Once upon a time, a man moved into a new home. He liked his house and his neighbourhood, but there was one thing he could not understand—the dog in the next backyard kept howling, day in and day out. After a week of this non-stop noise, he rang his neighbour’s doorbell to see what was going on.
Here I sit, faced with the challenge of writing my final President’s Message. It couldn’t have come at a busier time—the spring construction season is on us, I am setting out on a visit to CSC’s Vancouver Chapter, our association’s conference in Halifax approaches, and I’m already excited for the long-awaited golf, fishing, and cottage seasons.
As I near the end of my term as president, I reflect on my 13-year journey through CSC’s Atlantic Chapter, Board of Directors, and Executive Council. My experience has been immensely rewarding, especially compared to similar involvement in other groups. I found myself asking, “What is it that makes CSC so different?
I’ve never been part of a group as efficient as CSC. Beyond our volunteer members, our association office staff contributes to this success. While it is their ‘job,’ I see how they perform it with such passion. They are ‘behind the scenes’ for many, so I’d like to share their roles.
Contractors want a smooth construction process, free of endless questions and revisions. However, when you combine their sharp pencils and acceptance of unrealistic deadlines with a consultant’s inadequate budget and schedule, risk levels escalate. Like the consultant discussed last issue, the contractor may not be able to provide his A-team (including top subcontractors), affecting delivery and quality of construction.
As I mentioned last month, consultants often find themselves agreeing to subpar fees and unrealistic delivery schedules despite the associated risk. These factors impact not only their services, but also the quality of the construction documentation. When time and budget run short, something has to give.
After 30 years in this industry, I would like to share with you my opinion on a major shift in the delivery process. In today’s market, everyone wants things “faster and cheaper”—and this can lead to major problems.
Over the past several years, a common concern voiced at CSC conferences is how the association promotes membership to recent graduates and new members of the construction community. A measurable objective about this has been included in our new “2015 and Beyond Strategic Plan,” which will be introduced at the Annual General Meeting in Winnipeg, and posted on the website for those members unable to attend Conference 2015.
There’s been a growing reliance on documents issued during construction are modified to include changes made during the bid period. There is generally no contractual obligation to provide these updates—we do this because it is easier to interpret the design intent during the contract administration phase, and it is the modern version of the old days’ cut-and-paste method.
Last issue, I wrote about how time constraints often leave us expending our efforts to make the work “not wrong,” rather than “right.” At the same time, the people for whom we work often have higher levels of expectation. (Some recent interpretations of specifications by constructors suggest this demand may be close to perfection.)
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
Cookie
Duration
Description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement
1 year
Set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category .
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics
1 year
Set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Analytics" category .
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional
1 year
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary
1 year
Set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Necessary" category .
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others
1 year
Set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to store the user consent for cookies in the category "Others".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance
1 year
Set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to store the user consent for cookies in the category "Performance".
JSESSIONID
session
The JSESSIONID cookie is used by New Relic to store a session identifier so that New Relic can monitor session counts for an application.
viewed_cookie_policy
1 year
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin to store whether or not the user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Cookie
Duration
Description
PHPSESSID
session
This cookie is native to PHP applications. The cookie is used to store and identify a users' unique session ID for the purpose of managing user session on the website. The cookie is a session cookies and is deleted when all the browser windows are closed.
wordpress_test_cookie
session
This cookie is used to check if the cookies are enabled on the users' browser.
__cf_bm
30 minutes
This cookie, set by Cloudflare, is used to support Cloudflare Bot Management.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Cookie
Duration
Description
CONSENT
2 years
YouTube sets this cookie via embedded youtube-videos and registers anonymous statistical data.
_ga
2 years
The _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors.
_gat
1 minute
This cookie is installed by Google Universal Analytics to restrain request rate and thus limit the collection of data on high traffic sites.
_gat_UA-
1 minute
A variation of the _gat cookie set by Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager to allow website owners to track visitor behaviour and measure site performance. The pattern element in the name contains the unique identity number of the account or website it relates to.
_gid
1 day
Installed by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Cookie
Duration
Description
ADV_u_id
3 months 8 days
Unique customer identifier used to track unique ad views and interactions with some ads.
IDE
1 year 24 days
Google DoubleClick IDE cookies are used to store information about how the user uses the website to present them with relevant ads and according to the user profile.
loc
never
AddThis sets this geolocation cookie to help understand the location of users who share the information.
OAGEO
session
OpenX sets this cookie to avoid the repeated display of the same ad.
OAID
1 year
Cookie set to record whether the user has opted out of the collection of information by the AdsWizz Service Cookies.
test_cookie
15 minutes
The test_cookie is set by doubleclick.net and is used to determine if the user's browser supports cookies.
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
5 months 27 days
A cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
vuid
2 years
Vimeo installs this cookie to collect tracking information by setting a unique ID to embed videos to the website.
YSC
session
YSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
yt-remote-connected-devices
never
YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
yt-remote-device-id
never
YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
yt.innertube::nextId
never
This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
yt.innertube::requests
never
This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.