It used to be that the construction business was relatively straightforward for contractors. You staffed your operations with estimators, project managers and superintendents, and then pursued business through a tendering process in which the low bid would win the job.…
The traditional clipboard, and other rudimentary jobsite tools like it, are living on borrowed time
To be truly effective at managing risk, you must master the complex world of risk controls. Put in place before incidents occur, risk controls are the contractual agreements, the operational practices and the tools and technologies used to prevent or…
ST. LAURENT, Man.—A major infrastructure project that will manage high water levels in Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin northwest of Winnipeg has been green-lit by the provincial and federal governments. The two tiers of government committed a combined $540…
Your construction project is made up of several sources of capital that turn concepts dreamt up on paper into tangible structures. Without these sources of capital, and the people behind that capital who believe in your project’s success, your project…
In a typical subcontract, a subcontractor will periodically, throughout the duration of their work on or supply for the project, apply for payments at a value proportionate to the amount of the subcontract work performed and/or the materials delivered to…
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), Canadian Institute Of Quantity Surveyors (CIQS) and The Canadian Association of Consulting Quantity Surveyors (CACQS) held a joint information session earlier this month about the International Construction Measurement Standards (ICMS), which included a…
Among the most often overlooked and misunderstood coverages when insuring a construction project are soft cost and delay in start up coverages, both of which are optional but prevalent exposures for both the owner and contractor alike. We need to…
On-Site Magazine contributor Jacob Stoller has been honoured for one of his latest efforts to instil a new generation of business leaders with the skills to boost profitability and empower employees through lean practices. The U.S.-based Shingo Institute announced earlier…
There is no doubt about it, the construction industry has globalized quite significantly over the past 20 years and there are both advantages and disadvantages to the world’s biggest players creating a global service footprint. Not to be a downer,…
Late last year I was asked to speak at a Cities conference that was put on by Builtworlds, a network and community that links key stakeholders of the construction and asset management industry, with those in the tech sector. Matt…
The primary defense against margin erosion is the project contingency. Construction is not a predictable business, and the project contingency is that all encompassing pool of capital dedicated to each project, which provides much needed funding when the unexpected happens.…
Everyone has seen the graphs that show construction on a downward productivity trend while other industries boast solid productivity gains. The following is a productivity graph that was produced by McKinsey & Co. that compares productivity in construction to that…
Everyone has seen the graphs that show construction on a downward productivity trend while other industries boast solid productivity gains. The following is a productivity graph that was produced by McKinsey & Co. that compares productivity in construction to that…
Every project needs money to move forward. Those funds are made up of equity and debt. The equity is contributed by the owner (or the concessionaire of the project) as a first layer of defense against project failure. The remainder…
If ever there were an industry ripe for disruption, it is construction. Mega-trends like globalization, asset management, and new technology are beginning to turn this long unchanged industry inside out. So, how do industry players stay on the winning side…
In the February issue we talked about material risk events that manifested in the Canadian P3 space up to 2011 and up to 2016. In this issue, I will focus on what is causing these risk events and how we…
As some of you may be aware, the firm I work for (Aon) has more than 2,500 construction clients, and 13 of the top 15 Canadian contractors as clients. We have also acted as risk advisor and broker to a…
No matter where I go these days it seems like every economy, both governments and corporations, are toying with new ways to design, build and operate their physical assets. The over-arching trend behind this long-term capital concept is Asset Management.…
I have spent a lot of time mining and developing data recently. It seems the insurance sector has the richest repository of failure data in the world, and given the growing demand for failure data quants, I had no choice but…
