willing, often downright eager, patients. There are still millions of keen clients to stick, but the pool is shrinking. According to a Statistics Canada survey carried out in the final four months of 2020, 76.9 per cent of Canadians 12 and older are somewhat or very willing to get a COVID-19 vaccine. The challenge shortly will be convincing as many of the remaining 23.1 per cent as possible. In this respect, Canadian health authorities have done themselves and the general public few favours. Inconsistent messaging, best demonstrated by the country’s on-again, off-again relationship with the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, has only added to the challenge of convincing hesitant portions of the population that the vaccines are safe and worth getting.

For the time being in construction, major employers are encouraging vaccines, but not mandating workers get them. As in other industries, it remains unclear if such policies will be necessary, or enforceable, but with the pool of unvaccinated Canadians shrinking, we’re likely to find out sooner rather than later.

In a webinar last month hosted by the Ontario General Contractors Association, Norm Keith, a partner at Fasken LLP, said the issue centres on an employer’s legal duty to take

“every precaution reasonable” to protect workers.

“What happens if you just cross your fingers, don’t have a policy, don’t manage this issue well and somebody gets sick, when you could have required them to be vaccinated or otherwise comply with public health, masking, physical distancing and other issues? Well you’re going to be prosecuted by the Ministry of Labour,” he said, speaking specifically about Ontario and its Occupational Health and Safety Act. Keith said that it’s currently premature to implement a mandatory proof of vaccine policy, mainly due to supply problems and emergency use provisions, but said contractors need to be watching the issue closely in the months ahead and open a dialogue with workers, unions and outliers, such as anti-vaxxers, to lay the groundwork.

“In time, you have to move to that or you will be forever paralyzed and forever in the pandemic from your work practices, your additional costs, the fear and the anxiety that all of this pandemic has driven,” he said.

In the long run, Keith is confident employers will be able to put mandatory proof of vaccine policies in place, but acknowledges this has not been confirmed in any case law and that many of his legal colleagues are not nearly as convinced.

Human rights law and privacy rules are a couple of the obstacles, though for Keith, proof of vaccine policies will be considered reasonable given the risk posed by COVID-19.

In the coming months, as Canadian vaccination clinics begin to run out of eager patients and the percentage of vaccinated people plateaus, employers will be forced to mull what exactly taking “every precaution reasonable” to protect their workforce means.

David Kennedy / Editor dkennedy@on-sitemag.com on-sitemag.com / 5

CONTRIBUTORS

MEET OUR CONTRIBUTORS FOR THIS ISSUE VOLUME 66, NO.4/JUNE 2021 www.on-sitemag.com

JACOB STOLLER / Principal, StollerStrategies On digitization efforts on the job site: “It’s ironic that construction, which sees more back-andforth interaction between diverse players than perhaps any other industry, is considered a laggard when it comes to sharing information.”

READER SERVICE Print and digital subscription inquiries or changes, please contact Urszula Grzyb, AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Email: ugrzyb@annexbusinessmedia.com Tel: (416) 510-5180 Fax: (416) -510-6875 Mail: 111 Gordon Baker Road, Suite 400, Toronto, ON M2H 3R1 PUBLISHER | Peter Leonard (416) 510-6847 pLeonard@on-sitemag.com

DAVID BOWCOTT / Global Director – Growth, Innovation & Insight, Global Construction and Infrastructure Group at Aon Risk Solutions

EDITOR | David Kennedy (416) 510-6821 dkennedy@on-sitemag.com MEDIA DESIGNER | Lisa Zambri lzambri@annexbusinessmedia.com

On how IoT, machine learning and artificial intelligence will drive better decision making in construction: “We are seeing IoT devices provide almost full visibility into your job site’s risks, all reportable via your mobile device.

With all of this data being co-mingled and mingled with data from hundreds or thousands of other job sites we are further seeing the emergence of the predictive job site as machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms get applied to both IoT and other sources of data to help you make your best decision.”

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ANDREW PUNZO AND DANIEL MILTON/ Borden Ladner Gervais LLP On whether payment certificates are the final say: “A recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, held that a third party engineer’s payment certification alone was conclusive and binding of the amount owing to a subcontractor, notwithstanding that a dispute existed between the subcontractor and the construction manager. The decision demonstrates the possible consequences of not including language within construction agreements that characterizes payment certification as non-binding or provisional.”

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2020-08-05 11:30 AM

INDUSTRY NEWS

INDUSTRY>NEWS

Infrastructure Ontario (IO) and Metrolinx have locked in a pair of contracts with two P3 teams that will get work moving on two major Toronto transit projects.

The two Crown agencies awarded a $729.2 million, fixed-price contract for tunnelling work for the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension project May 20, and a $757.1 million fixed-price contract tied to the Scarborough Subway Extension project, also for tunnelling work, May 25.

The pair of projects will get tunnel boring machines (TBMs) in the ground for both extensions next year, giving tunnel crews a head start on the transit projects.

Other work, such as station construction is scheduled to get underway later this decade. The three-stop Scarborough subway extension is scheduled to open by 2030, while the western extension to the Eglinton Crosstown will add seven stops to the line by 2031.

A tunnel for the original Eglinton Crosstown, currently under construction.

The West End Connectors, a construction team headed by Aecon Group Inc., Dragados Canada Inc. and Ghella Canada Ltd., has been picked as the winning bidder for Eglinton Crosstown West Extension’s tunnel work. The design, build and finance project covers roughly six kilometres of tunnelling, design and construction of the launch and extraction shafts, and the supply of TBMs. Work on the project is scheduled to start this spring, with the TBMs set to begin moving earth no later than next summer.

Construction in Scarborough will

move on a similar timeline. Headed by Strabag Inc., the build team will take on the design, build and finance contract for the subway extension’s tunnel. The scope covers approximately 7.8 kilometres of underground work from Kennedy Station to McCowan Road/Sheppard Avenue. Early work is already underway on the east end of Toronto. Construction of the launch shaft for the TBMs will start in June and the borers will start their journey next year.

Both P3 teams had been singled out as First Negotiation Proponents in the penultimate procurement step this spring.

PHOTO: METROLINX

Ontario firms up Toronto tunnelling deals worth $1.5B with two sets of contractors

Construction to start in Yukon this summer on 777-km Dempster Fibre Line Construction will get underway this summer alongside the Dempster Highway in northern Yukon on a nearly 800-kilometre fibre optic line that will connect Dawson City, Yukon and Inuvik, Northwest Territories.

The Yukon government said May 19 it has awarded a $67 million contract for the construction of the Dempster Fibre Line to ROHL Global Networks, in partnership with Dagoo Services.

The project, funded mainly by the federal government, has been in planning since 2018. Site prep began last year in the sparsely populated region as Yukon finalized environmental approvals and permits. The 777-kilometre fibre line was fully

signed off on early this year, the Yukon government said.

Nils Clarke, Yukon’s minister of Highways and Public Works, said the project will bring both jobs and economic benefits to northern communities.

“Investing in more reliable telecommunications and internet service for Yukon communities will help Yukoners participate fully in the digital economy,” he said in a release.

Yukon noted at least 20 per cent of the contract value will be subcontracted to First Nations businesses.

Construction on the internet infrastructure project is scheduled to start this summer and run through 2024. on-sitemag.com / 7

PHOTO: CDPQ INFRA

INDUSTRY NEWS

Earlier construction on the REM network. The new station at the Montreal airport is expected to open in 2024.

Nearly derailed by pandemic, $600M REM stop at Montreal airport gets back on track Backing from the federal and Quebec governments has put the Réseau express métropolitain’s (REM) stop at the MontréalTrudeau International Airport (YUL) back on track.

The $600 million stop has been in doubt since last summer, when Aéroports de Montréal said it was halting all non-essential construction at the airport as a result of far fewer flyers and less revenue.

This included a pause to work on the new REM station, early works for which had begun in 2019. The airport authority said it would continue with planning activities for the station as it worked with governments on loans to finance the project. $400 million in loans and $100 million in funding have now come through, the federal and Quebec governments announced April 15.

The Canada Infrastructure Bank is providing a loan of up to $300 million – in addition to its $1.3 billion in earlier support for the REM; Quebec, via Investissement Québec, is offering a loan of $100 million; and Transport Canada will invest $100 million in the project as part of its program to support large airports. The additional $100 million – separate from the loans – is coming from Aéroports de Montréal.

Philippe Rainville, the airport authority’s president and CEO, said the support is “essential” for the construction of the station.

“For Aéroports de Montréal, it was unimaginable to pass up on a project that will provide a reliable and sustainable public transit option serving the MontréalTrudeau International Airport, as is the case in all major cities around the world,”

he said in a release. “The airport station is highly strategic for the REM network since it will not only enhance Montréal’s competitiveness but also ensure the attractiveness of the airport for passengers and employees in the community.”

The $6.3 billion REM system, which will have 26 stops, has been under construction since 2018. The first segment of the network was expected to open in 2021, but delays tied to the pandemic, as well as a serious tunnel issue through one section of the project, which was disclosed last fall, pushed the opening back into 2022.

The airport spur has also been delayed.

CDPQ Infra, the driving force behind the new Montreal transit project, said in November the link to YUL is expected to open no sooner than 2024.

Graham picked to build new $475M Ryerson campus building in Toronto An upcoming project to convert a parking lot on the east end of downtown Toronto into a 44-storey Ryerson University campus building will fall to Graham Construction.

The Calgary-headquartered builder said April 21 it has been chosen as the contractor for the planned tower at 202 Jarvis St., which is expected to cost $475 million.

Covering a total of 565,000 sq. ft. (52,500 square metres), the building is designed with a 13-storey podium that will house classrooms, labs, informal student areas and other institutional space. The 29-storey tower above will serve as residence for nearly 600 students. A small amount of commercial space is also included in the plans.

Located on a Ryerson-owned site to the immediate southeast

8 / JUNE 2021

of the majority of the downtown campus, the new tower has been in the planning stages for several years, with the site currently moving through the rezoning process.

The university is using a collaborative construction model known as integrated project delivery (IPD) to deliver the mixeduse building at the corner of Jarvis and Dundas streets. Graham joins the IPD team tasked with carrying out the project, which already includes Zeidler Architecture and Henning Larsen Architects on the design side.

According to a request for proposals issued last December, Ryerson aims to complete the validation phase for the project by this fall. Graham said the estimated completion date for the new campus building is 2025.

© SIEGFRIED SCHNEPF / ADOBE STOCK

The project covers a series of upgrades along a 35-kilometre section Hwy. 2, known as Deerfoot Trail, as it runs through Calgary.

Alberta plans long series of upgrades on Calgary’s Deerfoot Trail, issues P3 RFQ Alberta Transportation has issued a request for qualifications to construction teams looking to take on a major package of work to improve Deerfoot Trail in Calgary.

The RFQ, launched May 17, includes a long list of upgrades to approximately 35 kilometres of the busy freeway that runs through Calgary, such as adding new lanes, rehabilitating existing sections, improving interchanges and twinning bridges.

The government said it will spend $210 million on the P3 project, and look

to the private sector for up to $200 million in additional financing. The commitment replaces a $478 million improvement project announced by the previous NDP government before the 2019 election.

“Deerfoot Trail is Alberta’s busiest road and Calgarians know it’s congested and needs improvement,” said Ric McIver, the province’s minister of Transportation, in a release. “Alberta’s P3 model means we double the taxpayer’s investment with private money, to upgrade twice as many

bridges and intersections.”

In addition to the construction work, the design, build, finance and operate contract will include a 30-year maintenance term.

Teams have until June 23 to respond to the RFQ. The province plans to shortlist bidders and issue a request for proposals this August, then pick a winning bidder by July 2022.

Construction on the freeway is scheduled to start in fall 2022 and run for about four years.

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Feds wade into controversial GTA highway plan, taking over Hwy. 413 assessment Ottawa has stepped into a politically-charged highway construction project on the northwest end of the Greater Toronto Area, with plans to take over the environmental assessment process for the proposed GTA West Project.

Jonathan Wilkinson, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, said May 3 that Ottawa will designate the project under federal jurisdiction for its potential adverse effects. The decision follows a report from the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAA) delving into whether federal scrutiny was warranted for the proposed 59-kilometre project, known as Highway 413.

“The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada and other federal departments have identified clear areas of federal concern related to this project,” Wilkinson said in a release. “My decision is based on their finding that this project may cause adverse effects on federally-list species at risk, an the uncertainty that officials have brought to my attention around whether those effects can be mitigated through project design or existing mechanisms.”

The province says the new highway would help with traffic congestion in the GTA. Critics say the benefits are small and do not justify the major infrastructure project.

The Ontario government revived plans to build Hwy. 413 in 2019 after the previous provincial Liberal government quashed the project. It has said it will help relieve traffic congestion in the Toronto area and improve the movement of goods.

Early plans for the new 400-series route call for a four to six lane highway, a transitway built adjacent to the new road, and interconnections to highways 400, 401 and 407. Running through Vaughan, Caledon, Brampton and Halton Hills, opponents have criticized the loss of Greenbelt land and effects on wildlife, among other areas. They also cite the relatively meagre benefits of the new route – based on an earlier assessment done under the former provincial government, the route would do little to relieve gridlock through the GTA. In response to the move from Parliament Hill, Ontario Transportation Minister

Caroline Mulroney said the province would work with Ottawa on the assessment to address the federal government’s “newlyfound” concerns.

“At this point, it is unclear what the scope of a federal impact assessment would be, or whether a full impact assessment would be warranted, especially given the fact that the environmental impacts ‘are expected to be addressed through federal and provincial regulatory processes’ that already exist,” she said in a release.

The designation will lead to further scrutiny of what would likely be a multi-billion dollar infrastructure project.

The next step, Wilkinson said, will be for the Ontario Ministry of Transportation to submit an initial project description to the IAA. Further review will determine if a “full” federal impact assessment is required.

Hamilton LRT project gets second chance with $3.4B in backing from feds, province Roughly a year and a half after it was cancelled, a costlier incarnation of the Hamilton Light Rail Transit project is back on track.

The federal and provincial governments announced $3.4 billion in funding for the 17-stop line May 13, reviving the job the Ontario government had deemed too expensive while heaping blame on the previous government for misrepresenting its cost.

“I’m very happy that the federal government is stepping up with a $1.7 billion federal investment to support the full LRT line in Hamilton from McMaster University to Eastgate at Centennial Park,” said Catherine McKenna, the federal minister of Infrastructure and Communities, in a release. “This investment in the only shovel ready major transit project in Hamilton, will help kickstart the economy and create good jobs.”

The abrupt cancellation of the project in December 2019 generated swift blowback in Hamilton. The provincial government, meanwhile, said the cost for the project had ballooned from an expected $1 billion to as much as $5.5 billion. It said it

10 / JUNE 2021

would stick to its billion-dollar funding commitment and look at alternative ways to spend the money in the city. A panel, formed to determine the best course of action, found either an LRT or bus rapid transit system was needed, and the Ontario government began calling on Ottawa to cover a portion of the project costs this February.

Each level of government will spend $1.7 billion on the line, building on a $10.7 billion funding agreement for four Toronto area subway and LRT projects announced days earlier. The new Hamilton light rail project will run 14 kilometres, from McMaster University to Eastgate Square, with a connection to the GO Transit station in the city’s downtown.

Caroline Mulroney, Ontario’s minister of Transportation, said with the project being shovel-ready, the aim is to get work underway as soon as possible.

The infrastructure project is expected to create thousands of jobs during construction.

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CONSTRUCTION STATS A selection of data reflecting trends in the Canadian construction industry

Workers Employed in Construction by Month 2020

January 1,497.6 February 1,489.7 March 1,487.5 April 1,173.9 May 1,247.6 June 1,330.8 July 1,364.3 August 1,368.8 September 1,369.4 October 1,377.8 November 1,404.1 December 1,401.2

2021

January 1,435.6 February 1,442.4

CONSTRUCTION LABOUR MARKET SLIPS IN APRIL AFTER MONTHS OF STRONG GAINS The construction industry’s labour market snapped a three-month winning streak in April as overall employment in the industry stayed short of its pre-pandemic highs.

The latest Labour Force Survey from Statistics Canada shows the industry shed 12,700 jobs, or 0.9 per cent, in April. The construction employment market’s first loss for 2021 comes a year after a huge wave of pandemic-related layoffs put more than 300,000 workers out of work in April 2020.

Nevertheless, with 1.455 million now employed in construction, the industry has largely recovered from the abrupt job losses. Statistics Canada notes it remains 39,000 workers shy of its labour level prior to COVID-19.

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION COSTS SPIKE IN FIRST QUARTER A shortage of construction materials forced building construction costs up across Canada in the first three months of 2021, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada.

The tight supply of lumber prompted a record 5.6 per cent increase in residential building prices. Statistics Canada said the historically low interest rates and the desire for more living space during the pandemic are two of the key drivers behind the surge in demand. Softwood lumber prices meanwhile, notched their fastest year-over-year increase in March, partially due to low stocks following the COVID-19 related shutdowns of sawmills.

Costs in the non-residential segment also climbed, though at a less dramatic 1.5 per cent. Higher costs for factories and warehouses took the lead on the rising costs. Again, COVID-19 played a part, as a 92 per cent increase in e-commerce demand put warehouse space at a premium.

Calgary, Toronto and Ottawa saw the highest cost increases for residential work during the first quarter, while Ottawa and Montreal led the way for the non-residential sector.

PER CENT INCREASE IN CANADIAN BUILDING COSTS

Quarter Non-residential Residential

2020 Q1

0.5

0.5

Q3 0.5

2.5

Q4 0.4

2.9

2021 Q1

5.6

12 / JUNE 2021

In thousands of workers, seasonally adjusted SOURCE: STATISTICS CANADA

RESIDENTIAL SECTOR LEADS BUILDING CONSTRUCTION SPENDING HIGHER IN MARCH Investment in building construction rose 5.9 per cent to $18.6 billion in March, powered by record spending in the residential sector.

The single-unit housing market continued to boom, Statistics Canada said in its latest report, with investments jumping 10.7 per cent during the month. Multiunit spending was also up 3.9 per cent in March.

All components of the non-residential construction market also posted gains, though more modest ones.

Spending across the segment as a whole was up 1.1 per cent in from the previous month.

RESIDENTIAL

MULTI-UNIT

+10.7%

+3.9%

0.6

Q2 0.1

1.5

March 1,468.1 April 1,455.4

COMMERCIAL

+0.8%

INDUSTRIAL

+0.4%

INSTITUTIONAL

+2.2%

COMPACTS

THE

MINI MIGRATION Small machines have begun offering premium features as contractors look to comfort and technology

I

n the not too distant past, compact excavators were often bare-bones, utilitarian machines, built simply to get into the tight spaces their larger brethren couldn’t. Not anymore. Driven by operators demanding more from their small excavators, features once relegated to mid or large machines have migrated into the market for minis.

“Compact construction or utility construction models were formerly your stripped-down version offered by all manufacturers. They were less expensive, didn’t have as many bells

PHOTO: HYUNDAI

BY DAVID KENNEDY

The HX85-A, the largest compact model in Hyundai’s line, now comes equipped with load sensing hydraulics, providing the most efficient use of input power and more precise control.

on-sitemag.com / 13

COMPACTS

With features from larger excavators trickling down into the compact class, Deere says its focus is on ensuring its 60G and other compacts offer the same durability and reliability as their larger cousins.

14 / JUNE 2021

PHOTO: DEERE

PHOTO: BOBCAT

Bobcat launched its R2 Series excavators last year.

The new line includes upgrades from mid to large sized excavators, such as a larger cab and an advanced 7-inch touch display.

and whistles, and reliability wasn’t there either,” says Jonathan Tolomeo, product manager at Komatsu Construction. Today, however, he says the company’s stance on continuous improvement trickles down all the way to its smallest excavator. An operator who goes from a larger Komatsu excavator to a utility-size Komatsu excavator has the same comfort and confidence

throughout their workday.

“For a lot of people today, this is their office,” he says. More often than not, operators want a quiet, climate-controlled and comfortable cab, and with labour in tight supply, contractors are eager to oblige.

Comfort included, David Caldwell, product manager for compact excavators at Takeuchi, says compacts are evolving for several different reasons.

“The popularity of these machines continues to increase, and that’s due in part to the fact that manufacturers are designing them to do far more than basic digging and excavating tasks,” he says. “Compact excavators now have increased hydraulic flows, enabling the use of a broader range of attachments. As a result, customers are realizing how versatile these machines are, and they’re finding more ways to use them.”

In fact, they’ve even started to supplant other equipment. With the housing and wider construction markets continuing to boom, Mike Fuller, senior product manager with Hyundai Construction Equipment Americas says, compact excavators are among the most important tools contractors have in their fleets.

“Excavators are also replacing skid steers in many applications,” Fuller says, noting their ability to dig deeply without the need for an attachment sets them apart.

When breaking up stone and rocks, drilling auger holes and grading in tight spaces, among other jobs, the edge goes to the compact excavator, he says, while acknowledging projects on larger job sites that require more travel time can tip the scales back toward skid steers.

Exactly what’s considered compact, mini, micro, or otherwise, depends on the OEM, but typically, they fall between one to 10 metric tonnes.

A TIGHT FIT For minis to function in cramped environments, there’s no getting around the fact engineers need to squeeze an array of systems into a small package when designing compact excavators. In few places is this as pronounced as in the cab.

Justin Steger, solutions marketing manager with John Deere Construction &

“One of the challenges Forestry, says the equipment maker has made big improvements when it comes to operator comfort with its G-Series, offering more headroom, legroom and foldable travel pedals. Still, space is limited.

“There’s only so much real estate in the operator station just by nature of the compact excavator footprint,” he says.

Aaron Kleingartner, marketing manager with Doosan Infracore North America agrees.

“One of the challenges of making mini excavators more operator friendly is less space to work with compared to larger crawler models,” he says.

Doosan has made its cabs more comfortable for operators with improved seats, joysticks, larger displays and more glass for improved visibility, but there are still parameters the machines need to hit.

“That requires the physical design, namely the width, of the upperstructure (house) to remain relatively similar to prior iterations,” Kleingartner says.

Despite the challenge, OEMs are keeping the focus on comfort – and operator retention, by extension.

“We’re not taking anything away from the operator environment because the machine is small,” Tolomeo says, pointing to the particular challenge on ultra-short radius machines. “We are still working to make and offer a larger cab for the operators to be comfortable.”

“When you are going to be in a machine for eight-plus hours a day, it simply has to be comfortable,” Fuller adds. Drawing inspiration from the auto industry, Hyundai minis come with features such as heated, lumbar-equipped seats and touch screen monitors. “This not only makes for a happy operator, it makes a safer operator.”

Along with providing operators more space, moving from canopies to enclosed cabs is another key trend in compact excavators.

“More compact excavators have enclosed cabs than they used to, which is great for reducing noise, controlling temperature and keeping the operator safe from flying debris,” says Darren Ashton, product manager, compact excavators, with Volvo Construction Equipment North America.

Likewise, Kleingartner says Doosan mini excavators come standard with an enclosed cab that includes heating and air conditioning.

“A major driver toward the cab enhancements is hiring and retaining operators,” he says. “The field of qualified equipment operators has gotten smaller in recent years. In an effort to keep good

of making mini excavators more operator friendly is less space to work with compared to larger crawler models.”

Aaron Kleingartner, Doosan

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Doosan’s DX50-5K, as well as its DX42-5K are available with an optional integrated rearview camera for enhanced all-around visibility.

“The need to use these machines in ever-smaller urban workspaces and on congested roadways continues to increase, so including machine/ grade control on these smaller excavators makes it possible for more operators and owners to enjoy the benefits of that technology.”

David Caldwell, Takeuchi

16 / JUNE 2021

operators, mini excavator manufacturers have expanded offerings from larger models to smaller mini excavators.”

At Bobcat as well, enclosed cabs with HVAC and features such as a heated, highback seat with headrest are keeping many operators content. Others opt for the more traditional route.

“Some operators may prefer an enclosed cab with auto HVAC, while others may want a more simple machine with a canopy, so it’s important to offer the right solution for every customer,” says Luke Hill, Excavator product specialist with Bobcat.

Keeping costs down while adding features that can make machines more efficient and operators more comfortable is another cross-industry focus. In this respect, technology can become both an additional expense and a cost savings.

Hill points to new in-cab features in Bobcat’s R2 Series – such as a seven-inch touch display and Bluetooth – that appeal to operators and make them more focused on the job with increased awareness of machine issues and service requirements, and handsfree calling and noise cancellation.

Cabs from other OEMs also come outfitted with multi-function monitors, in Takeuchi’s case, up to eight inches.

“These monitors provide operators with the ability to set up multiple attachment

presets while also allowing them to adjust auxiliary flow rates and, on some models, pressure,” Caldwell says. “The monitors also give operators an overall view of a machine’s health and provide operational data.”

TECH FINDS A WAY Both telematics and machine control systems are also finding space to grow in the compact market.

“The next generation is coming up with such technology, so they tend to rely on it for one, and secondly, it becomes like our everyday use of GPS, as it is almost second nature because it works and makes life easier,” Fuller says, of machine control systems. He anticipates they will become more and more prevalent on compact excavators as the 2020s wear on. Likewise, Hyundai offers the HiMATE remote monitoring system that lets owners monitor their machine anywhere, anytime via GPS. In line with the trend toward making minis less utilitarian, Caldwell points to the Takeuchi Fleet Management (TFM) telematics system that comes at no additional cost during the standard warranty period, providing remote diagnostics, machine utilization, machine location and hours worked. He also anticipates the progress toward machine control will continue for

PHOTO: KOMATSU

PHOTO: TAKEUCHI

The TB2150 is equipped with the Takeuchi Fleet Management (TFM) telematics system that gives owners access to remote diagnostics, machine utilization, machine location and hours worked.

smaller machines.

“The need to use these machines in ever-smaller urban workspaces and on congested roadways continues to increase, so including machine/grade control on these smaller excavators makes it possible for more operators and owners to enjoy the benefits of that technology,” he says.

For its part, Bobcat’s Depth Check system has been helping operators get to grade for more than half a decade already. The depth awareness system has also been attracting increased interest in recent years, Hill says.

“This is because of Depth Check’s ability to help make the operator more efficient by helping to prevent the operator from under and over digging which results in costly material waste and unnecessary increased job completion time,” he says.

At Volvo, Ashton sees machine control on the upswing as well, but it is not the only driver in compacts the company is watching.

MAKING WAY FOR ELECTRICS

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Though still an emerging segment of the market, Volvo says its new ECR25, an electric compact, “opens the door” to work in low-noise and zero emissions environments.

“The market is evolving to include a heavier emphasis on sustainability as well, so electric machines are a great option,” Ashton says. “And, depending on jurisdiction, early adopters will be able to take advantage of subsidies and grants from some or all levels of government.”

Going electric requires contractors to spend more upfront, Ashton says, but they will save money on fuel and maintenance in the long run.

Doosan is also moving on electrics. The company displayed a prototype of its upcoming electric mini excavator in Las Vegas last year, and plans to launch the DX17Z-5 in North America as early as

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Powered by lithium-ion batteries instead of a diesel engine, the Volvo ECR25 generates lower noise and vibration, leading to less operator fatigue.

“Depending on jurisdiction, early adopters [of electric excavators] will be able to take advantage of subsidies and grants from some or all levels of government.”

Darren Ashton, Volvo next year, Kleingartner says.

“An electric machine gives excavator operators the ability to do their work with a machine they’re familiar with but without the inhibitions of diesel exhaust,” Kleingartner says. “The 1.7-metric ton size class was selected for this first model because of customer requests for a mini excavator that could work in confined spaces, requiring a machine with a narrow width to access the site.”

The two new models aren’t alone. Many other electric models are likely to follow as regulations become more stringent, as sustainability becomes a higher priority and as the technology advances.

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THE TOP 40 Page 25 MEETING PENT-UP DEMAND Page 27 TOP FIVE UNDER 50 Page 34 LISTINGS Page 36

THINGS LOOKING UP FOR

CANADA’S TOP CONTRACTORS

on-sitemag.com / 21

BUILDING

RESILIENCE

Success is never earned easily – it’s built by overcoming challenges and adapting to change.

Aon congratulates this year’s Top Contractors on their resilience and innovation. We’re here to help you navigate complex decisions and reshape the future. Using powerful data,we help businesses build even greater resilience. Our commitment to the industry is unwavering, and we will continue to be your advocate and partner. aon.ca

WELCOME LETTER

O

n behalf of Aon, I am proud to sponsor the Top Contractors issue of On-Site for the fourth consecutive year. It has now been well over a year since the onset of the pandemic and the tremendous stress it has put on our society, our economy, our governments – and on us personally. No one could have predicted fifteen months ago how we would collectively respond to these challenges. Few predicated the speed of vaccine development – our generation’s “moonshot.” Fewer still predicted the impact on key economic factors challenging our industry right now such as supply chains disruptions and asset price inflation. The world is interconnected like never before.

Our team is here to help you navigate through the complex risks that you face and to give you advice, options and solutions to address them.

BEING READY FOR OPPORTUNITIES The pace of volatility has changed in recent times. Two major global crises in twelve years reinforces the fact that all of us are exposed to risks not of our own doing. That said, economic downturn has also turned into opportunity as governments (again) lead us out of a global crisis with large and small investments in infrastructure. This opportunity will be tempered though by other key emerging risks such as labour shortages and input price inflation. Careful planning will be the key to capitalizing on these opportunities. Labour shortages and supply chain risks must be factored into your project strategy.

Added to this dynamic are the challenges of procurement models and often onerous risk transfer models presented by owners. Insightful risk management and risk transfer strategies will allow contractors to respond to these situations and enable sustainable growth without assuming undue and unmanageable risk.

ADVOCATING FOR THE INDUSTRY Aon takes pride in our close partnership with industry associations such as the Canadian Construction Association (CCA). We again maintained our CCA Annual Conference sponsorship this year, and last year we worked closely with the association, the federal government and Export Development Canada (EDC) to provide input on ensuring that the construction sector had access to vital liquidity and surety credit. In addition, we have advised clients on assessing the impact of pandemic events on their operations, provided best practices associated with job shutdowns, and how to safely operate a construction site in a pandemic environment. We will continue to advocate for Canada’s construction industry in tangible and actionable ways that are above and beyond our core offerings.

LOOKING FORWARD The future is always uncertain, but with the right contractual terms, operational practices, data, technology and risk finance solutions, we can help you find opportunities for sustainable growth. I consider it an honour to partner with an industry that serves as a cornerstone of the Canadian economy and our Aon team looks forward to helping your firm – and our industry - remain resilient and well-positioned for the future. Again, a hearty congratulations to this year’s Top Contractors and I wish you all our best wishes for the coming year.

On behalf of Aon’s CSG Leadership team and colleagues, we thank you for the opportunity to work with you.

Kent Peters on-sitemag.com / 23

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In a year dominated by COVID-19, contractors adapted on the fly to project-stopping lockdowns, supply chain challenges and new ways of communicating. The industry also came together, uniting behind standardized health and safety protocols, while putting aside the usual competitive attitude to share best practices and keep workers safe.

Despite facing down the global pandemic, many of Canada’s Top Contractors saw their revenues climb in 2020, demonstrating how the health crisis did little to lessen demand – or stop work – throughout the industry. Procurement for a number of major projects did slow last year, and certain private owners understandably pumped the brakes on upcoming jobs, but a stabilizing economy and government stimulus spending has builders looking to 2021 and beyond with growing confidence.

The industry also saw a major merger take place in 2020. Bird Construction agreed to acquire Stuart Olson last summer, with the acquisition closing in September. Billed as a transformational deal for Bird, the purchase brings together two companies without much previous overlap. It gives the Mississauga, Ont.-based contractor new exposure to Western Canada, while adding scale and creating opportunities in new places, management says. Stuart Olson revenues listed include just the first half of the year. Its third quarter results have not been publicly released, while Bird’s revenue figure tucks in Stuart Olson revenue from the final three months of 2020.

I want to thank all of the contractors that took the time to participate in our annual survey. Your valuable contributions make this research possible.

DAVID KENNEDY EDITOR

TOP FIVE COMPANIES UNDER 50 EMPLOYEES Rank Company 1

Caliber Projects Ltd.

Revenue $77,670,846

2

JR Certus Construction Co.

$50,100,000

3

Rosati Construction

$45,436,496

4

CGI Constructors

$40,853,365

5

O.N.Site Construction Inc.

$35,776,000

TOP 40 Rank

Company

2020 Revenue

1

PCL Construction

$7,600,000,000

2

EllisDon Corp.

$4,296,516,000

3

Aecon Group Inc.

$3,643,618,000

4

Ledcor Ltd.

$3,200,000,000

5 Graham

$3,056,697,367

6 Pomerleau

$2,517,000,000

7

Kiewit Canada Group Inc.

$2,478,000,000

8

Bird Construction Inc.

$1,504,400,000

9

EBC Inc.

$1,112,000,000

10

Flynn Group of Companies

$1,018,000,000

11

Broccolini Construction Inc.

$833,000,000

12

Canadian Turner Construction Co.

$767,898,000

13

Clark Builders

$697,000,000

14

Axiom Builders Inc.

$543,000,000

15

Chandos Construction

$540,000,000

16

GFL Infrastructure Group

$535,100,000

17

Reliance Construction

$528,000,000

18

Taggart Group of Companies

$510,000,000

19

North American Construction Group $500,374,000

20

Magil Construction

$450,000,000

21

Stuart Olson Inc.

$445,000,000

22

Maple Reinders

$420,000,000

23

Condrain Group

$352,000,000

24

FWS Group of Companies

$340,000,000

25

Dawson Wallace Construction Ltd.

$325,000,000

26

Strike Group

$314,206,000

27

Govan Brown & Associates Ltd.

$301,000,000

28

Leeswood Construction

$285,000,000

29

Buttcon Ltd.

$220,000,000

30

NorLand Ltd.

$205,700,000

31

Delnor Construction Ltd.

$203,125,580

32

Marco Group Ltd.

$202,000,000

33

Avondale Construction Ltd.

$198,000,000

34

Matheson Constructors Ltd.

$182,000,000

35

Gillam Group

$181,000,000

36

Wales McLelland Construction

$169,000,000

37

Keller Foundations Ltd.

$168,000,000

38

Fortis Construction Group Inc.

$157,000,000

39

M Builds Construction

$155,000,000

40

Bockstael Construction Ltd.

$134,500,000

Based on responses to research conducted by On-Site, as well as publicly-available data. Some contractors chose not to participate in this research.

on-sitemag.com / 25

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MEETING PENT-UP DEMAND

Canada’s Top Contractors prepare to shift out of neutral after a year focused on the pandemic

© BAKERJARVIS / ADOBE STOCK

BY DAVID KENNEDY

W

ith the vaccination rate rising, COVID-19 case counts falling and a wave of new work coming down the pike, Canada’s Top Contractors are looking ahead to the second half of 2021 – and the post-pandemic construction market – with a sense of optimism.

Between conventional infrastructure work, a diverse flurry of activity in major

cities and new transit projects getting on track, Mike Wieninger, COO of PCL Construction’s Canadian operations, expects the industry will have its hands full as the country emerges from the pandemic.

“There’s been a pent-up energy and a pent-up demand,” Wieninger says. Stimulus dollars from the federal and provincial governments are one driver, he adds. Other segments of the industry restarting projects

on-sitemag.com / 27

director, says that while the third wave of COVID-19 and the slower than anticipated rollout of vaccines may push the rebound back into the second half of 2021, he expects the industry to continue to gain steam heading into 2022.

“We anticipate that the construction economy is going to be robust, particularly next year as we start to see some of the measures that were announced in the budget find their way onto the street and as consumers start to take advantage of some of those programs,” Ferreira says. He points to government spending on institutional projects and conventional infrastructure as two pivotal areas.

The increase in construction material

“There’s a lot of room to be optimistic with projects coming down and general spending going on in the economy.”

Gilles Royer, Bird

they had been forced to put a pin in last year is another.

“The pandemic is interesting because it really paused a lot of the pending work that was ready to be released,” he says.

Research organization BuildForce Canada is bullish as well, forecasting a healthy construction market through much of the 2020s, with particularly strong growth between now and 2023.

Bill Ferreira, BuildForce’s executive

28 / JUNE 2021

prices, however, does pose some risk.

“Obviously that’s going to have an impact on supply chains,” Ferreira says.

Likewise, Wieninger has concerns about the “skyrocketing” price of key inputs like lumber and glass.

“It can get to the point where the pro forma doesn’t pencil, so there’s a little bit of uncertainty with escalating costs causing some projects to be delayed or cancelled,” he says.

Nevertheless, neither Wieninger nor Ferreira expect the higher material costs to derail the industry’s trajectory.

Seeing opportunity in a diverse array of areas, including some that have seen less momentum in recent years, Gilles Royer, chief operating officer of Bird Construction, is similarly encouraged looking ahead.

“There’s a lot of room to be optimistic with projects coming down and general spending going on in the economy,” he

Merit National Takes the Lid off Mental Health Merit National (Merit) is a not-for-profit association that represents the Canadian construction industry and the companies that support our members and their families.

There is a perception of a stigma in male dominated industries like construction where men are less likely to ask for mental health supports. Merit is working towards lessening this stigma and recognizes that mental health supports are vital for Members, their employees, and their families.

“It’s critical for company leaders to not only recognize how mental health impacts their workplace, but also to ensure that there are programs and services available that recognize the unique needs of their employees,” said Malcolm D. Kirkland, President and Chief Executive Officer of Merit. “Merit’s Mental Health initiative is one of the tools we are adding to our mental health toolbox. We continue to support our members, their employees, and their families by providing the resources they need, when they need them.”

For more information on Merit’s mental health initiative visit meritnational.com today.

Working collaboratively with LifeWorks, Merit has launched an innovative initiative that includes: the Merit Mental Health First Aid Kit, the LifeWorks Wellness app, the Workplace Mental Health Leadership™ Certificate Program, Building Blocks for Positive Mental Health courses and is a champion in the “Buddy Up” campaign with the Centre for Suicide Prevention.

“If we do not focus on addressing mental health issues, learning how to recognize the signs and providing access to support, the national workforce would be compromised by what is often seen as an invisible enemy,” said Mr. Kirkland. “When organizations like Merit take a strong, bold and visible stance in empowering employers and employees in support of their mental health, the resulting effect is positive across the country.”

says. Along with upcoming civil work, he notes the company has growing confidence in the resource industry as higher commodity prices drive renewed interest in the sector.

In an On-Site poll of the country’s largest contractors conducted this May, few builders anticipate a decline in business this year, with results skewing heavily toward growth or steady activity. A clear majority, for instance, expect to see gains in the transportation, institutional, industrial, multi-unit residential and road building markets this year. Refer to the figure below for a detailed breakdown of sentiment by project type.

With the wider economy appearing to get back on track, the haze of uncertainty created by COVID-19 is lifting, but getting to the other side of the pandemic remains a work in progress.

THE ‘SOMEWHAT’ BACK TO NORMAL Across the country, through the 15 – and

30 / JUNE 2021

counting – months of the pandemic, the construction industry has remained largely operational. Contractors have adapted, as well as come together by sharing health and safety best practices to keep workers on the job and projects moving forward.

At the same time, there is a recognition that the pre-pandemic job site has likely gone through several irrevocable changes.

“As an industry, we’ve all learned through this that things are going to change,” says Steve Chaplin, vice-president of Health, Safety & Environment (HSE) at EllisDon. As COVID-19 began its creep into Canada last year, the HSE team at EllisDon began stockpiling supplies, such as hand sanitizer and masks, to distribute to its sites throughout the country. Like other contractors, it established a screening procedure for staff, using QR codes to link workers to a daily set of questions. As 2020 wore on, it rolled out other tools like thermal imaging cameras and rapid antigen tests.

While many pandemic response measures will likely prove temporary, Chaplin expects amped up hygiene and increased focus on washroom cleanliness will be here to stay. Despite the industry’s perennial challenge with plumbing on active sites, EllisDon has also been installing wash stations and, when possible, trying to make heated water available.

“What you’re going to see still is probably more standard practices just on distancing, hygiene, cleanliness,” he says.

Canada’s construction industry came together early on in the pandemic on health and safety, and all indications point to contractors sticking to the improved sanitation regimes in the post-COVID-19 world.

Royer and Wieninger, for instance, expect to see a similar focus on hygiene on Bird and PCL sites moving forward.

“It should actually help other transmissions, even flus and anything like that,” Wieninger says. “In general, I think you’ll see people will be less sick.” PCL is also

implementing more and more touchless technology in washrooms, on doors and in other areas to help cut down on transmissions.

In the shorter term, vaccines are poised to come into focus for employers across the country, with construction firms being no exception.

Unlike previous safety measures – thermal scans and rapid tests – the HSE team at EllisDon will be taking a different approach to vaccinations.

“People are very positional about vaccines,” Chaplin says. While the company hosted a community pop-up clinic with support from Modern Niagara and Flynn Group in Ontario last month, and plans to build awareness about and strongly encourage vaccines for staff, “if a worker refuses, that’s their choice,” Chaplin adds.

He sees a few possible exceptions down the line, such as instances when a client like a long-term care home or hospital requires all workers to be vaccinated.

While there is still a fairly long road ahead, Chaplin is guardedly optimistic.

With vaccinations, he says, the industry is heading toward a “somewhat back to normal.”

CHANGING HABITS Technology adoption is another area contractors are not anticipating a rollback to the previous norm.

As early as last April, it was clear

construction firms not already dialled into the latest technology would need to get up to speed in a hurry. In an On-Site poll this May, 86 per cent of contractors said COVID19 prompted them to greatly or somewhat accelerate technology adoption.

“It served as quite a catalyst for technology improvement,” Royer says. “The innovations I saw across our organization from a technology standpoint were pretty interesting.”

The use of video conferencing tools – like Microsoft Teams or Zoom – erupted and had a clear value-add, Royer says.

Where a phone call may have sufficed in the past, pulling in a third, or fourth, or fifth colleague onto a video call has been a simple way to improve collaboration while all but eliminating travel time.

“It’s one thing to see technology happening in the office, but it’s quite another thing to see field operations get more comfortable and adopt more technology more rapidly,” Royer says.

on-sitemag.com / 31 ON_Stellar_June21_CSA.indd 1

2021-04-29 11:42 AM

number of projects using the integrated project delivery (IPD) model, “As horrible as this was, it forged and is pursuing stronger partnerships than ever.” several that use the alliance model as Steve Chaplin, EllisDon well.

“There’s a tremendous benefit to the owner by leveraging the trade contractor base at an earlier phase in the project,” he In addition to keeping on top of projadds. “Their experience in the development ects, PCL has also turned to video calls for of projects is underutilized in the industry.” training purposes. Wieninger expects the By integrating input from disparate shift will be here to stay, at least in part. teams early on, owners can head off a lot of “It won’t be to the extent that we’re issues that can crop up during construction, using it today, it’ll be less, but there is a Royer says. nice balance between utilization of some Similarly, Wieninger says PCL is always of the video conferencing tools that are out looking for better models to deliver projects there mixed in with the in-person,” he says. more effectively. At the same time, he does Better communication is also permeatnot see more conventional building models ing beyond internal teams and allowing for as broken, or that IPDs or alliances will closer contact between owners, designers, be guaranteed to translate to better-run contractors and subcontractors. projects.

Driven in part by software advance“It’s all how you approach it,” he says. ments that let separate project stakeholders “In many cases, it’s not the model that work together on common platforms and is broken – the model is absolutely fine. better share information, Royer says the The devil’s in the detail in how the risk is trend toward collaborative contracting is a allocated and that in many cases is the game-changer for the industry. problem.”

“For us, it’s been a real breath of fresh Still, with projects getting more and air,” he says, noting Bird is involved in a more complex, and the busy industry

32 / JUNE 2021

putting experienced project leaders in short supply, he sees working more closely together as one component to success.

“A collaborative approach is very much a great way of understanding and developing the risks each stakeholder takes on and offers the project to move forward and deliver the project the right way and having it done so everybody’s on the same page,” he says.

Tested by the pandemic, relationships across much of the industry have also strengthened, Chaplin notes.

“As horrible as this was, it forged stronger partnerships than ever,” he says.

From a safety standpoint, he notes EllisDon has been working hand in hand with, among others, the Central Ontario Building Trades and governments of all levels, taking a united approach to addressing concerns on-site as they arise.

TACKLING NEW AND OLD ISSUES The adjustments will not stop there.

Emerging issues, such as sustainability, are expected to continue to make their way up agendas across the industry in the near term. Just under one in four of the contractors On-Site polled said sustainability initiatives were among their top priorities, with nearly half saying the issue was in the middle of their to-do lists. On the other hand, just under 23 per cent cited sustainability as a low priority, with another seven per cent not watching the issue at all.

It is one example of a wide range of new priorities contractors are taking stock of. Modular construction is another, which itself could aid in waste and emissions reduction, as well as with the industry’s long-running labour challenge.

On that front, it will be a busy few years. To match the pent-up demand and offset retirements, the industry will need to add roughly 81,000 workers between now and 2030, according to the latest figures from BuildForce. With much of the growth concentrated between now and 2025, recruitment and retention will be an immediate concern in 2021 and beyond.

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1

CALIBER PROJECTS LTD. Headquarters: Langley, B.C. 2020 Revenue: $77,670,846 Sectors: Commercial, residential

2

JR CERTUS CONSTRUCTION CO. Headquarters: Vaughan, Ont. 2020 Revenue: $50,100,000 Sectors: Industrial, commercial, institutional, residential

3

ROSATI CONSTRUCTION Headquarters: Windsor, Ont. 2020 Revenue: $45,436,496 Sectors: Commercial, industrial, insitutional, residential

4

CGI CONSTRUCTORS Headquarters: Mississauga, Ont. 2020 Revenue: $40,853,365 Sectors: Commercial, institutional

5

O.N.SITE CONSTRUCTION INC. Headquarters: Oakville, Ont. 2020 Revenue: $35,776,000 Sectors: Commercial

A ‘SMALL GIANT’ IN THE FRASER VALLEY

BY DAVID KENNEDY

I

ts name currently stamped on construction hoarding on two of the busiest corners in Langley, B.C., Caliber Projects Ltd. has grown over the past dozen years from a two-employee builder of single-family homes, to a “small giant” overseeing a series of increasingly complex projects in the Fraser Valley.

The fast-growing builder earned revenues of roughly $77.7 million in 2020, with work on two high-profile projects – Latimer Heights and the Willoughby Town Centre – accounting for no small portion of its bookings. With a staff of just 45, the company also spring-boarded to the peak of On-Site’s annual Top Five Under 50 for the year.

Ian Baird, Caliber’s director of construction, credits the company’s momentum, and its ability to take on such a large amount of

work with such a small team, to its focus on relationships and the company’s strong sense of community. With no intention of being the biggest shop in town, Caliber has built up its team through careful mentoring.

“That’s our raison d’être,” Baird says.

“Building people is literally why we get up in the morning.”

Allowing employees in their 20s or 30s to shoulder more and more responsibility, both on job sites and in the office, is a boon for retention and also lets the company take on more projects without adding to its headcount. Morning huddles on-site with superintendents walking teams through the daily schedule, project managers touching on budgets, and value sharing to keep all workers dialled in and appreciative of one another, add to the team’s cohesion.

“Our team is so tight that there’s nothing they won’t do to achieve success,” Baird says.

Jerry Pol​, business development manager at Caliber, says the focus on people has been a core part of the company since day one. The familial atmosphere, fostered by Caliber’s founder and CEO Justin Bontkes, helps keep values aligned and the team working toward common goals, Pol says.

“We’re all high performers.

Caliber points to its careful mentoring of junior staff as one of We don’t believe in laziness. keys to its success.

We’re always crushing it,” he adds, a nod to the company’s mantra – own it, crush it, love it. Though it’s not a written principle of the business, Pol says faith also underpins the company’s code of ethics.

Between the drive to do more with less, and initiatives such as “full-throttle” Fridays, An overview of Caliber’s ongoing work on the Latimer Heights project in Langley.

34 / JUNE 2021

PHOTOS: CALIBER PROJECTS

TOP FIVE UNDER 50 EMPLOYEES

Caliber is known for its fast pace and quality. Crew members own their mistakes and aren’t satisfied with second-rate work, Pol says.

They’re also rewarded for it. Caliber implemented an employee profit sharing program last fall. Modelled on The Great Game of Business, it gives all staff visibility into how the company operates and earns money, as well as the ability to take an ownership mindset. The profit sharing initiative is a way to incentivize running slim as well.

“We all know how we can impact that number,” Pol says. “Speeding up the schedule, being more efficient with materials, being more efficient with our time. All these things.”

As with all general contractors, relationships with clients and subtrades are another focus for Caliber.

Baird says cold-calling and knocking on doors aren’t necessary as the company has established its track record. Most of the

company’s recent business has come from referrals or bolt-on contracts from existing clients, he says – a clear endorsement of Caliber’s ability to deliver. The company’s initial contract for two parcels of Vesta Properties’ Latimer Heights project, for instance, came from a referral, despite Caliber not having tackled a “monstrous” multi-phased project like it before.

When it comes to subcontractors, Caliber views its trade partners as its “life-line.”

“For us, it’s all about the relationships that we have with them,” Baird says. “We make sure that we pay them on time, we make sure that we advocate for them at the change order table when their change orders are fair and reasonable, we make sure that we don’t produce a schedule that they can’t achieve.”

The internal sense of community also extends to Caliber’s subtrades, Pol adds, but the company’s high set of standards applies as well.

“We are some of the softest construc-

tion guys you’ll ever meet,” Pol says. “But we also hold people to a higher standard than they may be used to. We care, and we also demand excellence.”

Caliber anticipates strong growth to continue in the years ahead. It’s currently working through several concurrent stages of the 74-acre Latimer Heights project, for which it’s building condos, mixed-use commercial and concrete office towers. It started excavation for the first portion of the job in 2019 and expects work to wrap up on the mixed-use series of projects by spring 2024.

A host of other opportunities await.

The company has a committed pipeline worth approximately $350 million it expects to work through over the next three years. Meanwhile, it plans to stay relatively small. Pol acknowledges that while its headcount may creep a bit over 50, Caliber intends to bind itself to its “small giant” goal, and building in its own Fraser Valley backyard.

on-sitemag.com / 35 OnSite_CIQS_June21.indd 1

2021-05-28 9:14 AM

LISTINGS

ACTIVITIES

A Above All Projects 1450 Wall St. Winnipeg, MN R3E 2S3 T: 431-877-1323 www.aboveall.net C, M, N, O, U, V

Bird Construction 5700 Explorer Dr. Mississauga, ON L4W 0C6 T: 905-602-4122 www.bird.ca A, C, E, F, H, M, N, O, R, S, T, V, X, Y, Z

Acadian Construction 671 Malenfant Blvd.

Dieppe, NB E1A 5T8 T: 506-857-1909 acadianconstruction.com A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K, M, N, O, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z

Bockstael Construction Ltd. 200-100 Paquin Rd. Winnipeg, MB R2J 3V4 T: 204-997-4730 www.bockstael.com C, F, H, J, M, N, O, V, Y

Aecon Group Inc. 20 Carlson Ct. Toronto, ON M9W 7K6 T: 416-297-2600 www.aecon.com A, B, D, E, F, G, H, J, K, M, N, Q, R, S, T, W, X, Y, Z Artwork Homes Ltd. 3751 Bayridge Ave. West Vancouver, BC V7V 3J3 T: 604-780-7404 www.artworkhomes.com F, H, M, U, V Avondale Construction Ltd. 49 Hobson Lake Dr. Halifax, NS B3S 0E4 T: 902-876-1821 www.avondaleconstruction.com B, C, D, F, H, M, N, O, U, V Axiom Builders Inc. 1100-838 W. Hastings St. Vancouver, BC V6C 0A6 T: 604-412-0459 www.axiombuilders.ca C, M, V

B Barnard of Canada Inc. 2200 - 1055 Hastings St. Vancouver, BC V6E 2E9 T: 406-586-1995 www.barnard-inc.com A, E, H, J, K, M, Q, R, S, T, W, X, Z

36 / JUNE 2021

Broccolini 16766 Trans-Canada Hwy. Kirkland, QC H9H 4V3 T: 514-737-0076 www.broccolini.com C, M, N, O, V Buttcon Ltd. 401-8000 Jane St., Tower B Concord, ON L4K 5B8 T: 905-907-4242 www.buttcon.com A, B, D, E, F, G, H, J, K, M, N, Q, R, S, T, W, X, Y, Z

C Caliber Projects Ltd. 202−6375 202 St. Langley, BC V2Y 1N1 T: 604-427-1403 www.caliberprojects.com C, E, M, V, Y Canadian Turner Construction Company 1601-700 West Pender St. Vancouver, BC V6C 1G8 T: 778-834-5936 www.turnerconstruction.com A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K, M, N, O, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z CanWest Concrete Cutting & Coring 5025-13 St. SE Calgary, AB T2G 5N1 T: 403-225-4445 www.canwestconcrete.com A, B, C, D, E, G, J, M, N, U, U, V, W

The following letter codes are used to indicate areas of activity for the contractors in the listings on these pages.

A Aggregates B Bridges C Commercial Buildings D Communication Engineering E Concrete F Contract Management G Demolition H Design/Build J Electric Power/Utilities K Environmental Remediation M General Contracting N Industrial Buldings O Institutional Buildings Q Marine-Related R Mining-Related S Oil and Gas-Related T Other Transportation Construction U Residential Houses V Residential Multi-Unit W Roadbuilding X Sewer Y Structural Steel Z Waterworks

Capital infrastructure Group 31 Keyes Ct. Vaughan, ON L4H 4V6 T: 905 266-1500 https://www.capitalinfrastructuregroup.ca/ O, Z CGI Constructors 895 Meyerside Dr. Mississauga, ON L5T 1R8 T: 905-564-6565 www.cgigc.com C, H, M, N, O Chandos Construction 9604-20 Ave. NW Edmonton, AB T6N 1G1 T: 780-436-8617 www.chandos.com C, F, G, H, M, N, O, V Clark Builders 4703 52 Ave. Edmonton AB T6B 3R6 T: 780.395.3311 www.clarkbuilders.com C, E, F, H, J, M, N, O, T, V

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LISTINGS Clobracon Construction Inc. 2535 – 1 Halpern Rd. Saint-Laurent. QC H4S 1N9 T: 514-731-0035 www.clobracon.com C, E, G, M, O, V, Y ConDrain Group, The 30 Floral Parkway Concord, ON L4K 4R1 T: 905-669-5400 www.condrain.com A, B, C, M, N, O, W, X, Z

D Dalren Ltd. 8791 Dale Rd. Cobourg, ON K9A 4J9 T: 905-377-1080 www.dalren.ca F, H, M, N, O, V Dawson Wallace Construction Ltd. 4611 Eleniak Rd. Edmonton, AB T6B 2N1 T: 780-466-8700 www.dawsonwallace.com C, H, F, M, N Delnor Construction Ltd. 3609-74 Ave. Edmonton, AB T6B 2T7 T: 780-469-1304 www.delnor.ca C, H, M, N, O, U

E

F Farwes Homes Ltd. 467 Harden Cres.

Cobourg, ON K9A 1Z8 T: 905-885-0837 www.farweshomes.com U Flynn Group of Companies 6435 Northwest Dr. Mississauga, ON L4V 1K2 T: 905-671-3971 www.flynncompanies.com C, J, N, O, S Fortis Construction Group Inc. 3070 Jefferson Blvd.

Windsor, ON N8T 3G9 T: 519-419-7828 www.fortisgroup.ca C, H, M, N, O, V FWS Group of Companies 275 Commerce Dr. Winnipeg, MB R3J 3N7 T: 204-487-2500 www.fwsgroup.com A, C, E, F, H, M, N, O, R, S, V, Y

G Gee Bee Construction Co. 901 Main St. Kipling, SK S0G 2S0 T: 306-381-8770 geebeeconstruction.com M, R, S, W, X, Z

EBC Inc. 1095 Valets St. L’Ancienne-Lorette, QC G2E 3M3 T: 418-872-0600 www.ebcinc.com B, C, F, H, J, M, N, O, Q, R, T, V, W, Z

GFL Infrastructure Group 100 New Park Place, Suite 500 Vaughan, ON L4K 0J3 T: 905-326-0101 gflenv.com/our-services/for-business/infrastructure/ C, G, K, N, O, V

EllisDon 1000-1004 Middlegate Rd. Mississauga, ON L4Y 1M4 T: 905-896-8900 www.ellisdon.com A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K, M, N, O, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z

Gillam Group 36 Northline Rd. Toronto, ON M4B 3E2 T: 416-486-6776 gillamgroup.com C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K, M, N, O, V, Y, Z

38 / JUNE 2021

Govan Brown & Associates Ltd. 108 Vine Avenue Toronto, ON M6P 1V7 T: 416-703-5100 www.govanbrown.com C, H, M, N Graham Group Ltd. 10840 27 St. SE Calgary, AB T2Z 3R6 T: 403-570-5231 www.grahambuilds.com B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, M, N, O, Q, R, S, T, V, W, X, Z Grascan Construction Ltd. 61 Steinway Blvd.

Toronto, ON M9W 6H6 T: 416-881-4188 grascan.com B, H, K, W, T, Gypsum Drywall Interiors Ltd. 17 South Landing Dr. Oak Bluff, MB R4G 0C4 T: 204-661-8899 gdi.ca C, H, N U, V

J JCB Construction Canada 3875 Isabelle St. Brossard, QC J4Y 2R2 T: 450-444-8151 www.jcb.ca C, N, O, V JR Certus Construction Co. Ltd. 3-81 Zenway Blvd.

Vaughan, ON L4H 0S5 T: 647-494-0150 www.jrcertus.com C, F, M, N, O, V

K Keller Foundations 254 Main Street Unit 1 Acton, ON L7J 1W9 T: 519-853-3216 www.kellerfoundations.ca B, C, D, J, K, N, O, R, S, T, V, W, X, Z

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LISTINGS Kiewit Canada Group Inc. 200-10333 Southport Rd. Calgary, AB T2W 3X6 T: 403-693-8701 www.kiewit.ca A, B, D, E, H, J, K, M, N, Q, R, S, T, W, X, Y, Z

M Builds 955 Cobalt Ct. Thunder Bay, ON P7K 1B9 T: 807-346-1650 F: 807-346-1654 www.manshield.com C, M, N, O, V

Kindred Construction Ltd. 308 – 2150 West Broadway Vancouver, BC V6K 4L9 T: 778-888-0101 www.kindredconstruction.com C, E, H, M, N, O, U, V

Magil Construction 1655 Rue de Beauharnois Ouest Montreal, QC H4N 1J6 T: 226-376-2892 www.magil.com C, H, J, M, N, O, V

Kulkon Construction Corp.

9864 Hwy. 93/95 Fort Steele, BC V0B 1N0 T: 250-432-5175 www.KulKon.com E, W

Maple Reinders Constructors Ltd. 2660 Argentia Rd. Mississauga, ON L5N 5V4 T: 905-821-4844 www.maple.ca C, F, H, O, V, Z

L Landshark Group 73 Sinclair Blvd.

Brantford, ON N3S 7X6 T: 519-449-1110 www.landsharkgroup.ca A, C, E, F, G, J, K, M, S, W, X Ledcor Ltd. 1200-1067 West Cordova St. Vancouver, BC V6C 1C7 T: 604-681-7500 www.ledcor.com C, D, K, M, N, O, R, S

Matheson Constructors Ltd. 245 Industrial Parkway North Aurora, ON L4G 4C4 T: 905-669-7999 mathesonconstructors.com C, F, H, M, N, O

N North American Construction Group 26550 Acheson Rd. Acheson, AB T7X 6B2 T: 780-969-3478 www.nacg.ca F, G, H, J, K, M, R, S, W

Leeswood Construction 7200 West Credit Ave. Toronto, ON L5N 5N1 T: 416-309-4482 www.leeswood.ca C, H, M, N, V

M M & D Builders 128-5910 Greensboro Dr. Mississauga, ON L5M 5Z6 T: 416-822-2249 www.mdbuilders.ca C, F, G, H, M, U

40 / JUNE 2021

Marco Group of Companies 78 O’Leary Ave. St. John’s, NL A1B 4B8 T: 709-754-3737 www.marcogroup.ca C, F, H, M, N, O

North Construction 378 Esplanade East North Vancouver, BC V7L 1A4 T: 604-904-2300 www.north-construction.com B, E, F, G, H, J, K, M, Q, U, V, W, X, Z

O O.N.Site Construction Inc. 23-2861 Sherwood Heights Dr. Oakville, ON L6J 7K1 T: 416-689-8851 www.onsiteconstruction.ca C, F, G, H, M, N, O Olympic Construction Ltd. 190 Majors Path St. John’s, NL A1A 5A1 T: 709-682-3900 www.ocltd.ca E, F, H, M, N, O Ontario Cutting & Coring Ltd. 1-2398 Haines Rd. Mississauga, ON L4Y 1Y6 T: 905-279-2660 www.ontariocuttingandcoring.com B, C, G, J, N, O, U, V, W, Z

P Panorama Building Systems 5305 1A St. SW Calgary, AB T2H 0E5 T: 403-287-7220 www.panoramabuildingsystems.ca C, V PCL Construction 9915 56 Ave. Edmonton, AB T6E 5L7 T: 780-733-5107 www.pcl.com A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K, M, N, O, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z Plainsman Group of Companies 210-989 McGill Place Kamloops, BC V2C 6N9 T: 250-372-1544 Plainsman.ca C, F, U, V

LISTINGS Pomerleau Inc. 521 6e Ave. Saint-Georges, QC G5Y 0H1 T: 418-228-6688 www.pomerleau.ca A, B, C, E, F, G, H, J, M, N, O, Q, S, T, V, W, X, Y, Z

Snyder Construction 920 Brawley Rd W Ashburn, ON L0B 1A0 T: 905-655-5000 www.snyderconstruction.ca C, F, G, H, M, N, O, U, V,

TKI Construction Ltd. 150 Froelich Rd. Kelowna, BC V1X 3M8 T: 250-491-1130 www.tkiconstruction.ca C, E, F, G, H, M, N, O, U

Priestly Demolition 3200 Lloydtown Aurora Rd. King, ON L7B 0G3 T: 905-841-3735 www.priestly.ca B, C, G, K, N, R

Strike Group 1300, 505 3rd St. SW Calgary, AB T2P 3E6 T: 403-232-8448 www.strikegroup.ca E, G, J, K, M, N, R, S, Y

TurbinePROs R.E. Services 4426 Vanderwal Dr. Petrolia, ON N0N 1R0 T: 519-384-2526 www.turbinepros.ca N, Z

Syncra Construction 301 - 4180 Lougheed Hwy. Burnaby, BC V5C 6A7 T: 6042-983-3303 www.syncraconstruction.com C, E, V

Tutthill Construction 139 Richhill Ave West Elkhorn, MB R0M 0N0 T: 204-845-2405 tutthillconstruction.com A

R Reliance Construction of Canada Ltd. 3285 J.B. Deschamps Lachine, QC H8T 3E4 T: 514-631-7999 www.relianceconstruction.com C, F, H, M, N, V

T

Rosati Group 6555 Malden Rd. Windsor, ON N9H 1T5 T: 519-734-6511 www.rosatigroup.com C, F, H, M, N, O, V

Taggart Group of Companies 3187 Albion Rd. Ottawa, ON K1V 8Y3 T: 613-521-3000 www.taggartconstruction.com C, F, M, U, V, X

Royalcrest Paving & Contracting Ltd. 864 Tapscott Rd. Unit 200 Toronto ON M1X 1C3 T: 416-676-0292 www.royalcrest.ca W

TerraPro Inc. 53345 Range Rd. 232 Sherwood Park, AB T8A 4V2 T: 780-449-2091 www.terraproinc.com A, C, E, F, G, H, G, K, M, N, R, S, W

V VIxman Construction Ltd. 4919 7th Line Rockwood, ON N0B 2K0 T: 519-856-2000 Vixman.com C, O, V

W Wales McLelland Construction 6211 Fraserwood Place Richmond, BC V6W 1J2 T: 604-638-1212 www.walesmclelland.com A, C, F, G, H, M, N, O, Y

S SKYGRiD Construction Inc. 290 North Queen St., Suite 100 Toronto, ON M9C 5L2 T: 416-622-9602 skygrid.ca F, M, V Self Storage Contracting Inc. 200 Brock St. Barrie, ON L4N 2M4 T: 905-526-0202 www.selfstoragecontracting.com H, N on-sitemag.com / 41

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DATA STRATEGY

Risk and

Reward Influx of data gives construction firms the chance to take control of their pain points

© RED150770 / ADOBE STOCK

W

hether you’re generating data the traditional way through clipboard-wielding workers, or the emerging route using job site sensors and other tech tools, accurate and timely information can make or break a construction project.

Material price increases, labour shortages, defective workmanship and ineffective communication between project stakeholders are just a few in a long list of risks David Bowcott, the global director of Growth, Innovation & Insight within the Global Construction and Infrastructure Group at Aon, put front and centre in a panel discussion hosted by On-Site last month. Few risks, if any, can’t be managed by making better use of data, giving contractors more control over risk mitigation than ever before.

“When we’re looking at these risks, let’s be conscious that there are opportunities as

BY DAVID KENNEDY a result of them, and seizing those, I think, are the things that make good companies great,” Bowcott says.

In the past, construction data has been available, but was far more limited.

Neil Banerjee, senior vice-president of Operations with Matheson Constructors, has watched the evolution over a nearly 30-year career. Starting as a field engineer in Thunder Bay, Ont., he cut his teeth tracking concrete strengths, often by simply dropping thermostats under curing tarps overnight.

“We’d come by in the morning and see,” he says. “It would track the low-point and the high-point of the temperature, so we could see if we had a problem or not.

But we would discover that problem at seven in the morning.”

Tracked on paper and rarely actionable, this old way of collecting information has been made obsolete by modern sensors and

A FEW OF CONSTRUCTION’S TOP RISKS: MACRO • Slow recovery • Cash flow • Labour shortages • Commodity prices • Climate change • Cyber threat • Increasing competition MICRO • Weather • Contractual risk allocation • Water damage • Subcontractor risk • Defective workmanship • Worker injuries • Design performance on-sitemag.com / 43

MORSA IMAGES / ISTOCK / E+ / GETTY IMAGES.

DATA STRATEGY

“When you’re building a residential condo and you’re nearly finished and you have a major leak, it can cost millions and delay the project.

Having insurance isn’t enough because… there are homeowners that are expecting to move in and that disruption damages our brand and the owner’s brand.”

Chris Gower, PCL 44 / JUNE 2021

software, Banerjee says. Mobile devices, the cloud and tools like BIM (building information modelling) have rewired job sites, with much of the transition taking place in the past decade.

“Things are very exciting right now if you look at what’s on the horizon and what the technology and the data can actually do for us,” he says.

BETTER INFORMATION ON-SITE The evolution of concrete data is just one example. Relying on Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, Chris Gower, chief operating officer for PCL Construction’s Buildings division, says the contractor is able to eliminate the guesswork and speed construction schedules.

“You don’t have to break cylinders anymore,” he says. “You can get real-time data when concrete is cured, which means you can strip falsework earlier and you can do it with certainty, knowing it’s safe.”

Water leaks, Gower says, are another devastating risk on projects.

“When you’re building a residential condo and you’re nearly finished and you have a major leak, it can cost millions and

delay the project. Having insurance isn’t enough because… there are homeowners that are expecting to move in and that disruption damages our brand and the owner’s brand,” he says.

Concrete and leak detection sensors are two tools in a suite of technologies PCL is using on its sites. Sensors to track humidity to prevent the delamination of millwork, sensors on heaters to ensure they aren’t running low on fuel, and sensors on hoarding to detect if it’s come loose are a few others. In all areas, Gower says, sensors let its teams take action in real-time, mitigating risks and streamlining the construction process.

Between sensors and the shift to the cloud, job sites and offices are also better connected than ever before, Banerjee says.

“We can sort of see where we’re at and identify some of those schedule risks and also financial risks,” he says, adding that on jobs that have a lot of outstanding changes, up-to-date financial data is vital.

The improved information flow helps boost quality control, letting the company catch issues early and avoid litigation down the road.

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DATA STRATEGY

“We can sort of see where we’re at and identify some of those schedule risks and also financial risks...

You’re talking about millions and millions of dollars of lost revenue if something goes wrong afterwards… this technology is really a way to mitigate some of these risks.”

Neil Banerjee, Matheson 46 / JUNE 2021

“You’re talking about millions and millions of dollars of lost revenue if something goes wrong afterwards… this technology is really a way to mitigate some of these risks,” Banerjee says

STARTING DOWN THE PATH Building good data architecture and a strong data strategy are two of the key steps to combating risk and taking advantage of the opportunities timely information offers.

And getting started does not necessarily have to be a daunting task.

“Ultimately, you know where you’re suffering,” Bowcott says, adding that contractors can use data to suss out the areas they need to improve. “Use it to identify where the biggest problems are and then apply other technologies to solve for those problems and operational practices and contractual changes.”

Likewise, Gower encourages contractors to start with the basics – such as job site sensors – and then work toward a longerterm, broader data strategy. It takes both leadership and engagement across all

departments, however.

“If you’re not prepared to make an investment in technology knowing that you’ll benefit later through efficiencies, it won’t happen,” he says. “That’s a top-down leadership decision at the very highest level of the organization.”

With a commitment from management, individual departments – from estimating to operations and safety – need to get involved, Banerjee says.

Meanwhile, contractors can’t do it alone, meaning building partnerships with technology and data analytics experts will be integral to charting the path forward, particularly when it comes to emerging opportunities with artificial intelligence.

THE AI VALUE PROPOSITION Even for the big players in the Canadian construction industry, it’s early days for AI applications. PCL, for instance, has only begun to test the waters, applying it in just a few scenarios, such as crawling through photographs with AI to identify safety infractions. Still, Gower anticipates

the broader set of technologies to advance rapidly and that AI will be in regular use on job sites within the next couple of years.

“I think, frankly, it’s going to revolutionize the business, as it has many, many others, and it’s coming,” he says, adding that the company is also doing its due diligence to be ready to put it to use. “The more you’re ready for it to come, the more your data is organized well, the more that you use tech so that you can have more data to analyze, you’re in a better place to leverage it.”

The eventual aim will be to use AI to both minimize risk and boost productivity by identifying trends.

“It’s going to identify potential issues that otherwise we’d have to go searching for,” Banerjee says. Picking out these outliers could be as simple as an algorithm identifying what time of day work injuries are highest, allowing safety teams to take corrective action. More advanced applications abound, from AI-powered scheduling

to predictive risk management.

“It’s already coming together,” Bowcott says, pointing to data alliances within construction that are amalgamating data from both the construction and insurance industries.

“Imagine you get all these data points before [an incident] happened?” he says.

“What the machine learning does is it looks for, ‘Hey, is there something in this data that could have predicted that thing happening? That’s where it’s getting.”

As construction companies refine their data collection protocols and build out their data history, AI’s ability to sift through the information will improve, offering significant payback to contractors that have dedicated the resources to building out their data strategies early.

“The speed at which we can get that information to the eyes and ears… of the person doing the work and making the decisions, is going to be one of the tricks,” Bowcott says.

“Imagine you get all these data points before [an incident] happened? What the machine learning does is it looks for, ‘Hey, is there something in this data that could have predicted that thing happening?

That’s where it’s getting.”

David Bowcott, Aon

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SOFTWARE

By Jacob Stoller

Getting connected Digital job sites can get people what they need when they need it, but information flow isn’t just about technology

I

t’s ironic that construction, which sees more back-and-forth interaction between diverse players than perhaps any other industry, is considered a laggard when it comes to sharing information.

“Construction is one of the most collaborative industries, yet also at the same time extremely fragmented,” says Sidharth Haksar, development director at Autodesk Construction Solutions.

“This dichotomy is further compounded by the existence of data trapped in various silos, leading to increased project risk around cost, quality, safety and schedule.”

Historically, the lack of tools for exchanging data between

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construction apps was partly to blame. “Ten or fifteen years ago, construction apps didn’t have application programming interfaces (APIs), even though it may have been common in other industries,” says Kris Lengieza, vice-president, Global Partnerships & Alliances at Procore. “Today, we have more modern, cloud-based APIs which allow us to move data between those systems.”

Thanks to the recent explosion of job site data collection, many contractors now have significant investments in job site data. “I continue to be astounded by the amount of data we’re collecting, especially the digital imagery (i.e. drone video) collected on job sites,” says Brian Kmet, senior relationship

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manager at PCL Construction. “With the widespread use of cloud CIO and senior vice-president of Digital and Data Engineering technologies and software, data has further proliferated because it at EllisDon. “So before jumping to the exciting use cases, you is very economical to store large quantities of data.” really need to establish strong foundations in data management Deriving value from that data, however, requires a compapractices in order to set yourself up for success in those innovany-wide commitment. “Organizations collect a great deal of tive areas.» data and, yes, it is a valuable asset,” Kmet says, “but, like any valuable asset, it requires protection, care and feeding to “The reason the industry is having difficulty leveraging ensure it adds value.” artificial intelligence (AI) is not because of a shortage of The biggest hurdle for most firms is not technology deployment, but the creation of use cases or data, but a shortage of high quality data.” a solid business framework that ensures that Rosemarie Lipman, EllisDon information is collected, stored and shared consistently throughout the organization.

“The reason the industry is having difficulty leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) is The requirement applies to firms of all sizes. FNX-INNOV, a not because of a shortage of use cases or data, but a Montreal-based 628-employee engineering firm, found consistent shortage of high quality data,” says Rosemarie Lipman, data policies were essential to moving its app deployment to the next level.

“We already have company wide policies around collecting, storing and handling data on our traditional file server, including standardized form,” says Louis Charette, head of urban infrastructure at FNX-INNOV. “And right now, what we’re doing is integrating new tools like Autodesk Construction Cloud’s PlanGrid into our existing policies. So having those established policies has been really useful for us in ensuring each office, each team, even across departments and specialties, are working in the same way.”

PCL began its data management journey in 2013. “We recognized that a great deal of our data was siloed,” Kmet says, “and creating an integration framework unlocked those silos and made that data available to the organization so that people and business processes could take advantage of it, either operationally in the field or in business-to-business interactions with vendors and customers.”

Developing the right policies for the organization can be a bit of a balancing act. Inadequate standardization, for example, can create barriers to information sharing, while strict rules about information management can get in the way of entrepreneurial

on-sitemag.com / 49

SOFTWARE

by leveraging data and analytics.”

CONSTRUCTION IN TRANSITION

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Data becomes increasingly valuable when it is shared more widely, a phenomenon often described as the network effect, and the principle is starting to take hold in the construction industry as contractors seek to leverage the masses of data they have collected. Minute tracking data from job sites may have little value for record keeping or after-the-fact analysis, for example, but become highly valued when it becomes available to inform a major decision.

“Something is always going to be changing on a job site,” Lengieza says, “and we need to be able to communicate that information. There may, for example, be someone in the organization working on an owner request or change order across the continent, and that decision might be affected by whether a slab was poured or not.”

A common data foundation also allows organizations to leverage the lessons learned from successful technology deployments and apply them in other areas of the business. “We started small,” Charette says, “with just myself and a technician from another office trying different solutions. When we found out what was best for us, we started deploying those solutions in our respective teams.”

A COMMON PLATFORM FOR STAKEHOLDERS

decision-making.

“It’s really about marrying the data strategy with the business’ focus on improving and evolving from an operational perspective,” Lipman says. “And so both of those have to be aligned.”

“Governance programs should match the culture of the organization with how it manages and governs data,” Kmet says.

“Our approach is less concerned about the technical aspects of governance, but rather focuses on how data governance supports business processes, construction operations and operational excellence.”

Accordingly, the development of data management policies cannot be delegated to a technology group. “Our business data optimization committee consists of four executives – our CFO, our CIO, and the chief operating officers of each of our divisions for buildings and industrial,” Kmet says. “CIOs embarking on data governance programs must involve business executives to lead and steer these initiatives. Data governance must be focused on business outcomes not technical outcomes.”

Senior management’s role does not end once the basic policies are in place. “The business subject matter expert (SME) stakeholder is the linchpin for any successful data analytic project,” says Patrick To, EllisDon’s director of Insights and Analytics.

“They best understand the value drivers, the business processes, rules and constraints, and most importantly, what critical business challenges they are facing – which can potentially be solved

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In construction, information sharing between GCs, subcontractors, owners and suppliers is a key driver of success, and as contractors move forward with connected job site initiatives, interoperability between diverse systems is becoming essential.

“Applications and data operate in an ecosystem of connected applications,” Kmet says. “PCL customers and industry suppliers are moving into interoperability that relies on seamless and frictionless data and application integration capability.”

As they have with other industries, software vendors are making it easier to exchange data between their construction apps and others in order to provide the flexibility contractors need.

“You can’t work in a closed ecosystem, so you need to have open APIs,” Haksar says. “We will absolutely champion best of breed offerings at Autodesk with our partner ecosystem and our own connected construction platform, Autodesk Construction Cloud.”

Interoperability, however, will be limited unless stakeholders make the effort to work together towards common objectives.

“I think GCs really need to start working and collaborating with subs in ways that are different from the past,” Lipman says. “So really, how can we use technology to get everybody collaborating and creating consistent project data? I think it’s about allocating the appropriate resources, leveraging in-house knowledge and coming up with solutions that work for multiple stakeholders.”

Jacob Stoller is principal of StollerStrategies. Send comments to editor@on-sitemag.com

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RISK

By David Bowcott

How IoT, machine learning and artificial intelligence will drive better decision making in construction

W

e have now had several years to assess how technology will change construction. We’ve seen a technological onslaught with thousands of solutions being brought to market claiming to make the industry safer, more productive and less risky. Like any explosion of technology, the dust does eventually settle, and you begin to gain clarity around what is and isn’t working. Within the construction technology space, it really does seem like the puzzle pieces are starting to fall into place in terms of what solutions will deliver the greatest impacts and which will be left behind.

At Aon, we’ve been doing our best to keep up. In 2017 we established a Technology Assessment Panel to help our clients better understand which technologies appeared to have a strong chance of impacting the real risks facing their business. Nearly every week we would look at a new technology that claimed to impact risks in the design, construction and operations phase of a built asset’s life. Over time we started to see how these technologies could be categorized and how they were beginning to interact with each other to create some potentially profound improvements in construction risk management and productivity. After almost five years of running our assessment panel, there are clearly two categories of technology that appear to be separating themselves from the pack. Those technologies are Internet of Things devices (IoT) and machine learning/artificial intelligence technologies (ML/AI).

To understand why increasing the speed at which you can make better decisions represents a profound technological impact, it’s a good idea to take a brief look at the research on decision making. If you haven’t already, you should have a read of Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. Kahneman is a psychologist, economist and Nobel Prize winner who extensively studied the psychology of judgement and decision-making. The book represents an excellent summation of his and his collaborator Amos Tversky’s work in this area. Kahneman has basically uncovered that human beings do not appear to be the best decision makers because of a desire and/or animalistic need for rapid decisions. His findings indicate human beings have two systems for decision-making. System 1 is a human’s fast, intuitive and unconscious thought decision making, sometimes called “gut” decision-making. System 2 is slow and requires conscious effort.

Humans seem to have an aversion to quantitatively analyzing all the data before making our decisions, as his research also indicates we strongly favour the use of System 1 decisions.

Now, I’m sure we can all appreciate why we tend to utilize our System 1 decision making more often than System 2. Who

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wants to spend all that time crunching numbers and racking your brain to find the perfect decision, when you can quickly go with a decision that just “feels right?” Even the brightest minds of our time sometimes favour quick decisions, but when things go wrong, we often regret not taking the time to comprehensively analyze our decisions.

In today’s world we are beginning to witness the emergence of System 1 decision-making times done with System 2 analysis.

Think about it, how often do you simply tap into your smartphone to augment your decision-making, thinking: “Maybe the internet has some information on this decision I’m about to make,” and very often you quickly find something that provides a better analytical framework for your decision. I can’t tell you how many Youtube videos I’ve watched to help me fix stuff around my house, return my computer to a normal state, and help me understand complex tax filing requirements. What previously would have taken hours to research now takes minutes as there seems to be a YouTube video for almost any problem that needs fixing.

Now, imagine that rapid analytical input making its way onto your construction site. Imagine knowing almost everything that is happening on your project before making a crucial decision. Further, imagine having analytically driven cyber-advisory telling you the ideal decision derived from analysis of vast amounts of data generated on your job site. Well, that’s beginning to happen right now. We are seeing IoT devices provide almost full visibility into your job site’s risks, all reportable via your mobile device. With all of this data being co-mingled, and combined with data from hundreds or thousands of other job sites, we are further seeing the emergence of the predictive job site as machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms get applied to both IoT and other sources of data to help you make your best decision.

The future job site is emerging now via project IoT backbones, data aggregation technologies and associated ML/AI algorithms. These job sites will provide key decision makers the ability to make System 2 decisions at the speed of System 1 decisions.

The result will be a material reduction in risk and thus a material improvement in productivity and profitability. Construction is an industry of managing the unknown unknowns and the acceleration of strong decision-making will make this often-unpredictable business more predictable.

David Bowcott is Global Director – Growth, Innovation & Insight, Global Construction and Infrastructure Group at Aon Risk Solutions. Please send comments to editor@on-sitemag.com.

JUNE 2021

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CONTRACTORS & THE LAW

By Andrew Punzo and Daniel Milton

Payment Certificates The Final Say? Pentad Construction Inc. v. 2022988 Ontario Inc., a recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, held that a third party engineer’s payment certification alone was conclusive and binding of the amount owing to a subcontractor, notwithstanding that a dispute existed between the subcontractor and the construction manager. The decision demonstrates the possible consequences of not including language within construction agreements that characterizes payment certification as non-binding or provisional.

AN OVERVIEW OF THE CASE The decision concerns a motion under s. 44(5) of the former Construction Lien Act (CLA), for an order reducing the amount of the security posted to vacate a lien on the ground that there is no reasonable basis for the amount claimed.

Pentad, the plaintiff, was subcontracted by the defendant, Armor, to perform certain early works relating to a residential construction project in 2016. The subcontract contained the following provision relating to payment certifications: 4.1 [Pentad’s] work performed/provided under this Contract shall be inspected for quality and quantity and certified complete, received and approved by [Armor’s] authorized Engineer, prior to any sums becoming due hereunder.

Pentad began work on the project in January 2017 and then removed its resources in January 2018 due to non-payment of its invoices. Pentad alleged that it was last paid pursuant to a payment certificate issued in August 2017 for an earlier invoice.

Pentad continued to work on the project every month between August 2017 and January 2018, and issued invoices to Armor in October 2017, November 2017, as well as in February 2018.

These three invoices were not certified by the Engineer or paid by Armor.

Pentad registered a lien against the property on February 23, 2018 in the amount of $479,364.57, which was vacated from title upon Armor posting security in the amount of $529,364.57.

In March 2018, the Engineer issued a new payment certificate, which showed Pentad had been overpaid to date leaving a negative balance owing. As such, a dispute existed between the parties regarding the value of the work completed by Pentad and accordingly the amount of payment owing by Armor. Armor then brought a motion seeking an order reducing the security posted for Pentad’s lien.

The Court held that the March 2018 payment certificate was final and binding based on section 4.1 of the subcontract, and reduced the security posted for Pentad’s lien to $24,000. In particular, the Court held there was no indication the Engineer’s certifications were intended to be non-binding or provisional,

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and thus could only be invalidated if the Engineer acted in bad faith, fraudulently, failed to be impartial, or knowingly and wilfully disregarded its duty. The Court applied the same reasoning to claimed extras that were not approved in writing or certified for payment by the Engineer.

COMMENT While the Court afforded complete deference to the payment certifier in the decision, it is important to note that this conclusion was informed by the terms of the applicable contract. The Court specifically noted, “Contractual language that characterizes payment certifications as non-binding or ‘provisional’ will, of course, not have the same force and effect as provisions that make it clear that the payment certifications are intended to be final and binding.”

Certain standard form construction contracts that contemplate payment certification by a third party, such as various CCDC forms, may provide recourse to parties who disagree with findings of the payment certifier. Such contracts could potentially circumvent the issue presented in the decision by establishing the payment certifier’s provisional authority, a dispute resolution mechanism, or reservation of rights provisions. These terms could be useful to avoid parties being finally bound by a third party’s payment certifications such that disputes with regard to the value of work performed may be addressed on their merits.

Parties to any construction contract should, therefore, understand and be mindful of the extent of a payment certifier’s authority, and include such considerations as part of their contractual risk assessment. In circumstances where a CCDC or other standard form contract is used, carefully drafted supplementary conditions may be necessary to address the issue. Similarly, where parties prefer to create a tailored contract, the same drafting considerations should be undertaken. In any case, owners, contractors, and subcontractors may be well served by considering the risks associated with the drafting of the payment certification process in order to address the finding in the decision.

Finally, as noted above, the decision concerns a motion under the former CLA. Whether the Court’s reasoning would apply under the current Construction Act, has not yet been determined by a binding authority.

Andrew Punzo is a partner at BLG, practicing in the Construction Group, and Daniel Milton is an associate in BLG’s Disputes group.

Although care has been taken to ensure accuracy, this article should not be relied upon as legal advice.

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