The new CCDC Documents

By Eric Lee

Following a very well-attended online training series in November, the Canadian Construction Documents Committee (CCDC) published some exciting new documents. This included two brand new documents, the Master Specification for Division 01 General Requirements and the CCDC 31 Service Contract Between Owner and Consultant, and an updated version of the CCDC 41 CCDC Insurance Requirements. The most noteworthy of our new publications was the new 2020 version of our flagship document, the CCDC 2 Stipulated Price Contract.

This new CCDC 2 will bring some very important changes to the Canadian construction industry. The standard contract has seen significant modifications to many key sections, including updated insurance clauses, new language to account for provincial payment legislations, provisions addressing early takeover by the owner, and, most importantly, the new “Ready-for-Takeover” project milestone which will set a new standard for construction projects here in Canada. This milestone will be the new trigger for warranties and the handover of care, custody, and control of the work. This recognizes that substantial performance does not always mean the project is ready for the owner’s use, while still allowing the contractor to receive their holdback in a timely fashion (as that will still be tied to substantial performance as defined in the relevant legislations).

As this new document does have some very important changes, we will continue to sell the previous edition of the CCDC 2 and its copyright seals until the end of 2021 to give the industry ample time to review and adjust to the new version.

As for the other new documents, the Master Specification for Division 01 General Requirements, much like the 2018 Division 00 document, is a fully editable specification template. The Division 01 is meant to be used as either a template or a reference document, containing helpful spec notes which provide guidance to the user on intended uses and identifies areas that require coordination with other contract documents. While the Division 01 document was tailored for use with the new CCDC 2, it can be used with any other contract form, including nonCCDC contracts.

Adapted from the ACEC 31, the new CCDC 31 Service Contract Between Owner and Consultant has been updated to bring it in line with the CCDC library, which includes similar language and provisions as used in other CCDC documents.

We look forward to the industry’s adoption of these new documents, particularly the new CCDC 2 with the Ready-for-Takeover milestone. While the new CCDC 41 is available as a free download from our website (ccdc.org), the new documents may be purchased through VICA.