It may have been a little slow off the proverbial mark, but the federal government’s $180 billion infrastructure plan is now off and running. As of August 2018, the federal government has approved funding for thousands of projects across the…
Slagging slow-moving government projects and the lumbering Ottawa bureaucracy is a treasured Canadian pastime. I’m far from an exception, and enjoy heaping some well-deserved blame on Parliament Hill as often as it has it coming. Occasionally though, I’m willing to…
Calgary’s new ring road is well on its way to becoming a full-fledged loop. Northeast and northwest sections opened to motorists wanting to bypass the city in 2009, and a southeast section was added four years later. If all goes…
With a little resistance from an industry sometimes seen as being set in its ways, Giatec Scientific Inc. is working to bring the world’s second most consumed material into the 21st century. Its smart concrete testing products offer an alternative…
A new breed of compact equipment is starting to inch its way onto the job site. This April at Intermat, German manufacturer Wacker Neuson revealed the all-electric EZ17e mini-excavator. One of the first machines of its kind, the EZ17e performs…
Formwork has been a mainstay on construction sites for generations. The familiar timber, metal or plastic forms that support freshly-placed concrete as it sets aren’t about to go extinct, but they’re facing increased pressure from a method that can shave…
A bid team at EllisDon recently received a two-sentence RFP addendum pertaining to documentation requirements. “It stipulated that the as-built model we were to produce had to be at the level that would allow the owner to operate and…
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…
When an owner or contractor seeks to remove a claim of lien from title to land by securing the lien with money in place of the land, a debate sometimes arises as to whether the claim of lien has been…
The University of Toronto has unveiled plans to construct a 14-storey wood building on its St. George campus, located in the city’s downtown. Slated for construction at the end of 2019, the tower is expected to be the tallest mass…
Another tough year for the construction industry in 2017 showcased the dogged resilience and gritty determination Canada’s Top Contractors are already well known for. In many parts of the country, where federal infrastructure cash remained little more than a promise,…
The term “innovation” conjures up images of drones, virtual reality, state-of-the-art sensing technology and leading-edge building materials. These products, however, are only enablers—the real innovation is in the changes companies have to make to adopt them. Unlike manufacturers, contractors don’t…
At one time, the type of work contractors could complete was largely limited to the type of equipment in their arsenal. That’s no longer the case. From small local shops to the big national chains, the equipment rental industry has…
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…
Acadian Construction is riding high. The New Brunswick contractor more than doubled its revenue in 2017, booking $85 million in sales over the course of the year, compared to $40 million during the previous 12-month period. The strong growth catapulted…
There have been significant developments in machine control, driven by technological advancements and industry trends. Used on earthworks equipment since the mid-1990s, machine control systems utilize satellite network data and sensors to determine geographic coordinates and assess grade. Such systems…
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…
On-Site’s 2017 Top Contractors by revenue. To see how this year’s list stacks up against previous top performers, click here.
We’ve been overwhelmed with a lot of bad news lately. If it’s not yet another mass shooting, it’s soaring gas prices in Vancouver, or Ontario politicians dropping like flies in the wake of inappropriate behaviour. Hell, even the weather in…
A stretch of Nova Scotia’s Highway 101 connects the town of Mount Uniacke – about 40 kilometres North of Halifax – to the community of Ellershouse. The 11-kilometre highway is one of three concrete roads in the province, tendered in…
