A NEW DAY A NEW DAY - Toronto Construction Association
A NEW DAY A NEW DAY - Toronto Construction Association
A NEW DAY A NEW DAY - Toronto Construction Association
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Builders’ Digest<br />
<strong>Toronto</strong> <strong>Construction</strong> <strong>Association</strong>’s Quarterly Perspective<br />
A <strong>NEW</strong> <strong>DAY</strong><br />
TCA’s <strong>Construction</strong> Day 2010<br />
A Hand Up<br />
Bid Competition<br />
Members’ Day<br />
New Model<br />
Green Centre<br />
Vol.5 No.1 Quarter 3 2010<br />
PM# 40787580
Building made easy<br />
MAPEI products now integrated into<br />
ARCAT’s BIM systems<br />
BIM: Advantages to the construction industry<br />
• Allows a consistent method for multiple architect, construction and design professional<br />
users to develop, amend and interchange drawings without having to reformat them as<br />
with individual software programs.<br />
• Provides accurate, consistent and identical information that creates a level playing field<br />
for contractors preparing bids.<br />
• Enables all information used to prepare bid packages to be embedded into BIM images<br />
and easily accessible to bidders.<br />
• Reduces subcontractor interpretation by ensuring that product specifications are based<br />
on performance requirements for each specific application within an installation.<br />
• Separates out applications so that only specific products are embedded with specific<br />
drawings for each application. For example, an interior floor method cannot be used on<br />
exterior applications.<br />
• Promotes fast and accurate review of submittals and product substitutions, reducing<br />
liability for architects.<br />
• Provides the owner with a final drawing that contains references to specific products,<br />
assemblies and guidelines.<br />
• Provides the owner with product information for repairs or expansions.<br />
Product related data embedded into BIM<br />
Technical Data Sheets<br />
Warranty information<br />
Architect prepares working<br />
documents and conceptual<br />
drawings.<br />
Engineer prepares<br />
documentation directly from<br />
architect’s BIM model.<br />
MSDS information<br />
Links to Web-based<br />
information<br />
LEED data and<br />
compliance letters<br />
Manufacturer and/<br />
or distributor contact<br />
information<br />
Product installation<br />
recommendations<br />
Customer service<br />
contact information<br />
Contractor prepares bid package<br />
based on real information –<br />
easily transported to architect.<br />
Owner/Developer receives final<br />
drawing with products and<br />
assemblies. Can manage progress<br />
and project outcome more easily.<br />
About ARCAT<br />
ARCAT provides thousands of CAD details, specifications, BIM families,<br />
Spec Wizards, links to Websites and plenty more information from more<br />
than 10,500 manufacturers to architects, spec writers, engineers and<br />
contractors. This data greatly assists professionals in making informed<br />
product selections. See www.arcat.com.
AdvertoriAl<br />
C.W. SMITH Crane ServICe 2009 LIMITed<br />
C.W. SMITH CRANE SERVICE 2009<br />
LIMITED was established in 1965 by<br />
Harold D. Smith in the same neighbourhood<br />
in <strong>Toronto</strong> where it is located<br />
today. The company was named after<br />
his father whose distinguished service<br />
in World War 1 and longtime employment<br />
to J.N. Pitts (Winnipeg) and C.A.<br />
Pitts (<strong>Toronto</strong>) linked the company to<br />
the growing construction industry in<br />
Southern Ontario. We are proud that<br />
customers from our first year are still<br />
active today.<br />
Harold had a passion for the industry<br />
and was always available to help a<br />
friend in the industry. Many of today’s<br />
crane owners and managers started<br />
their work life at Smith.<br />
Today, the company is owned by Jean<br />
(Bobi) and ably run by Jeffrey and<br />
Kevin Robertson, who are second<br />
generation to the crane industry having<br />
grown up and apprenticed at Superior<br />
Cranes back in the day when the<br />
company had cranes.<br />
Smith Cranes re-organized in 2009 and<br />
now is poised to move ahead to serve<br />
their customers who demand “a lift<br />
with excellence at a right price with<br />
safety and time factored in.” There<br />
will be changes - and all will be for the<br />
better of the industry, the employees<br />
and the many customers served and to<br />
be served in the years to come.<br />
We are pleased with the new 90<br />
ton machine in our fleet: a Grove<br />
TMS9000E. We feel that this efficient<br />
unit will serve our customers well and<br />
be an excellent addition that meets the<br />
needs of a diversity of lifts for all sectors<br />
of the user industries.
AdvertoriAl<br />
A DV E RTO R I A L<br />
Bringing Winners of the the TCA “Trade past Contractors back to Award” life<br />
The Onyx Mechanical team provides have to build the foundation for our company Onyx Mechanical’s recent projects in the<br />
mechanical construction services for the - a commitment that proves to our clients commercial sector include:<br />
Death and taxes - those we all know are ties and demonstrate the value of building times in significant leaps and some of the<br />
ICI sector of Southern Ontario and has<br />
the universal constants, but there is a<br />
that Onyx Mechanical is prepared to stand<br />
mock ups. What can look acceptable on paper<br />
out will from change the pack,” considerably says Chris. when “If you built want in With the Food fall Court fast approaching, the rush is<br />
most • significant <strong>Toronto</strong> Eaton’s changes Centre are North still to come.<br />
third over - aging. 68 years We of can’t combined escape experience the effects in<br />
of the time plumbing and neither and can HVAC the industry. buildings Partners we the to real make world. a difference Sometimes you have you really to be have willing on to enclose the building and complete<br />
construct. Chris Nielsen, They John eventually E. McKinnon fail, just and like Bryon to to “stand contribute, there” to for be the a part answer of something to come. and the • mechanical Milton Arts elements & Entertainment required Centre to<br />
us. Backus There is, have however, built a one first-rate major difference<br />
in the - we industry can rescue and those have structures Now with the major issues resolved, the<br />
reputation<br />
provide<br />
leave your mark for those who follow to see the heat Bradford finishing. Library The finish may<br />
worked with<br />
still be months away, but Lister Block will<br />
before it’s too late.<br />
pace what of you construction could achieve,” has increased state the significantly.<br />
partners. Lister “Onyx Block is changes our achievement, daily, some-our<br />
times ahead for us all.<br />
three undoubtedly<br />
industry leaders such as GovenBrown, PCL<br />
• Square still One have CRU some interesting<br />
One Constructors, such building and in Century Hamilton, Group. Ontario,<br />
pride and our future.”<br />
• Lester Block Hamilton<br />
has escaped the wrecking ball. A historical<br />
“Our building biggest in asset downtown is our Hamilton reputation,” called Chris<br />
Lister says, Block “but will it takes live to a see significant many more effort by<br />
decades everyone of use. in the company to maintain and<br />
Breathing grow that new reputation.” life into a building that’s<br />
already had two lives is a significant<br />
That reputation is due, in no small part,<br />
challenge, one that owner LIUNA and<br />
developer to the company’s The Hi-Rise mission Group willingly to exceed its<br />
accepted. clients’ expectations. Originally built Onyx in 1886, Mechanical Lister<br />
Block does burned this by to the building ground and in 1923 maintaining and<br />
was long-term rebuilt in relationships 1924. 2009 saw with the its beginning<br />
ensuring of the satisfaction latest rebuild, through with the unparalleled old<br />
clients,<br />
structure having already been stripped and<br />
communications and teamwork.<br />
key elements preserved for reuse. Installing<br />
“When modern we HVAC commit and to plumbing something, into we a work<br />
building on schedule, never designed on budget, for such and services we don’t<br />
is a considerable challenge, but Onyx<br />
‘nickel-and-dime’ everything that comes<br />
Mechanical was up to the task.<br />
up,” says Chris.<br />
Joining Greenferd <strong>Construction</strong>’s team<br />
in One October example 2009, of Onyx Mechanical’s began installing serious<br />
the commitment mechanical to infrastructure its work is the that company’s would<br />
service support the of completed LEED construction. building. As with<br />
all heritage buildings, certain architectural<br />
elements “We fully had been support kept LEED in place construction which<br />
complicated and enjoy the participating build and in forced these the types of<br />
relocation projects,” of says various Chris. services “We believe from their that we<br />
planned have a responsibility routes. Always to mindful future generations of the to<br />
historical significance of the old interior<br />
participate in and encourage environmentally<br />
wood corridor partitions, Onyx would find<br />
alternative<br />
sustainable<br />
routes<br />
projects.”<br />
for those<br />
John<br />
services.<br />
admits that the<br />
value and effectiveness required by a LEED<br />
Another<br />
project<br />
complication<br />
comes at a premium,<br />
would prove<br />
but<br />
to<br />
says<br />
be<br />
that<br />
the old structure itself. The usually simple<br />
“Onyx is there to assist the entire project<br />
task of keeping vertical elements in line from<br />
floor team to in floor finding required the finding balance a between structural fiscal element<br />
and that social was responsibility.”<br />
perfectly vertical. In modern<br />
construction, the structure provides this<br />
The company has also devoted a<br />
reference but in a building thought to be<br />
one considerable of the first concrete amount framed of time buildings and money in<br />
Canada, in the this administrative accuracy was area lacking. of its business.<br />
With state-of-the-art computers, IT servers,<br />
In fact the structure would further complicate<br />
in-house the build plotting as the floor machines, to floor specialized heights<br />
became estimating, restrictive. and Most accounting of us usually and project<br />
take management no notice of software, ceiling height, Onyx but has when solidly Onyx Mechanical Ltd. Phone: 905-866-6699<br />
installing invested mechanical in the office elements, infrastructure. maintaining<br />
that height is critical. The reduced ceiling 214 Wilkinson Road Fax: 905-866-6690<br />
heights “There found are companies in the Lister many Block times building our size Brampton ON L6T 4M4 Website: www.onyxmech.com<br />
would that have challenge not invested the entire a fraction team’s of abili- what we
Page 9<br />
contents<br />
FEATURES<br />
6 The Way Forward<br />
New board chair Glenn Ackerley believes that the TCA’s strengths will be essential<br />
in responding to new challenges<br />
By Andrew Brooks<br />
9 A New Day<br />
TCA partnered with Junior Achievement for <strong>Construction</strong> Day 2010 – a new way<br />
to bring the good word about the industry to tomorrow’s leaders<br />
By Liz Katynski<br />
13 Hands-On Habitat<br />
How the TCA and Habitat for Humanity <strong>Toronto</strong> teamed up to make home<br />
ownership a reality for more city residents<br />
By Roma Ihnatowycz<br />
16 Future Positive<br />
The TCIC Bid Competition is a taste of real-life competition for soon-to-be<br />
construction professionals<br />
By Andrew Brooks<br />
20 Deeper into the Future<br />
TCA Members’ Day is always a major event: this year, attendees were given a thoughtful look at future<br />
opportunities<br />
By Andrew Brooks<br />
26 Green Smarts<br />
OSCAR promises much-needed support and information on sustainable building products and practices<br />
By Roma Ihnatowycz<br />
29 A New Kind of Model<br />
BIM nips project problems in the bud, supports LEED, and is even changing the legal landscape<br />
By Kelly Parker<br />
36 View from the Top<br />
A willingness to face new challenges has brought Chris Gower a long way in a short time<br />
By Kelly Parker<br />
38 Industry Think-Tank<br />
A new committee geared to SMEs helps TCA members learn and share business best practices<br />
By Roma Ihnatowycz<br />
Page 20<br />
Page 29<br />
DEPARTMENTS<br />
34 Advertisers Index<br />
41 Upcoming Events<br />
Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2010 | 5
Chairman’s Message<br />
The Way<br />
Forward<br />
New board chair Glenn Ackerley<br />
believes that the TCA’s strengths<br />
will be essential in crafting new<br />
responses to new challenges<br />
Glenn Ackerley, Chair<br />
Weirfoulds Llp<br />
By Andrew Brooks<br />
FOR GLENN ACKERLEY, A CONSTRUCTION LAWYER WITH WEIRFOULDS LLP AND<br />
the new chair of the TCA board of directors, challenges<br />
come with the territory, and they can be opportunities<br />
too. That kind of mixed bag is an accurate reflection of<br />
the state of the industry in 2010 as he sees it.<br />
As the first lawyer to be named to the position, Ackerley<br />
sees divergent viewpoints as one of the most important<br />
advantages the TCA has in working to advance the industry. “I’ve always felt that one of<br />
the TCA’s biggest strengths is its character as a mixed-trade association,” he says. “Anyone<br />
in the ICI sector can be a member, whether you’re a lawyer, architect, accountant, a<br />
mechanical contractor, an electrical contractor, a supplier... the list is huge.”<br />
That diversity also poses a challenge. “The association has to offer value to all the<br />
different types of members,” Ackerley says. “We have to focus on being relevant to all of<br />
the members in those various disciplines.”<br />
One way to remain relevant, Ackerley believes, is to focus on education — both in<br />
the usual, institutional sense, and in terms of the ongoing learning that should take<br />
place throughout a career. Remaining adaptable is an essential survival skill, especially<br />
in uncertain times.<br />
“BIM [building information modelling] is one example,” Ackerley says. “We already<br />
have a program to educate members about what BIM can do and how to get the most<br />
from the technology. And I think firms that don’t take the time to learn about technology<br />
tools like BIM now will be left behind over the long run.”<br />
BIM has benefits beyond its obvious advantages in articulating the stages and processes<br />
that go into project scoping. “Everyone has to work together, because the technology<br />
draws in all the different roles and shows how they interact,” Ackerley says. “It shortcircuits<br />
a lot of the potential conflict that can arise.” By clearly delineating the roles<br />
played by different disciplines, BIM helps to ensure that any ‘conflict’ that does arise<br />
will be over specific problems and challenges that would have had to be addressed in<br />
any case.<br />
In another way, education touches on the future health of the industry itself. The<br />
industry is aging, and the need for fresh, young talent to fill the ranks is only going to<br />
get more acute as the years go by. “There’s a real shortage of skilled trades and skilled<br />
management,” Ackerley says. “So we as an industry have to strive to attract people, to<br />
show them the kinds of opportunities they can have in this field.”<br />
Builders’<br />
Digest<br />
<strong>Toronto</strong> <strong>Construction</strong> <strong>Association</strong>’s Quarterly Perspective<br />
<strong>Toronto</strong> <strong>Construction</strong> <strong>Association</strong>’s Quarterly Perspective<br />
TCA Builders’ Digest is published for the<br />
<strong>Toronto</strong> <strong>Construction</strong> <strong>Association</strong><br />
70 Leek Crescent, Richmond Hill, ON L4B 1H1<br />
Tel: (416) 499-4000 • Fax: (416) 499-8752<br />
www.tcaconnect.com<br />
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Published by:<br />
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President<br />
Senior Vice-President<br />
Branch Manager<br />
Since 1867<br />
<strong>Toronto</strong><br />
<strong>Construction</strong><br />
<strong>Association</strong><br />
Kevin Brown<br />
Robert Thompson<br />
Jeanne Fronda<br />
Andrew Brooks<br />
Joe Strazzullo<br />
Nolan Ackman<br />
Marlene Moshenko<br />
Carol Simpson<br />
Jim Signatovich<br />
John Pashko<br />
Andrew Brooks<br />
Kelly Parker<br />
Roma Ihnatowycz<br />
Liz Katynski<br />
Adrienne N. Wilson<br />
Robert Thompson<br />
Nancie Privé<br />
All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be<br />
reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without the prior<br />
written consent of the association. Published November 2010.<br />
Publication Mail Agreement #40787580<br />
Return undeliverable copies to:<br />
<strong>Toronto</strong> <strong>Construction</strong> <strong>Association</strong><br />
70 Leek Crescent, Richmond Hill, ON L4B 1H1<br />
Phone: (416) 499-4000 • Fax: (416) 499-8752<br />
6 | Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2010
YOUR<br />
ONTARIO<br />
CONSTRUCTION<br />
SECRETARIAT<br />
We Gather and Distribute<br />
<strong>Construction</strong> Related Data<br />
We Improve Labour and<br />
Management Relations<br />
We Promote the Organized<br />
<strong>Construction</strong> Industry<br />
Serving the Organized ICI <strong>Construction</strong> Sector<br />
in Ontario Since 1993<br />
Ontario <strong>Construction</strong> Secretariat (OCS)<br />
940 The East Mall, Suite 120, Etobicoke, ON, Canada M9B 6J7<br />
T 416.620.5210 F 416.620.5310 Toll Free 1.888.878.8868<br />
www.iciconstruction.com<br />
DESIGN: RYAN ISOJIMA 2010<br />
PHOTOS: RON DE VRIES
Chairman’s Message<br />
Initiatives such as the TCA’s <strong>Construction</strong><br />
Day partnership with Junior<br />
Achievement present construction as a<br />
promising career choice to high school<br />
students long before they have to make<br />
their decision. If they’re won over, then<br />
it’s up to the higher education system to<br />
make sure that they can follow through. In<br />
that context, the development of first-class<br />
higher-education programs in construction,<br />
such as the School of <strong>Construction</strong><br />
Management and Trades at George<br />
Brown College, is one of the reasons<br />
Ackerley is optimistic about the future.<br />
STEPPING UP<br />
Public-sector initiatives have loomed large<br />
in the last couple of years with the introduction<br />
of public-sector infrastructure<br />
spending as a form of economic stimulus.<br />
Investment in areas like transit has a<br />
long-term benefit, Ackerley believes,<br />
because the infrastructure is large-scale<br />
and takes time to build. However, along<br />
with a growing number of construction<br />
industry observers, he is keeping an eye<br />
on the private sector, which will inevitably<br />
be expected to play a greater role as<br />
public-sector funding for infrastructure<br />
projects is stepped back.<br />
“I’d say the spirit in the industry is one<br />
of cautious optimism,” Ackerley says.<br />
“Overall the industry has come through<br />
the recession better than some others, but<br />
if new opportunities don’t materialize, or<br />
if we do hit a second dip as some people<br />
are saying, there could be problems.”<br />
Private-sector building, notably<br />
office-tower construction, has always made<br />
up a large proportion of construction<br />
work in <strong>Toronto</strong>. There’s a longer-term<br />
payoff here too, Ackerley believes. After<br />
a building is constructed, there’s a lot of<br />
ongoing work to be had not just in building<br />
operations and management, but also<br />
in work like interior design, renovation<br />
and equipping suites in advance of new<br />
tenants. Ackerley has legal clients in this<br />
kind of work, so he understands the<br />
benefits to be had.<br />
“I don’t know if those who are warning<br />
about a double-dip recession are right,” he<br />
says. “But whether or not it turns out to be<br />
true, as long as there’s some uncertainty<br />
the people in the private sector with money<br />
to invest will tend to hold off, and they’re<br />
the ones we need in the long term.” |BD<br />
8 | Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2010
Cover Story<br />
A <strong>NEW</strong> <strong>DAY</strong><br />
TCA partnered with Junior Achievement for <strong>Construction</strong> Day 2010 –<br />
a new way to bring the good word about the industry to tomorrow’s leaders<br />
By Liz Katynski<br />
THE POPULATION IS AGING, AND THE CONSTRUCTION<br />
industry ages with it. Despite the excellent<br />
career opportunities the field can offer,<br />
more can be done to let young people<br />
know about the benefits — personal and<br />
financial — that a career in construction<br />
can bring. This simple statement of fact<br />
lies at the heart of the TCA’s ongoing<br />
strategy to develop education and outreach<br />
programs that build the profile of<br />
construction among the general public,<br />
among young people entering the<br />
workforce — and more importantly, long<br />
before they enter the workforce.<br />
Encouraging signs already abound that<br />
people who opt for a career in construction<br />
will have all the resources they need<br />
to make that dream a reality, perhaps<br />
most notably the continuing development<br />
of first-class higher education<br />
programs such as the construction school<br />
at <strong>Toronto</strong>’s George Brown College.<br />
But practical steps must be taken now<br />
to persuade young hearts and minds<br />
that construction has something to offer<br />
them, and that their talents and energies<br />
will be in real demand by the time they<br />
enter the workforce. One new and promising<br />
response to that challenge was the<br />
recent partnership between the TCA and<br />
Junior Achievement of Central Ontario<br />
(JACO) to deliver a new program called<br />
“<strong>Construction</strong> Day” to Grade 8 students<br />
in Central Ontario schools.<br />
The first-ever <strong>Construction</strong> Day was<br />
held on April 14 with over 100 TCA<br />
volunteers visiting 50 classrooms to<br />
share their enthusiasm for careers in<br />
Katherine Lee of Bilfinger Berger Project Investments and Adriana Mema, Adriatica Safety Consulting, TCA<br />
volunteers at Windfields Junior High School, North York<br />
the construction industry. It was such a<br />
success that there are plans to make it<br />
an annual event. Junior Achievement’s<br />
“Economics for Success” program was<br />
a good fit with the TCA’s message that<br />
the construction industry has something<br />
to offer individuals of a wide range of<br />
interests and talents — and with the information<br />
that TCA delivered about the steps<br />
required to launch a construction career.<br />
“It starts with the message that students<br />
have to stay in school if they want to have<br />
Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2010 | 9
Cover Story<br />
(l to r) John Paterson of Technical Project Solutions, Maureen O’Leary, Junior Achievement and Natalie Wood, Grade 8 teacher, Harry Bowes School, Stouffville<br />
the broadest range of career options,”<br />
says TCA president John Mollenhauer.<br />
“In that sense, we’re not even there to get<br />
them to opt for construction, necessarily:<br />
we just want the kids to know that there<br />
are terrific opportunities ahead, and that<br />
they can take the first steps today, here<br />
and now.”<br />
Blending financial and career education<br />
was a good fit for both JACO and<br />
TCA, says Jennifer James, program<br />
manager, Junior Achievement of Central<br />
Ontario. “We teach financial literacy and<br />
life skills and they provide the career<br />
options. It’s all about how to achieve<br />
success in their lifetime. At <strong>Construction</strong><br />
Day, students learned about options they<br />
didn’t know about — they tend to know<br />
about only traditional jobs.”<br />
This was also the first time that JACO<br />
worked with an industry-specific organization<br />
to hold a day of training. “Most of our<br />
projects are financial-literacy-based so we<br />
often team up with economic partners,”<br />
James says. “This was a unique experience,<br />
and it could open the door to other<br />
opportunities.”<br />
JACO’s “Economics for Success” program<br />
serves as a reality check for young<br />
students by introducing them to the<br />
basics of lifetime financial planning,<br />
and to the notion that how they manage<br />
“ ”<br />
This was a unique experience, and it could open<br />
the door to other opportunities<br />
— Jennifer James, program manager, Junior Achievement of Central Ontario<br />
their activities has a direct impact on the<br />
kind of lifestyle they will be able to enjoy<br />
once they start working. “That reality<br />
check meshes very nicely with what we<br />
want to tell the kids about the breadth<br />
of our industry — about the fact that<br />
construction has a place for both creative<br />
and analytical minds,” Mollenhauer says.<br />
But the best advertisement for construction<br />
was probably the quality of the<br />
volunteers who came into the classrooms,<br />
and they did a great job, says Erin Cimino,<br />
manager of special projects, TCA. Cimino<br />
notes that one volunteer who is fluent in<br />
Spanish took it upon herself to translate<br />
for a student from Mexico to help<br />
him follow the discussions. “That’s the<br />
nature of the construction business,”<br />
she says. “People are very grounded and<br />
straightforward.”<br />
Going into the classroom is a great<br />
experience for volunteers of all ages,<br />
from recent university grads who may<br />
10 | Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2010
Cover Story<br />
feel they don’t yet have much to offer, to<br />
employees and entrepreneurs of every<br />
level working in the construction industry.<br />
In that sense <strong>Construction</strong> Day can be<br />
enriching for TCA members of all kinds.<br />
At least that’s the view of Blair Davies, vice<br />
president and general manager of Engineered<br />
Assemblies — and a <strong>Construction</strong><br />
Day volunteer. “This experience makes<br />
you realize how much you do know and<br />
how far you’ve come,” he says. “It’s a real<br />
benchmark of where you’re at.”<br />
Career enthusiasm is infectious — and<br />
of course it’s the ideal attribute for a<br />
volunteer who will be talking to people<br />
outside the industry. “I love to see<br />
the results of my work,” Davies says.<br />
“I drive by buildings I did every day.<br />
From condos to hospital projects, I<br />
never know what might be around the<br />
corner. Creating buildings is solving real<br />
problems, improving our landscape, and<br />
I love doing that.” He encourages all<br />
TCA members who took part this year<br />
to bring a friend next year and make<br />
“<br />
This experience makes you realize how much you<br />
do know and how far you’ve come. It’s a real benchmark<br />
of where you’re at<br />
the day bigger and better than ever.<br />
In order to prepare for <strong>Construction</strong><br />
Day, volunteers completed two hours’<br />
training and then spent a school day<br />
alone or with a partner in the classroom<br />
with Grade 8 students. They delivered<br />
JA’s “Economics of Success” program in<br />
their own ways, and promoted career<br />
options in the construction industry<br />
at the same time. As it was signing up<br />
volunteers for <strong>Construction</strong> Day, the TCA<br />
also recruited speakers for its speakers’<br />
bureau. The association is always on the<br />
lookout for industry professionals who<br />
are willing to give their time to spread<br />
the word about the career potential in<br />
”<br />
this industry, Cimino says. Those who are<br />
willing to donate their time and energy to<br />
promote construction careers are a logical<br />
choice to speak about construction to<br />
other audiences. And <strong>Construction</strong> Day<br />
is an opportunity to refine speaking and<br />
presentation skills.<br />
Cimino notes that although speaking<br />
to a Grade 8 classroom for a full day<br />
isn’t an easy task, the TCA volunteers<br />
exceeded expectations. “Feedback<br />
from the school boards and volunteers<br />
confirms that the day was a huge success,”<br />
Cimino says. “We were pleased<br />
with student and teacher feedback<br />
and volunteers were delighted by the<br />
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Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2010 | 11
Cover Story<br />
TCA volunteer Richard Brightling from Albion Architectural<br />
experience. The JA curriculum teaches<br />
students to be financially responsible and<br />
how to plan for their career and life goals<br />
– and we complement that program.”<br />
TEAMING UP<br />
JACO and the TCA first came together last<br />
year to discuss the possibility of this kind<br />
of program. As the volunteers taught the<br />
course, it was expected that they would<br />
naturally highlight career opportunities<br />
in construction, says Cimino. “Our association’s<br />
mission was to highlight the<br />
professional job opportunities in construction,<br />
and generate greater awareness of<br />
them. As we know, opportunities in the construction<br />
industry are often overlooked.”<br />
The construction industry employs<br />
over 1.2 million people in Canada in a<br />
variety of careers. In terms of growth,<br />
the industry is outpacing the economy,<br />
which should make it a natural area of<br />
interest for anyone who wants a financially<br />
rewarding career.<br />
To drive that message home, TCA<br />
volunteers had the help of a slick new<br />
TCA promotional video called “Careers in<br />
<strong>Construction</strong>.” The concise, contemporary<br />
presentation covers the full scope of<br />
career options in construction for men<br />
12 | Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2010<br />
and women with a wide range of interests<br />
and talents. The video shows people in<br />
construction talking about what they do,<br />
the training they have and what they like<br />
most about their work.<br />
The speakers in the video relate their<br />
jobs to school subjects and areas of interest<br />
that kids can relate to, enabling them<br />
to see themselves in the same roles in the<br />
future. But instead of becoming overly<br />
specialized in its treatment of the industry,<br />
the video focuses on the broad vision that<br />
goes into putting together the right team<br />
to get a construction project completed.<br />
The unique blending of creative and<br />
analytical talents that construction offers<br />
is underlined by examining the roles<br />
architects and interior designers play<br />
alongside engineers, contractors, skilled<br />
tradespeople, skilled labourers and<br />
others.<br />
The video also points out the opportunities<br />
for entrepreneurs, and adds a<br />
reminder that a successful career is not<br />
all about gain to oneself. It’s important to<br />
give back to the community too.<br />
REALITY CHECK<br />
“Economics for Success” challenges students<br />
to think in realistic, practical terms,<br />
and to relate the achievement of lifetime<br />
goals to decisions that they will have to<br />
make soon — and are even making right<br />
now. Above all, the main message is that<br />
staying in school is the most important<br />
thing they can do if they want the broadest<br />
range of options later. The program<br />
has a practical way of emphasizing that<br />
point, says JACO’s Jennifer James.<br />
“Kids start with a budget including<br />
their necessities and luxuries,” she says.<br />
“Of course they want nice cars, vacations,<br />
fancy clothing and the latest technology.<br />
Then we give them a mock job at minimum<br />
wage, and 99 per cent say they can’t<br />
support themselves. We talk about debt,<br />
but it’s not an option in the program —<br />
they have to cover their expenses with<br />
their income. This is a reality lesson for<br />
most of them.”<br />
Having volunteers on hand who could<br />
talk about their own careers in construction<br />
was a perfect fit. “We encourage<br />
volunteers to add their life experience,”<br />
James says. ”That’s what really resonates<br />
with students — real stories. For the most<br />
part, these kids have not had part-time<br />
jobs. They don’t realize that an hourly<br />
wage is not the same as net earnings and<br />
how their expenses will add up. It makes<br />
them appreciate home — at least for a<br />
little while!”<br />
The students were eager to learn<br />
about construction, and they had a lot of<br />
interesting questions that got volunteers<br />
thinking. For example, one asked ‘are<br />
you rich’ “So we had to consider for a<br />
moment what wealth means and how you<br />
measure that,” Davies says.<br />
“We had a chance to help kids to follow<br />
their dreams and get an education,” he<br />
adds. “We also shared how the construction<br />
industry is a cool place to be. I’m sure<br />
we touched a few minds and hearts at a<br />
perfect time for kids to get going towards<br />
their careers.”<br />
His last word on <strong>Construction</strong> Day<br />
“Boy, it was fun!” |BD
HOUSING<br />
The June 8 groundbreaking ceremony for the townhome complex on Kingston Road<br />
Hands-On Habitat<br />
TCA and Habitat <strong>Toronto</strong> team up to make home<br />
By ROMA IHNATOWYCZ<br />
ownership a reality for more city residents<br />
IT’S BEEN 22 YEARS SINCE HABITAT FOR HUMANITY SET UP<br />
shop in <strong>Toronto</strong>, building housing for<br />
needy families across the city. Now, thanks<br />
to a new partnership with the <strong>Toronto</strong><br />
<strong>Construction</strong> <strong>Association</strong> (TCA), things<br />
have been turned up a notch. With this<br />
new alliance, Habitat <strong>Toronto</strong> expects<br />
to dramatically increase the number<br />
of houses it constructs in the Greater<br />
<strong>Toronto</strong> Area (GTA), making home<br />
ownership a reality for far more lowincome<br />
families as a result.<br />
“In <strong>Toronto</strong> we’re now building about<br />
50 houses a year, and with the TCA’s<br />
help we expect to build 100 a year,” says<br />
Neil Hetherington, CEO of Habitat for<br />
Humanity <strong>Toronto</strong>. “We’re going to make<br />
that leap. There is a real need out there<br />
for hard-working families to have safe,<br />
decent, affordable homes.”<br />
While Habitat for Humanity regularly<br />
partners with various organizations — not<br />
to mention the individual families it<br />
helps — the collaboration with the TCA<br />
is unique. It involves TCA members<br />
donating products and services toward<br />
the construction of the homes, beginning<br />
with a 29-townhome complex in<br />
Scarborough. The association’s Young<br />
<strong>Construction</strong> Executive Club (YCEC) has<br />
already committed to a goal of $500,000<br />
worth of gifts-in-kind to the residential<br />
construction project, which was in the<br />
excavation phase at press time.<br />
“The difference with this partnership is<br />
that the TCA is really working to engage<br />
its members not only to donate money,<br />
but to donate the products they manufacture<br />
and the services they deliver,” says<br />
Hetherington.<br />
WIN-WIN PARTNERSHIP<br />
The TCA’s president John Mollenhauer<br />
is equally pleased with the arrangement,<br />
and the opportunity it provides to TCA<br />
members to help those in need of<br />
decent housing. “We like that Habitat<br />
for Humanity creates opportunities<br />
for families to help themselves,” says<br />
Mollenhauer. “That is our kind of charity.<br />
It’s not just about handing out money, but<br />
helping families with home ownership.”<br />
Unlike many other charities, Habitat<br />
for Humanity works on a model that<br />
allows individuals and families to help<br />
themselves by enlisting them to donate<br />
500 volunteer hours in the construction<br />
of their new home. Habitat also extends<br />
interest-free loans for the properties,<br />
which means that homeowners can pay<br />
them off without the heavy burden of<br />
fluctuating interest rates or demanding<br />
qualification requirements.<br />
A number of TCA members have<br />
already stepped up to the plate with<br />
support, including PCL, EllisDon, and<br />
Dufferin Concrete, which will be providing<br />
all the concrete for the project.<br />
Mollenhauer stresses that the beauty of<br />
the arrangement between the two organizations<br />
lies in the fact that smaller TCA<br />
business members can make meaningful<br />
contributions through their goods or<br />
services, without having to pony up large<br />
sums of money not necessarily readily<br />
available to them.<br />
“It struck us when we first started<br />
talking to Habitat that there was a more<br />
meaningful way that we could help<br />
than just delivering cash contributions,”<br />
explains Mollenhauer. “Instead of our<br />
members putting up money so that<br />
Habitat will have the wherewithal to<br />
build the project, we are looking to help<br />
Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2010 | 13
HOUSING<br />
At a Glance:<br />
the 4572 Kingston<br />
Road project<br />
• 29 townhomes<br />
• GreenHouse certified<br />
• Architects and landscape<br />
consultants: HOK<br />
• Total lot area: 4,235 square metres<br />
• Gross floor area: 3,240 square<br />
metres<br />
• Parking spaces: 34 cars<br />
• Mix of two- and three-storey<br />
townhouses in four blocks<br />
• Two- to five-bedroom units<br />
• Civil engineer: The Municipal<br />
Infrastructure Group<br />
• Forced air gas heat<br />
them build homes for considerably less<br />
by encouraging our members to supply<br />
material and, in some cases, labour that<br />
Habitat would otherwise have to pay for.”<br />
These materials include just about<br />
everything required in the construction<br />
of a new home, from drywall to light<br />
fixtures, and all the way to doorknobs.<br />
The Scarborough project, which happens<br />
to be the second-largest Habitat<br />
housing development in the history of<br />
<strong>Toronto</strong>, is currently on the lookout for<br />
lumber, windows and asphalt shingles.<br />
But what is important to note, says<br />
Hetherington, is that the timeline for<br />
making donations is not critical, and<br />
they can be made at any point during the<br />
construction process. In fact, the not-forprofit<br />
group is opening a new warehouse<br />
in the city for storing all supplies.<br />
So far the response from TCA members<br />
has been strong, and they’ve been “thrilled<br />
to get involved,” notes Mollenhauer.<br />
“ ”<br />
In <strong>Toronto</strong> we’re now building about 50 houses a year,<br />
and with the TCA’s help we expect to build 100 a year<br />
Their contributions, combined with<br />
other partnerships Habitat for Humanity<br />
is involved in, are expected to dramatically<br />
drive down the construction costs<br />
for the Scarborough housing complex:<br />
from the $110 to $125 per square foot<br />
range to about $65 per square foot. “This<br />
means that we can develop an affordable<br />
home, and with any additional money<br />
we receive we can buy land and building<br />
materials for more homes,” says Habitat’s<br />
Hetherington.<br />
CUTTING-EDGE CONSTRUCTION<br />
The groundbreaking ceremony for the<br />
Scarborough development, which was<br />
designed by HOK, one of the country’s<br />
premier architectural firms, took place<br />
June 8, and construction is expected to<br />
be completed in December 2011, right in<br />
time for the holidays. “A special dedication<br />
service will be held the Sunday before<br />
Christmas, and some families will be able<br />
to move in and start the New Year in their<br />
new homes,” says Hetherington.<br />
The housing development will be<br />
GreenHouse-certified, and its location<br />
at Kingston Road and Morningside<br />
Avenue is smack in the middle of<br />
a neighbourhood undergoing some<br />
notable improvements. “It is in a wonderful<br />
community where there is this<br />
incredible revitalization taking place,”<br />
says Hetherington. “What you are seeing<br />
is a community really thriving with new<br />
shops, the Morningside Mall that just got<br />
— Neil Hetherington, CEO, Habitat for Humanity <strong>Toronto</strong><br />
revamped [and] great schools; and we are<br />
part of the community being built.”<br />
The planning and high-level management<br />
of the project will be led by a<br />
steering committee made up of Wayne<br />
Dempsey, vice president of construction<br />
at Habitat for Humanity; Matt Stainton of<br />
PCL; Mike Kern of Vanbots; and Joe Perry<br />
of EllisDon. Day-to-day management of<br />
donations is being handled by TCA staffers<br />
Erin Cimino, manager, special projects;<br />
and Evelyn Kilcullen, executive assistant.<br />
While many may see Habitat for<br />
Humanity as an organization that builds<br />
houses, the reality is that by making home<br />
ownership possible, it does much more<br />
than that. It helps people build, or in<br />
some cases rebuild, their lives, a point not<br />
lost on the TCA’s John Mollenhauer when<br />
he first signed on for the partnership. It is<br />
this ability to make a significant difference<br />
in people’s lives and the future lives<br />
of their children that really makes the<br />
project worthwhile for everyone involved.<br />
“The statistics are extraordinary,” notes<br />
Mollenhauer. “These families all have<br />
kids, and a number of them have gone<br />
on to colleges and universities and so on.<br />
So it has paid enormous dividends. It has<br />
changed the lives of these families.”<br />
For TCA members interested in<br />
making a donation, or learning more<br />
about the Habitat for Humanity Kingston<br />
Road Project, please contact Erin<br />
Cimino at erincimino@tcaconnect.com,<br />
416-499-4000 ext. 149. |BD<br />
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BID Competition<br />
Future<br />
The<br />
Positive<br />
TCIC Bid Competition is an<br />
instructive, energizing taste of<br />
real-life conditions for soon-to-be<br />
construction professionals<br />
By Andrew Brooks<br />
THE BEST LEARNING ENVIRONMENT IS ONE THAT IS AS CLOSE<br />
as possible to real life. That’s the philosophy<br />
behind the <strong>Construction</strong> Institute<br />
of Canada (TCIC) Bid Competition, an<br />
event that invites teams of construction<br />
students to assemble and submit a bid<br />
on a construction project in real-life<br />
conditions. The TCIC hosts the event,<br />
and construction companies also play<br />
an active role, contributing prize money<br />
– and contributing experienced industry<br />
veterans to mentor the student teams<br />
16 | Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2010<br />
through the process. After a successful<br />
inaugural run in 2009, the competition<br />
was held again this year, and the future<br />
looks very bright.<br />
“The idea is to have students submit<br />
complete bids based on a set of contract<br />
documents,” says Roxanne Drisdelle,<br />
TCIC Professional Development<br />
Coordinator. The bids have to contain<br />
quantity take-offs for own-forces work, a<br />
sub-trade analysis and selection, as well as<br />
an overhead and pricing summary. The<br />
bids are judged to three criteria: most<br />
outstanding professional conduct; most<br />
accurate and complete bid package; and<br />
coming closest to the targeted price.<br />
The bids are based on actual projects.<br />
This year the assigned project was over<br />
$2 million in upgrades to Camp Oochigeas,<br />
a resort for children with cancer<br />
in Muskoka, Ontario. Project drawings<br />
were donated by Duncan Ross Architect<br />
of Huntsville, Ontario. The assignment<br />
went out at the end of January, and
BID Competition<br />
First place, Most Accurate and Complete Bid: Apex Contracting Inc. (David Petrozza,<br />
Joseph Lisi, Mark Farano, Anthony Zambri) Apex also won third place in the Most<br />
Professional Bid category<br />
Second place, Most Accurate and Complete Bid: DJEC <strong>Construction</strong> Manager<br />
(David Champion, Jeff Jackson, Eric Rautanen, Cameron Hester)<br />
teams had two months to assemble bids<br />
before the submission deadline, which<br />
was handled exactly the way a real one<br />
would be, with a precise deadline down<br />
to the hour, minute and second, and a<br />
site – the TCIC head office in Richmond<br />
Hill – where teams had to present their<br />
completed packages. “It’s just like a<br />
real-life bid submission,” Drisdelle says.<br />
The competition was launched on<br />
February 26 and the bids were due to<br />
be handed in by 3 p.m. sharp on April 6<br />
at the TCIC offices. On April 6, with the<br />
bids submitted and the teams on hand,<br />
the TCIC hosted a social and networking<br />
event for the team members and sponsors,<br />
and the winners were announced.<br />
The formal award presentations were<br />
made later, at Members Day on May 12.<br />
Winners received cash prizes and<br />
plaques. All participants received certificates<br />
– and their participation in the<br />
competition was factored into their class<br />
marks, Drisdelle says. This year more<br />
than 100 students entered in 41 teams,<br />
which was about double the number<br />
that took part in 2009.<br />
A unique feature of the event is that<br />
it’s educational for the judges as well<br />
as the entrants. The entrants this time<br />
around were students in the third year<br />
of the four-year degree program in construction<br />
at George Brown College – but<br />
the “owners/developers” who judged<br />
the bids were students, too, and from the<br />
fourth year of the same program.<br />
Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2010 | 17
BID Competition<br />
First place, Most Professional Bid: Tangent <strong>Construction</strong> Inc. (Gianluca Caligiuri, Albert<br />
Melchior)<br />
Second Place, Most Professional Bid: JAKS Consulting Inc. (Kayleigh Dobbin,<br />
Scott Chant, Andrew Dingemans, Jordan Spergel)<br />
The fact that entrants doubled in one year demonstrates<br />
that the Bid Competition is an idea whose time has come. The<br />
TCIC has heard from schools across Canada that are interested<br />
in participating. At press time, the TCIC was just ramping up its<br />
outreach efforts to these and other schools to make the 2011<br />
competition an even bigger success. “The exponential growth<br />
of this competition will be enormous,” says John Mollenhauer,<br />
TCIC Vice Chancellor and President. “Everyone involved in<br />
the construction industry in any way, shape or form is better for<br />
having had some estimating experience.”<br />
The companies that contributed prize money and provided<br />
mentors for competitors take the same view. “We have a real<br />
shortage of people in the industry who can do estimates,”<br />
says Deborah Fillippe, HR Director of Kenaidan Contracting.<br />
“When a student applies and we see that they’ve been in the<br />
competition, we see that as a strong plus for that candidate.”<br />
This is the kind of hands-on education that construction<br />
students can really use: it furthers their education but it also<br />
lets them get their feet wet in the real world of bidding and<br />
estimating, which is the heart and soul of the industry. “The<br />
competition is good hands-on experience,” Mollenhauer says.<br />
“When these students go into workforce they’ll have a true<br />
feeling for what it’s really like.”<br />
Most importantly they’ll experience up-close the apparent<br />
paradox that makes construction such a uniquely attractive<br />
career: the fact that competition and a spirit of camaraderie<br />
can co-exist so well. That spirit shows clearly in the faces of the<br />
winning teams.<br />
Craig Lesurf, Senior Vice President of <strong>Construction</strong> Operations,<br />
Vanbots, probably sums it up best: “This competition is<br />
extremely valuable in shaping our future leaders.”<br />
NOTE: A video of the Bid Competition can be viewed at<br />
the TCIC website (www.tcic.ca) or at the TCIC’s Student Bid<br />
Competition website at www.tcicbidcomp.com. |BD<br />
First place, Closest to Budgeted Price: RockSolid (Jonathan Graf, Pascal Uwajeneza,<br />
Nick Walden, Kegan Buchanan)<br />
18 | Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2010<br />
Second Place, Closest to Budgeted Price: JAKS Consulting Inc. (Scott Chant,<br />
Andrew Dingemans, Kayleigh Dobbin, Jordan Spergel)
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Members' Day<br />
Deeper into the Future<br />
TCA Members’ Day is a major event: this year, attendees were given a thoughtful<br />
appraisal of opportunities in the “Post-Stimulus Age”<br />
By Andrew Brooks<br />
Keynote speaker George Smitherman lays out his vision for<br />
the city<br />
TCA president John Mollenhauer (left) and TCA board chair Glenn Ackerley with George Smitherman after the<br />
keynote<br />
TCA MEMBERS’ <strong>DAY</strong> AND OPEN HOUSE IS ALWAYS A<br />
standout professional/social event on<br />
<strong>Toronto</strong>’s construction calendar. This year<br />
marked the 16th Members’ Day, which<br />
was held at the TCA <strong>Construction</strong> Centre<br />
in Richmond Hill on Wednesday, May 12.<br />
Attendance was strong and the takeaways<br />
were excellent as always. Attendees were<br />
treated to an animated keynote by prominent<br />
provincial and municipal politician<br />
George Smitherman; they heard from<br />
a panel of industry experts about what<br />
kinds of opportunities they can anticipate<br />
once infrastructure stimulus funding<br />
has ended; they got a hands-on look at<br />
industry products and services; they met<br />
20 | Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2010<br />
some of the future stars of the construction<br />
business from across the country;<br />
they were treated to a fantastic barbecue<br />
lunch; and most important of all, they<br />
had fun — and an opportunity to get to<br />
know some of their peers in the industry.<br />
A CANDIDATE’S KEYNOTE<br />
As a current <strong>Toronto</strong> mayoralty candidate<br />
and former Ontario Deputy Premier and<br />
Minister of Energy and Infrastructure,<br />
Smitherman has a unique perspective on<br />
the city and how it fits into the broader<br />
infrastructure picture. Always a compelling<br />
speaker, he delivered an off-the-cuff<br />
keynote talk about his vision for the city’s<br />
future, and told attendees that he believes<br />
more infrastructure work is required to<br />
bring the kind of renewal the city needs.<br />
Smitherman’s mayoralty campaign<br />
platform features a two-phase “Integrated<br />
Transportation Plan” that promises to<br />
bring together public and private transportation<br />
modes. A major element of the<br />
plan is expansion of the TTC. The first<br />
phase extends to 2015, in time for the<br />
Pan Am Games, and promises to focus<br />
on expansion of existing transit routes<br />
as well as the opening of a rail link from<br />
Union Station to Pearson International<br />
Airport. The second phase extends to<br />
2020 and will feature further transit
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Members' Day<br />
Industry forum members (l to r): John O’Toole,<br />
Executive Vice President and Executive Managing<br />
Director from CB Richard Ellis; Brad Lambert, Regional<br />
Vice President, Real Estate Markets-Ontario, RBC;<br />
Leslie Woo, Vice President of Policy and Planning<br />
at Metrolinx; and Bill Hutchinson, Council Chair,<br />
i-Waterfront Advisory Council Executive Director,<br />
Intelligent Communities Waterfront <strong>Toronto</strong><br />
CAREERS YOU<br />
CAN BUILD ON.<br />
extensions to integrate suburban areas,<br />
especially the city’s northwest. The end<br />
result, Smitherman says, will be that GTA<br />
residents will be able to travel anywhere<br />
across the GTA conveniently by transit —<br />
a far cry from the situation today.<br />
Other planks in Smitherman’s<br />
campaign platform of interest to builders<br />
include investments in the revitalization<br />
of city parks, improved and new sports<br />
and recreation facilities (part and parcel<br />
of the work being done for the Pan Am<br />
Games), and increasing the number of<br />
indoor playgrounds.<br />
POST-STIMULUS PERSPECTIVES<br />
The industry forum brought together four<br />
industry insiders for a longer-term look at<br />
construction in <strong>Toronto</strong>. John O’Toole<br />
TRAINING TO<strong>DAY</strong> TO MEET<br />
THE DEMANDS OF TOMORROW<br />
UNITED ASSOCIATION LOCAL 46<br />
PLUMBERS, STEAMFITTERS AND WELDERS<br />
22 | Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2010<br />
WWW.UALOCAL46.ORG<br />
Leslie Woo reminded attendees of the transit investment<br />
deficit <strong>Toronto</strong> still suffers from. That and the fact that<br />
the GTA continues to grow at a rapid pace means that<br />
projects like the Metrolinx “Big Move” transit plan – $50<br />
billion to be invested over 25 years – will be delivering<br />
construction opportunities long into the future
1 2<br />
3<br />
4<br />
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6<br />
A national practice<br />
solving local problems<br />
8<br />
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Strategic Advice<br />
Representation<br />
Consultation<br />
12<br />
O N T A R I O L A W Y E R S<br />
T O R O N T O<br />
1. Geza Banfai<br />
416 643.6968<br />
gbanfai@heenan.ca<br />
2. Joel Watson<br />
416 643.6955<br />
jwatson@heenan.ca<br />
3. Howard Krupat<br />
416 643.6969<br />
hkrupat@heenan.ca<br />
4. Steven Sokalsky<br />
416 643.6941<br />
ssokalsky@heenan.ca<br />
5. Matthew Benson<br />
416 643.6956<br />
mbenson@heenan.ca<br />
6. Samantha Ambrozy<br />
416 360.3546<br />
sambrozy@heenan.ca<br />
O T T A W A<br />
7. Louis-Pierre Grégoire<br />
613 236.1751<br />
lpgregoire@heenan.ca<br />
8. Alyssa Tomkins<br />
613 236.6942<br />
atomkins@heenan.ca<br />
<strong>Construction</strong><br />
R e c o g n i z e d , R e s p e c t e d , E x p e r i e n c e d .<br />
Heenan Blaikie LLP • Lawyers I Patent and Trade-mark Agents • <strong>Toronto</strong> Montreal Vancouver Québec Calgary Sherbrooke Ottawa Trois-Rivières Victoria Paris Singapore • heenanblaikie.com
Members' Day<br />
<strong>Construction</strong> is one of the most ‘hands-on’ industries there is, so it was appropriate to give Members’ Day attendees a chance to interact with industry products and talk to the<br />
people who deliver them. Booths were set up inside the <strong>Construction</strong> Centre and also outside on the grounds<br />
of CB Richard Ellis, Brad Lambert from<br />
RBC, Leslie Woo of Metrolinx and Bill<br />
Hutchinson, Intelligent Communities<br />
Waterfront <strong>Toronto</strong>, looked at the future<br />
of construction in <strong>Toronto</strong> after the largescale<br />
infrastructure funding programs<br />
end in 2011. If construction in <strong>Toronto</strong><br />
experiences any kind of slump, O’Toole<br />
said, it will be a slump from an elevated<br />
starting point. The city’s market for office<br />
space ranks sixth in the world, and it’s a<br />
very active environment. New construction<br />
adds hundreds of millions of dollars’<br />
worth of work, and the drive to bring<br />
Some of the industry professionals who helped make<br />
the day a success<br />
24 | Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2010<br />
older inventory up to competitive standards<br />
adds some $400 million more.<br />
The signs are also good as far as Leslie<br />
Woo of Metrolinx is concerned. Woo<br />
laid out the demographic developments<br />
that are transforming <strong>Toronto</strong>, pointing<br />
out that another 2.62 million people<br />
will move into the Greater <strong>Toronto</strong> and<br />
Hamilton Area (GTHA) in the next 20<br />
years. That’s in the context of what she<br />
calls the “Lost Generation of Investment”<br />
in transportation infrastructure. No<br />
one who commutes to work in <strong>Toronto</strong><br />
needs to be told that traffic congestion<br />
is a serious problem, but many attendees<br />
were probably surprised to hear how<br />
serious the economic cost is now, and how<br />
quickly it’s going to get much worse.<br />
“Today, congestion in the GTHA costs<br />
commuters $3.3 billion, and drains $2.2<br />
billion out of the region’s economy,” she<br />
said. “By 2031, those figures will be $7.8<br />
billion for commuters and $7.2 billion<br />
out of the economy.” To put this in<br />
context, that’s significantly more than the<br />
comparable current figures for New York<br />
and Chicago.<br />
Brad Lambert of RBC noted that,<br />
financially at least, <strong>Toronto</strong> seems to have<br />
weathered the recession fairly well. “We<br />
haven’t seen a big increase in the number<br />
of stressed loans,” he said. “In fact, that<br />
number has been fairly steady over the<br />
last 10 years.” Lambert countered some<br />
conventional wisdom by suggesting that<br />
while 2009 and 2010 have seen a bit of<br />
a slowdown in terms of volume of work,<br />
the private sector remains active and<br />
involved, and ready to contribute to<br />
construction investment as the market<br />
begins to pick up.<br />
“I think generally it’s not all doom and<br />
gloom,” he said, “especially compared<br />
with the year before, when there was the<br />
expectation of a real decline.”<br />
Bill Hutchinson backed up that viewpoint<br />
in his presentation, pointing to<br />
the combination of public and private<br />
interests that are actively engaged in<br />
major projects along <strong>Toronto</strong>’s waterfront.<br />
These are largely in preparation for<br />
the 2015 Pan Am Games, which require<br />
major investment in housing and event<br />
venues. But the work extends beyond<br />
that time frame: the buildout for the East<br />
Bayfront revitalization extends 10 to 15<br />
years and offers private sector investors<br />
lots of low-risk development space.<br />
Hutchinson also gave attendees an<br />
intriguing glimpse of the planned hightech<br />
backbone for <strong>Toronto</strong>’s waterfront<br />
community, which will support stateof-the-art<br />
services for residents and<br />
businesses.<br />
In addition to the panel and keynote,<br />
a highlight of the event was the handing
out of awards to the winning entrants in<br />
the <strong>Construction</strong> Institute of Canada’s<br />
Simulated Student Bid Competition. The<br />
competition is held annually, and challenges<br />
third-year construction students<br />
from across Canada to submit complete<br />
bids on an actual project in a true-to-life<br />
simulation of competitive conditions.<br />
The competition took place in April and<br />
was based on $2.2 million in upgrades to<br />
Camp Oochigeas in Muskoka. The contest<br />
is judged by fourth-year students. Firstplace<br />
winners in the three awards<br />
categories were:<br />
Most Accurate and Complete Bid:<br />
1st Place ($2,000 prize) – Team Apex<br />
Contracting: David Petrozza, Joseph Lisi,<br />
Mark Farano and Anthony Zambri<br />
Most Professional Bid: 1st Place ($1,000<br />
prize) – Team Tangent <strong>Construction</strong>:<br />
Gianluca Caligiuri and Albert Melchior<br />
Closest to Budgeted Price: 1st Place<br />
($1,000 prize) – RockSolid: Kegan<br />
Buchanan, Nick Walden, Jonathan Graf<br />
and Pascal Uwajeneza<br />
Members’ Day includes the TCA’s<br />
annual Open House, offering attendees<br />
a chance to check out the <strong>Construction</strong><br />
Centre facilities, including the Physical<br />
Members' Day<br />
Plans Room and Electronic Plans Room. It<br />
also features a trade show, which showcases<br />
products and services for the construction<br />
industry at staffed supplier booths. |BD<br />
Some of the winners of the <strong>Construction</strong> Institute of Canada’s 2010 Simulated Student Bid Competition: Team<br />
Tangent <strong>Construction</strong> Inc.’s Gianluca Caligiuri (l) and Albert Melchior accept the $1,000 first place award for Most<br />
Professional Bid<br />
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GBC_10009_Builder'sDigest_v1.indd 1<br />
Builders' Digest 1/25/10 Quarter 3:13:47 3 2010 PM | 25
SUSTAINABILITY<br />
GREEN IS GOOD, AS THEY SAY, BUT IT CAN ALSO BE A<br />
tangled jungle for those trying to make<br />
their way through the myriad of products<br />
and services that are out there. While<br />
everyone is pushing for more sustainable<br />
building practices, those charged with<br />
getting the job done still face some tough<br />
challenges in understanding the market,<br />
its supplies and its practices.<br />
Fortunately in Ontario, help is on the<br />
way. A special centre showcasing and<br />
explaining sustainable construction technologies<br />
is set to open in Vaughan, in the<br />
southern part of the province, this fall.<br />
The Ontario Sustainable <strong>Construction</strong><br />
and Resource Centre (OSCAR) promises<br />
to offer green building support and<br />
to lessen the knowledge gap that exists<br />
between suppliers, building professionals<br />
and the government sector on the topic<br />
of sustainable building practices.<br />
“Our goal is to increase the economic<br />
prosperity of Ontario’s green building<br />
products industry by offering services<br />
and programs that help drive innovation<br />
in our six ‘Ps’: product, practices,<br />
projects, policy, performance and service<br />
providers,” explains Julie Scarcella, the<br />
centre’s executive director, and the<br />
person who has spearheaded the project<br />
from the very beginning.<br />
A longtime sustainable building<br />
consultant and project manager through<br />
her own company, Blue Wilderness<br />
Management Group Inc., Scarcella has<br />
experienced the aforementioned ‘knowledge<br />
gap’ firsthand. She can easily cite<br />
stories reflecting the dire consequences<br />
of this information shortfall — from<br />
cutting-edge supplies gone bad due<br />
to improper storage, to projects held<br />
up for months because of government<br />
inspectors who lack knowledge on a new<br />
practice being employed.<br />
By way of example, Scarcella relates<br />
a recent experience in her own family.<br />
“My mother just built a cottage utilizing a<br />
Green Smarts<br />
A new Ontario resource centre promises muchneeded<br />
support and information on sustainable<br />
building products and practices<br />
wastewater system that was off the grid. It<br />
took two years to get approval through the<br />
municipality to get the system installed.<br />
The inspector had not [seen] that system<br />
before and the builder did not want to<br />
make reference to it. They didn’t know<br />
how to make it to code. It cost twice as<br />
much as my mother had budgeted for,<br />
and took twice as much time.”<br />
LOSSES ACROSS THE BOARD<br />
On a larger scale, building contractors<br />
face similar scenarios across the country<br />
every day, even with those supplies being<br />
manufactured right on their home turf<br />
in Canada. Like Scarcella’s mother, businesses<br />
are losing time and money in<br />
BY Roma Ihnatowycz<br />
the process, and this is where the new<br />
resource centre should be able to help. “If<br />
we are looking at time management and<br />
cost management, that is where OSCAR is<br />
going to assist,” notes Scarcella.<br />
Part of the problem is that the green<br />
manufacturing industry is so advanced<br />
that building professionals are having a<br />
hard time keeping up. As a result there<br />
is a certain disconnect, and reconnecting<br />
the dots is imperative in order to both<br />
optimize the technology and move the<br />
province forward as a leader in environmentally<br />
friendly construction.<br />
While OSCAR is a first for Ontario,<br />
many other countries, particularly in<br />
Western Europe, already have similar<br />
26 | Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2010
SUSTAINABILITY<br />
“ ”<br />
There is a lot of fine-tuning. There is a lot that we want to do, and it’s about honing<br />
in on the key services that OSCAR needs to provide and that the industry needs<br />
— Julie Scarcella, Executive Director, Ontario Sustainable <strong>Construction</strong> and Resource Centre<br />
sustainable resource centres in place, as does British Columbia<br />
here in Canada. Ontario is now playing catch-up — a strange<br />
scenario given that more than half of the country’s construction<br />
activity takes place in the province.<br />
Ontario also ranks high in terms of LEED buildings going up.<br />
Blue Wilderness reports that it has the greatest number of registered<br />
and certified LEED projects for all building types. That’s<br />
about 36 per cent of the market, compared to British Columbia<br />
with 24 per cent and Alberta with 16 per cent.<br />
With the help of the new centre, Scarcella hopes to position<br />
the province as a true leader in the green building sector in<br />
Canada. “It’s going to be one of OSCAR’s mandates,” she says.<br />
“There are many not-for-profit organizations with their own<br />
mandates in the province, but there hasn’t been leadership<br />
from a province-wide standpoint to look at the green building<br />
sector and what it represents.”<br />
OSCAR will act as a go-to information point for a wide range<br />
of interested parties, be they architects, construction professionals,<br />
tradespeople, students or the general public. If it’s tied<br />
to green building, OSCAR will have the answers people are<br />
looking for — information that is currently not readily available<br />
through traditional channels, and certainly not all in one location.<br />
“Take a water cistern,” notes Scarcella. “When it comes to<br />
finding a manufacturer, knowing how to install it properly, the<br />
correct specifications, critical documentation — this information<br />
is nowhere to be found. It’s difficult to find the information<br />
that you need to install the cistern and to utilize it. The second<br />
problem in Canada is that we don’t have product standards to<br />
help manufacturers reduce their carbon footprints.”<br />
The centre will also be a place where various professionals<br />
— from LEED consultants to manufacturers — can meet on<br />
common ground to learn and develop new ideas and technology.<br />
One of its goals is to combine the talents of the industry<br />
by working together to advance new partnerships, and to establish<br />
a physical ‘campus’ to foster education, sharing of ideas,<br />
demonstrations and innovation in the green building industry.<br />
needed to turn OSCAR into a fully operational resource centre.<br />
To date, there has been no financial support from the government;<br />
however, Scarcella and her staff of three are still working<br />
on this.<br />
The Centre will start operation slowly, opening for limited<br />
hours and offering select services to start, while it works on<br />
building and developing others. “There is a lot of fine-tuning,”<br />
says Scarcella. “There is a lot that we want to do, and it’s about<br />
honing in on the key services that OSCAR needs to provide and<br />
that the industry needs.”<br />
In the long term, training will be a key component of the<br />
service offerings, both on site and off. Plans are in place to<br />
introduce a ‘Training on Wheels’ program to bring OSCAR’s<br />
educational component to different regions across the province.<br />
“OSCAR can help all of Ontario. This is not a City of<br />
Vaughan project or a City of <strong>Toronto</strong> project. We want to get to<br />
the other regions,” says Scarcella.<br />
“‘Training on Wheels’ means that if we’re looking at specific<br />
construction materials or renewables, we can take that training<br />
to a satellite area. We can bring the training and the knowledge<br />
to a specific remote area. This probably won’t be realized until<br />
year three, but ‘Training on Wheels’ is an important component<br />
of our business plan.”<br />
OSCAR has already been embraced by 10 key industry associations,<br />
including the <strong>Toronto</strong> <strong>Construction</strong> <strong>Association</strong>, the<br />
<strong>Toronto</strong> Green Building Council and the Ontario Society of<br />
Professional Engineers. They view the resource centre as a valuable<br />
addition to the province’s green building playing field. As<br />
the project gains momentum, and opens its doors for business<br />
in the fall, everyone will be able to benefit from its services. |BD<br />
GRADUAL START<br />
OSCAR will operate as a not-for-profit corporation, and is<br />
expected to open in a limited capacity this fall, while continuing<br />
to seek necessary funding. Scarcella has invested more than<br />
$200,000 to get things off the ground; however, more funding is<br />
Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2010 | 27
Walters Group
BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING<br />
A New Kind<br />
of Model<br />
BIM fosters teamwork, nips<br />
project problems in the bud,<br />
supports LEED design – and is<br />
even changing construction’s<br />
legal landscape<br />
By Kelly Parker<br />
All images courtesy of Autodesk<br />
THE NEXT WAVE IS HERE.<br />
Maybe the term “tide” is more appropriate, as the use of Building Information Modelling<br />
— a term coined by design software vendor Autodesk, but which has since become<br />
a generic term for the process known as BIM — relentlessly advances as arguably the<br />
most significant evolution ever in construction technology.<br />
Properly defined, BIM is a process that delivers construction projects using parametric<br />
modelling of the building in virtual space, prior to construction. The model<br />
is then shared between and passed from discipline to discipline along the project<br />
delivery chain, with content being added and extracted as needed by the consulting<br />
and construction teams.<br />
Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2010 | 29
BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING<br />
“[BIM is] kind of a<br />
scary concept in the world<br />
of construction, but the<br />
idea should be that any<br />
discipline can look into this<br />
thing; it’s transparent and<br />
it brings the team together<br />
big-time — it’s all about<br />
collaboration<br />
”<br />
Al Prowse, President,<br />
H. Griffiths Co. Ltd.<br />
The living virtual model ultimately contains all pertinent<br />
information including building materials and specifications,<br />
constructability details, environmental design and building<br />
lifecycle data. BIM software provides all constituents of the<br />
construction process an end-to-end look at all elements of a<br />
building’s construction phases and overall lifecycle, and in the<br />
process enables closer and more effective co-operation between<br />
all of them.<br />
The resulting efficiencies are nothing short of startling, with<br />
anecdotal reports by some users of ROIs of 1000 per cent.<br />
McGraw Hill published a 2008 Smart Market Report on BIM<br />
that indicated the increasing adoption of BIM use even then.<br />
Co-sponsored by the buildingSMART Alliance, the Smart<br />
Market Report identified that experienced users (in the United<br />
States, at least) were realizing greater productivity, improved<br />
communications and a competitive edge when bidding work.*<br />
Al Prowse is President of H. Griffiths Co. Ltd., and the<br />
MCA Canada rep on the Canada BIM Council — the recently<br />
formed advocacy, resource and standards council for the<br />
process. Prowse explains that whereas before, everything<br />
was just put on paper and everybody worked it all out on<br />
site — which is quite costly — the concept behind BIM is that<br />
everybody shares in the development of the model. “Every<br />
time someone touches and handles this thing,” he says,<br />
“the model should be enriched — it should become more<br />
defined with more information. It’s kind of a scary concept<br />
in the world of construction, but the idea should be that any<br />
discipline can look into this thing; it’s transparent and it brings<br />
the team together big-time — it’s all about collaboration.”<br />
The fact that these constituents all get into the same room at<br />
the same time so early is itself a major shift from the old norm,<br />
according to Scott Burke, Solutions Consultant and Team<br />
Manager with AEC Solutions. “It simply didn’t happen. They<br />
would talk to each other when required and might be brought<br />
30 | Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2010
BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING<br />
in later in the process. Now,” he says,<br />
“when a project starts, everybody who is<br />
going to be involved gets together in a<br />
room and talks about coordination, who<br />
is going to be responsible for what, and<br />
when the model should be ready to be<br />
delivered to an MEP engineer.” Burke<br />
notes that BIM causes more communication<br />
than previously possible “because we<br />
have this model with which to share the<br />
information in a much more dynamic,<br />
graphic and accurate way.”<br />
That information is the real power<br />
of BIM. “I always say that the ‘i’ in BIM<br />
should be capitalized,” emphasises Burke,<br />
“because that is the most important part<br />
of the process. As an engineer draws a<br />
structural component, the information<br />
about that component is embedded in<br />
the object, including engineering properties<br />
— the type of steel used, the weight of<br />
that steel and its dimensional properties.”<br />
INFORMATION EXCHANGE<br />
That all of this information can be so<br />
easily shared is part of what makes BIM<br />
so important to the industry. “If an<br />
MEP engineer changes the size of an<br />
air-handling unit — which changes its<br />
electrical properties — that information<br />
is automatically updated on the electrical<br />
engineer’s drawing so that he knows that<br />
the circuit might [need changing]. Once<br />
that change is made,” he explains, “the<br />
architect also sees that perhaps there<br />
is more room in the space because the<br />
air-handling unit is now smaller, so it’s<br />
the information sharing that is the key<br />
to BIM.”<br />
The other advantage to BIM is that<br />
it allows for the virtual testing of what<br />
Prowse calls the “what-if scenarios.” “Let’s<br />
say that you have a huge piece of equipment<br />
that has to come into a building<br />
throughout a construction cycle,” he<br />
explains. “When you know the exact<br />
physical requirements to get it through,<br />
you can hold off on putting this wall<br />
in, or on putting that piece of concrete<br />
there until that other task is done. All of<br />
a sudden, maybe you don’t need to bring<br />
in that crane and your costing can be<br />
controlled, your scheduling can be better<br />
planned — any time that you’re not taking<br />
steps backwards, you’re realizing savings.”<br />
One of the greatest advantages of<br />
BIM is in the area of design for LEED<br />
credits. “Previously,” notes Burke, “energy<br />
testing and analysis couldn’t be done<br />
until the building was built. Now, the<br />
HVAC engineer can take the Revit model<br />
from the architect and do his heat and<br />
energy load calculations on it to find out<br />
how much energy he is going to need to<br />
heat and cool the building. He can even<br />
make suggestions to the architect — ‘If<br />
you just rotate the building on the site<br />
by 15 degrees, we can save $5,000 a<br />
year in heating or cooling costs, or if we<br />
change the roof to this or the orientation<br />
of something,’ so BIM really is a huge<br />
advantage there.”<br />
This wholesale change in the process<br />
has also modified contractual arrangements.<br />
“The AIA [American Institute of<br />
Architects] here in the States,” says Burke,<br />
“has written whole new contracts for BIM<br />
because clarity is essential around issues<br />
like who owns the model, and who is<br />
Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2010 | 31
BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING<br />
responsible for what, so there is a whole<br />
new legal practice that is evolving out of<br />
BIM. In many respects HVAC engineers<br />
are becoming more responsible for things;<br />
overall, I think, there is still the same level<br />
of responsibility on everyone’s part, but<br />
it’s being shifted around a little bit.”<br />
Of all of the constituents realizing the<br />
advantages of BIM, Burke feels it’s the<br />
construction industry that is outpacing all<br />
in adopting the process, “because they’re<br />
all about bottom line and money and how<br />
to keep things from getting screwed up<br />
because they’re the ones who have to eat<br />
that, so the construction industry really<br />
seems to be latching onto BIM, either by<br />
requiring BIM models, or making their<br />
own from 2-D plans.”<br />
To that end, in fact, Autodesk has<br />
another product called Navisworks,<br />
a reading-only program designed to<br />
extract and co-ordinate information<br />
32 | Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2010
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BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING<br />
from BIM models from any company, not just Autodesk. “The<br />
construction industry is latching onto Navisworks,” explains<br />
Burke, “because it’s enabling them to take models from Bentley,<br />
ArchiCAD, Autodesk and any other company, combine it into<br />
one structure and then do their own interference reports,<br />
construction scheduling and so on. Navisworks is becoming the<br />
main tool of the construction industry.”<br />
Ultimately, BIM’s benefit is in eliminating the grey areas. “It<br />
takes you past the discussion along the lines of ‘it should work,’”<br />
emphasises Prowse, “because you can see right in the modelling<br />
that it will work. BIM is a huge advantage in planning and<br />
executing what we do.”<br />
*Download the free report: http://construction.ecnext.<br />
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ADVERTISERS INDEX<br />
Vol. 5 No.1 Quarter 3 2010<br />
Builders’ Digest<br />
BEC Equipment................................................42<br />
www.becequipment.ca<br />
BlueBeam Software Inc...................................11<br />
www.bluebeam.com<br />
C.W. Smith Crane<br />
Service Ltd....................................................... 3<br />
www.cwsmithcraneservice.com<br />
Continental Cabinet Company Inc..................39<br />
www.continentalcabinet.com<br />
Geninfo Solutions Inc......................................31<br />
www.geninfosolutions.com<br />
Heenan Blaikie Management Ltd...................23<br />
www.heenanblaikie.com<br />
George Brown College....................................25<br />
www.georgebrown.ca<br />
The Graff Company ULC..................................32<br />
www.graffconcrete.com<br />
The Graham Group..........................................30<br />
www.graham.ca<br />
The Guarantee Company of North America...33<br />
www.gcna.com<br />
Imaginit Technologies............................ 40 & 42<br />
www.rand.com<br />
34 | Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2010<br />
KIB Restoration...............................................32<br />
www.kibrestoration.com<br />
CANet Ontario.................................................37<br />
www.canetontario.cc<br />
MAPEI Inc...................... Inside Front Cover & 42<br />
www.mapei.com<br />
Mathews, Dinsdale & Clark LLP......................42<br />
www.mathewsdinsdale.com<br />
MFM Building Products Corp..........................21<br />
www.solutions.mfmbp.com<br />
Oakridge Kitchen & Bath/a Division of<br />
Oakridge Millwork Ltd...........Inside Back Cover<br />
www.oakridgekitchens.ca<br />
Ontario <strong>Construction</strong> Secretariat..................... 7<br />
www.iciconstruction.com<br />
Onyx Mechanical Ltd................................ 4 & 42<br />
www.onyxmech.com<br />
Permacon Group..............................................42<br />
www.permacon.ca<br />
Peterbilt of Canada.........................................42<br />
www.peterbilt.com<br />
RBC Financial Group........................................35<br />
www.rbc.com<br />
Schindler Elevator Corporation......................15<br />
www.ca.schindler.com<br />
Sobotec Ltd......................................................42<br />
www.sobotec.com<br />
Synstone..........................................................17<br />
www.synstone.com<br />
The TRH Group.................................................42<br />
www.trh-group.com<br />
Tractel Group..................................................... 8<br />
www.tractel.com<br />
Trisura Guarantee Insurance Company...........27<br />
www.trisura.com<br />
United <strong>Association</strong> Local 46............................22<br />
www.ualocal46.org<br />
United Rentals of Canada...................... 19 & 42<br />
www.ur.com<br />
Vipond Inc........................................................14<br />
www.vipond.ca<br />
Walters Group Inc............................................28<br />
www.waltersinc.com<br />
WeirFoulds LLP....................Outside Back Cover<br />
www.weirfoulds.com<br />
Zone Electric Inc..............................................42<br />
www.zonelectric.ca
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profile<br />
View from<br />
THE TOP<br />
A willingness to face new challenges has brought<br />
Chris Gower a long way in a short time<br />
By Kelly Parker<br />
THERE IS A COMMON THREAD TO BE FOUND IN<br />
the successful and still growing career<br />
of Chris Gower, PCL Constructors’<br />
regional vice president for Central and<br />
Eastern Canada: people. Gower was<br />
recently named to the “Top 40 Under<br />
40,” an annual listing and awards event<br />
organized by executive search firm<br />
The Caldwell Partners International<br />
to honour Canadians under 40 for<br />
outstanding achievement.<br />
Over his 15-year PCL career, Gower has<br />
managed multimillion-dollar construction<br />
projects, including the $396-million<br />
Infield Development project at the<br />
Lester B. Pearson International Airport<br />
in <strong>Toronto</strong>, and has been responsible for<br />
more than $1.3 billion of work in Ontario<br />
and the Atlantic provinces.<br />
All of this can be traced back to<br />
his London high school years when<br />
Gower was given a chance to work some<br />
construction with his older brother, one<br />
of several mentoring figures he credits for<br />
this recent accolade.<br />
Gower found intrigue in the idea that<br />
in constructing something, he was able to<br />
leave a little bit of himself behind. Soon<br />
he was enrolled in a Fanshawe College<br />
course in construction engineering, technology<br />
and management. “It’s funny,” he<br />
says, “because you start off framing houses<br />
and not really thinking in broader terms<br />
about what the industry has to offer. I<br />
just loved what I was doing; reading blueprints,<br />
building buildings and just being<br />
part of all of that. From there, college<br />
broadened my curiosity about other<br />
aspects of the business — the engineering,<br />
legal and people side of the business.”<br />
A stint with Altus Helyar as a quantity<br />
surveyor and cost consultant after college<br />
gave Gower a foundation for the business<br />
— a sense of how projects were<br />
financed and the economics behind<br />
the business. Eventually, he felt the pull<br />
of the building aspect of the business<br />
that first attracted him and he took<br />
a junior estimator position at PCL<br />
36 | Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2010
profile<br />
“<br />
There have been lots of people who have helped along the way, from old-time<br />
superintendents who helped you get through that first job, to that district manager who<br />
pushed you into a job that you didn’t think you could do<br />
”<br />
— Chris Gower, regional vice president, PCL Constructors<br />
before getting into project management. Following a stint<br />
as PCL district manager in Saskatchewan, he was called<br />
back to <strong>Toronto</strong> to take on the series of positions that led<br />
him to his current office just over a year and a half ago.<br />
PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES<br />
It’s been a relatively swift trip, which Gower attributes to a<br />
willingness to step out of his comfort zone. “I think some<br />
people are debilitated by fear or an inability to take on the<br />
next role,” he explains, “where we really don’t know all of<br />
the answers, but you figure it out as you go. For me, I’ve<br />
been somewhat fearless in taking on new challenges, and<br />
I haven’t been afraid to fail. The other thing is; when you<br />
do fail — and everybody does to varying degrees — I always<br />
thought it was really important to learn from those things.”<br />
Gower is also quick to credit the people who were there to<br />
support him as he made his mistakes. “I’ve had tons of great<br />
mentors and I share this accolade in a large part with PCL.<br />
There have been lots of people who have helped along the way,<br />
from old-time superintendents who helped you get through<br />
that first job, to that district manager who pushed you into a<br />
job that you didn’t think you could do, or the president of an<br />
organization who enabled you to take on an opportunity out of<br />
province to try new things that way. Our company is really big<br />
on mentoring, and I didn’t get here by myself, that’s for sure.”<br />
Now that he is here, Gower has his eyes on two major industry<br />
issues: government funding and foreign rules of competition.<br />
He is supportive of industry efforts to persuade the government<br />
to continue injecting money into the system amid<br />
rumours that it is going to begin tightening those purse strings.<br />
“Certainly, they have to do that in a timely manner because they<br />
can’t continue to spend forever, but construction is such a huge<br />
factor in the GDP that if it’s sustained by itself, it’s going to help<br />
the overall economic picture. If the government turns off the<br />
tap, the whole industry is going to get real quiet because the<br />
private sector hasn’t yet kicked in following the economic crash<br />
to any great degree — it’s coming, but it’s not nearly at a volume<br />
that will replace the funding provided by the government.”<br />
Gower would also like to see more focus on the evaluation<br />
criteria relating to foreign competition. “There is nothing<br />
wrong with bringing international competition into the<br />
marketplace,” he emphasizes, “but there has to be some<br />
fairness around how they’re assessed and evaluated against<br />
local competition. We need a level playing field, because if it’s<br />
not, the government thinks that it’s buying smarter and better,<br />
and maybe it’s not and the money is just leaving the country.”<br />
THE HOME FRONT<br />
Despite a demanding work schedule that has recently expanded<br />
to include responsibility for a new PCL office in Australia,<br />
Gower is actively involved in the community, loaning his efforts<br />
to associations such as The Darling Home for Kids (formally<br />
the Rose Cherry Home). Very occasionally, he can be found on<br />
a golf course, or out for a rare dinner with his wife of 16 years.<br />
More likely, though, he’s at his 11-year-old son’s games, or at his<br />
8-year-old daughter’s dance performances.<br />
Travel is also an integral part of their family life, as the Gowers<br />
try to instill a love of learning about other places and people in<br />
their kids. Having explored France last year, plans are underway<br />
for a trek to Italy this year.<br />
You get the sense that part of the reason Gower wants to take<br />
his kids outside of their suburban geographical box is to show<br />
them the wonders the world can hold for them if they only have<br />
the courage to get out there. That, and the fact that everywhere<br />
they go in life, to whatever place on the planet, there will be<br />
people to teach them life’s most valuable lessons.<br />
Fearlessness and an appreciation for what people can teach<br />
an open mind, after all, have taken Gower himself this far along<br />
his own journey. |BD<br />
Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2010 | 37
BUSINESS PRACTICES & CHALLENGES<br />
BRINGING TOGETHER A GROUP OF LIKE-MINDED<br />
professionals to share solutions to their<br />
problems has recently gained ground on<br />
Internet blogs and with various special<br />
interest groups across the country. The<br />
reasoning behind it is simple: individuals<br />
who have devised solutions to unique<br />
industry obstacles are best positioned to<br />
help others facing similar challenges.<br />
This was top of mind when the <strong>Toronto</strong><br />
<strong>Construction</strong> <strong>Association</strong> decided to step<br />
into the fray with its newly established<br />
Small Business Best Practices Committee.<br />
The committee aims to assist TCA<br />
members by providing them with a valuable<br />
forum to learn from their peers. This<br />
type of in-house ‘brain trust’ represents a<br />
first for the organization.<br />
“The concept is to create an opportunity<br />
for business owners of small-and mediumsized<br />
enterprises to brainstorm on best<br />
practices for building a better business in<br />
the construction industry,” explains TCA<br />
volunteer and Chartered Accountant<br />
Joel Baker, who spearheaded the concept<br />
and chairs the committee. “It’s about<br />
giving members something of value.”<br />
How exactly will best practices be<br />
determined The beauty of such a forum,<br />
notes Baker, is that it will be ‘organic’ in<br />
nature and that solutions will be established<br />
in the course of discussion. “It’s an<br />
exchange of ideas, recommendations and<br />
solutions that have proven to be effective<br />
for our constituents. We’ve all learned<br />
lessons along the way about running our<br />
businesses more effectively — why not<br />
share them” asks Baker, a partner with<br />
SBLR LLP Chartered Accountants, a<br />
<strong>Toronto</strong>-based firm that specializes in the<br />
construction sector.<br />
“It’s about working on your business<br />
rather than just working in your business,”<br />
Industry<br />
Think-Tank<br />
“We’ve all learned lessons along the way about<br />
running our businesses more effectively — why not<br />
share them” – Joel Baker<br />
By Roma Ihnatowycz<br />
38 | Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2010
BUSINESS PRACTICES & CHALLENGES<br />
benefit from the open exchange of<br />
information. “We will take minutes of<br />
the meetings and then write up everything<br />
in the newsletters that the TCA<br />
puts out,” says Baker. “As a result, we<br />
can let members at large know the best<br />
practices of other business owners.”<br />
FOCUS ON SMEs<br />
Committee members will be small and<br />
medium-sized business owners, owing to<br />
the fact that they represent by far the association’s<br />
largest constituency — upwards<br />
of 90 per cent of the TCA membership.<br />
“We want to appeal to the majority of the<br />
constituency. Talking about problems<br />
that relate to a large public contractor<br />
wouldn’t relate to 95 per cent of the<br />
constituency. Similarly, the committee is<br />
not intended to deal with individuals that<br />
contract business,” Baker says.<br />
Baker likens the setup to a think-tank<br />
for construction professionals, and says<br />
continues Baker. “A lot of business owners<br />
are busy hammering the nails and not<br />
paying attention to details like contracts,<br />
recruitment and cost controls. Those are<br />
the types of issues that these people have<br />
to discuss.”<br />
Baker, who also sits on the TCA’s Strategic<br />
Planning Committee and its Allied<br />
Professionals Committee, will chair the<br />
meetings, which will take place four to<br />
six times annually. While limited to a<br />
workable group of about 25 members, a<br />
complete overview of the discussion —<br />
and any valuable information gleaned<br />
from it — will be shared with the entire<br />
TCA membership via the association’s<br />
monthly newsletter.<br />
This way, all TCA members can<br />
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Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2010 | 39
BUSINESS PRACTICES & CHALLENGES<br />
Joel Baker: the new committee combines cooperation with confidentiality<br />
(BIM)<br />
Is there a REAL benefit to BIM<br />
for General Contractors<br />
BIM helps general contractors<br />
and builders gain a competitive<br />
advantage with:<br />
• Better insight into<br />
constructability and<br />
materials costs, before a<br />
project begins<br />
• Improved coordination and<br />
clash detection, leading to<br />
fewer errors and change<br />
orders<br />
• Enhanced 4D construction<br />
scheduling, linking<br />
timelines to 3D building<br />
model geometry to keep<br />
projects on track<br />
Contact us TO<strong>DAY</strong>!<br />
Brian Gauthier<br />
Senior Account Representative<br />
bgauthier@rand.com<br />
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www.rand.com/imaginit<br />
he was inspired by organizations such as the Young Presidents’<br />
Organization (YPO), an online global networking forum of<br />
young CEOs for the exchange of ideas. “What happens is that<br />
you get a group of like-minded business owners in an industry<br />
together and they feel free to share issues that they are experiencing.<br />
The true value, however, is realized by sharing solutions<br />
that have worked for them,” says Baker.<br />
Tackling small business challenges head-on will strengthen<br />
the value proposition delivered to TCA members, which in turn<br />
will help grow the association’s membership base. It will boost<br />
the TCA’s capacity to help members cope with the many hurdles<br />
they face by allowing them to apply the very tangible skills and<br />
knowledge provided by the broad range of construction professionals<br />
that will sit on the committee.<br />
Also, and perhaps most importantly, this tangible business<br />
benefit will be delivered at no cost. For smaller companies<br />
trying to shepherd their organizations through a rocky market,<br />
this represents a much-appreciated complimentary resource.<br />
Topics for the meetings will vary in scope and subject matter,<br />
based first and foremost on relevance. Ideas already being<br />
floated include business improvement and growth concepts,<br />
strategic business planning, performance indicators, business<br />
transition planning, accounting and cost-control systems, to<br />
name a few.<br />
For those concerned about confidentiality and competition,<br />
Baker stresses this shouldn’t pose a concern. In many cases businesses<br />
are not direct competitors, and if they are, their owners<br />
can be guarded in the knowledge they share. “One business<br />
may be in the not-for-profit sector, and the other in the housing<br />
industry, so there is not a conflict of interest or a competitive<br />
issue,” points out Baker. “And if there is, they may choose not<br />
to share certain things. But what’s wrong with sharing best<br />
practices in human resources or employee benefits Or insurance<br />
tips, accounting systems, or remuneration to the CEO<br />
Everyone can benefit from that type of exchange.”<br />
Clearly, challenges specific and unique to the construction<br />
industry are best suited for discussion in a forum of like-minded<br />
professionals. By bringing together builders, contractors and<br />
suppliers actively working in construction, industry-specific challenges<br />
can be fully assessed, dissected and resolved — whether<br />
it’s looking at how to attract young people to the profession,<br />
or dealing with the bonding industry, or putting together the<br />
best construction contract. Only a group of skilled construction<br />
professionals can explore these and other industry-specific<br />
topics to their full extent.<br />
On a final note, aside from the educational benefit of joining<br />
the committee, its volunteers will also be doing something for<br />
the good of the TCA and its members. This represents an added<br />
incentive to get on board and help out. “As a member of an<br />
association, you want to take part in it,” says Baker. “That is why<br />
members join an association . . . to help make it strong, and to<br />
help it benefit the industry. You get what you give.” |BD<br />
The TCA is currently looking for volunteers to sit on its<br />
Small Business Best Practices Committee. Those interested in<br />
joining can contact Lenore Villeneuve, committee coordinator, at<br />
lvilleneuve@tcaconnect.com, 416-499-4000, ext. 113.<br />
40 | Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2010
<strong>Toronto</strong> <strong>Construction</strong> <strong>Association</strong><br />
Upcoming Events<br />
Collaborative Web-Based Process:<br />
The Next Technology Step in <strong>Construction</strong><br />
Construct Canada 2010<br />
The Close Out – Best Practices for<br />
Closing out a <strong>Construction</strong> Project<br />
ADR: Why Litigation May Be Like Working Without a Hard-<br />
Hat: Learn More about ADR – the Cost-Effective Alternative<br />
TCA Christmas Lunch<br />
Export Ready – Diversifying your Business<br />
beyond North America<br />
TCA Annual General Meeting<br />
TCA Ski Day<br />
Annual Golf Classic<br />
007 Diamond Casino Gala<br />
Tuesday, November 16, 2010<br />
Location: TCA<br />
Wednesday, December 1 to Friday, December 3, 2010<br />
Location: Metro Convention Centre<br />
Wednesday, December 1, 2010<br />
At Construct Canada<br />
Thursday, December 2, 2010<br />
At Construct Canada<br />
Friday, December 3, 2010<br />
Location: Metro Convention Centre<br />
2011, date to be confirmed<br />
Airport Hotel, <strong>Toronto</strong><br />
Thursday, January 27, 2011<br />
Woodbine Entertainment Centre<br />
Friday, February 25, 2011<br />
Alpine Ski Club, Collingwood<br />
Tickets go on sale January 3, 2011<br />
Thursday, May 19, 2011<br />
Copper Creek & Eagles Nest Golf Clubs<br />
Tickets go on sale April 2, 2011<br />
Saturday, February 11, 2012<br />
Liberty Grand Entertainment Complex<br />
For further information please contact Mary McBride, Special Events Coordinator • Email mmcbride@tcaconnect.com<br />
<strong>Toronto</strong> <strong>Construction</strong> <strong>Association</strong>, 70 Leek Crescent, Richmond Hill, Ontario L4B 1H1 • www.tcic.ca<br />
Young <strong>Construction</strong> Executives Club<br />
Thursday, November 11, 2010<br />
YCEC Annual Pub Night<br />
Madison Avenue Pub<br />
14 Madison Avenue, near Spadina and Bloor, <strong>Toronto</strong><br />
YCEC Family Skate/Hockey<br />
Saturday, January 29, 2011<br />
Brampton Powerade Centre<br />
Poker Night March 2011<br />
YCEC <strong>Toronto</strong> Harbour Boat Cruise June 2011<br />
YCEC Board of Directors Golf Invitational September 2011<br />
Working Weekend – Leadership for Young Executives October 2011<br />
Pub Night November 2011<br />
For further information please contact Erin Cimino, Manager, Special Projects • Email ecimino@tcaconnect.com<br />
The <strong>Construction</strong> Institute of Canada<br />
Seminar: <strong>Construction</strong> Liens and Trusts Thursday, November 18, 2010<br />
Course: Help with Green Building Rating Systems Tuesday, November 23, 2010 to Tuesday, January 11, 2011<br />
Workshop: The Close-Out Project<br />
Wednesday, December 1, 2010<br />
At Construct Canada<br />
<strong>Construction</strong> Management Essentials Part 1<br />
Monday, January 10, 2011<br />
Ten weeks<br />
Blueprint Reading and Estimating Level 1<br />
Tuesday, January 11, 2011<br />
Ten weeks<br />
<strong>Construction</strong> Management Essentials Part 2<br />
Wednesday, January 12, 2011<br />
Ten weeks<br />
Planning and Scheduling<br />
Thursday, January 13, 2011<br />
Ten weeks<br />
The Leadership Challenge Wednesday, March 2 to Friday, March 4, 2011<br />
For further information please contact Roxanne Drisdelle, Professional Development Co-ordinator at<br />
(416) 499-4000 ext. 116 • Email rdrisdelle@tcaconnect.com • www.tcic.ca<br />
The<br />
<strong>Construction</strong><br />
Institute of<br />
Canada<br />
Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2010 | 41
BUYERS' & SOURCE GUIDE<br />
Aluminium Building Panels<br />
Backhoe Equipment<br />
Concrete Masonry Products<br />
SOBOTEC LTD.<br />
67 BURFORD ROAD<br />
HAMILTON, ON L8E 3C6<br />
Vladimir Sobot<br />
vdsobot@sobotec.com<br />
Tel.: 905-578-1278 / Fax: 905-578-1446<br />
Website: www.sobotec.com<br />
BEC EQUIPMENT<br />
1780 BONHILL ROAD<br />
MISSISSAUGA ON L5T 1C8<br />
George Conley<br />
Tel.: 905-670-7678 / Fax: 905-670-7260<br />
Website: www.becequipment.ca<br />
PERMACON GROUP<br />
8375 5TH SIDE ROAD<br />
MILTON, ON L9T 2X7<br />
Marcus Poirier<br />
cs.milton@permacon.ca<br />
Tel.: 1-800-265-0692 / Fax: 905-875-4216<br />
Website: www.permaconpro.ca<br />
Electrical Contractor<br />
Equipment Rentals<br />
Insurance<br />
®<br />
electric inc.<br />
ZONE ELECTRIC INC.<br />
37 SEWELLS LANE<br />
BRAMPTON, ON L7A 2Z9<br />
Henry Medley<br />
info@zonelectric.ca<br />
Tel.: 416-628-9681 / Fax: 905-495-1532<br />
Website: www.zonelectric.ca<br />
Lawyers<br />
MATHEWS DINSDALE & CLARK LLP<br />
1 QUEEN ST EAST, 25th Floor<br />
TORONTO, ON M5C 2Z1<br />
Theresia Skoberne<br />
tskoberne@mathewsdinsdale.com<br />
Tel.: 416-869-8556 / Fax: 416-862-8247<br />
Website: www.mathewsdinsdale.com<br />
UNITED RENTALS<br />
2790 ARGENTIA ROAD<br />
MISSISSAUGA, ON L5N 8L2<br />
C. Freeborn<br />
cfreeborn@ur.com<br />
Tel.: 416-433-9644 / Fax: 647-723-0364<br />
Website: www.ur.com<br />
(BIM)<br />
Is there a REAL benefit to BIM<br />
for General Contractors<br />
BIM helps general contractors<br />
and builders gain a competitive<br />
advantage with:<br />
• Better insight into<br />
Manufactured Tile & Stone Installation constructability and<br />
& Concrete Restoration Systems materials costs, before a Mechanical<br />
project begins<br />
• Improved coordination and<br />
clash detection, leading to<br />
fewer errors and change<br />
orders<br />
• Enhanced 4D construction<br />
MAPEI INC.<br />
scheduling, linking ONYX MECHANICAL LTD.<br />
2130 WILLIAMS PARKWAY<br />
timelines to 3D building 214 WILKINSON RD<br />
BRAMPTON, ON L6S 5X7<br />
model geometry BRAMPTON, to keep ON L6T 4M4<br />
John Wm. Sommers<br />
projects on trackKaren Backus<br />
jsommers@mapei.com<br />
Contact us TO<strong>DAY</strong>!<br />
karen@onyxmech.com<br />
Tel.: 905-799-2663 / Fax: 905-799-2436<br />
Tel.: 905-866-6699 / Fax: 905-866-6690<br />
Website: www.mapei.com Brian Gauthier Website: www.onyxmech.com<br />
Senior Account Representative<br />
bgauthier@rand.com<br />
T: 905-625-2000 Ext. 5230<br />
www.rand.com/imaginit<br />
TRISURA GUARANTEE INSURANCE COMPANY<br />
70 YORK STREET, SUITE 1100<br />
TORONTO, ONTARIO M5J 1S9<br />
Sarah Mainella<br />
sarah.mainella@trisura.com<br />
Tel.: 416-214-2555 / Fax: 416-214-9597<br />
Website : www.trisura.com<br />
Safety, Environmental<br />
Training & Education<br />
Technologies<br />
Truck Manufacturers<br />
THE TRH GROUP<br />
261 MILWAY AVENUE, UNIT #1<br />
CONCORD, ON L4K 3K9<br />
Al Aiello<br />
sales@trh-group.com<br />
Tel: 905-669-9517 / Fax: 905-669-9496<br />
Toll Free: 800-806-8444<br />
Website: www.trh-group.com<br />
42 | Builders' Digest Quarter 3 2010<br />
IMAGINIT TECHNOLOGIES<br />
905 BEACH AVENUE<br />
VANCOUVER, BC V6Z 1E1<br />
Nathania MacGregor<br />
nmacgregor@rand.com<br />
Tel.: 604-270-7660 / Fax: 604-270-7630<br />
Website: www.rand.com<br />
PETERBILT OF CANADA<br />
6711 MISSISSAUGA ROAD, SUITE 501<br />
MISSISSAUGA, ON L5N 4J8<br />
Greg Grabinsky<br />
greg.grabinsky@paccar.com<br />
Tel.: 905-858-7097 / Fax: 905-858-7091<br />
Website: www.peterbilt.com
Oakridge Kitchens - Affordable Elegance<br />
At Oakridge Kitchens we build kitchens, vanities, media centres, wall units, and bars.<br />
We deliver quality workmanship and functional designs, customized to suit your needs, at a reasonable price.<br />
Multi-unit Kitchens: OAKRIDGE KITCHENS line of multi-unit<br />
kitchens is designed and manufactured with the condo, apartment<br />
units and rental market in mind.<br />
Custom Kitchens: Our expertise in kitchen cabinets covers the<br />
entire gamut, from multi-unit kitchens all the way to beautifully<br />
designed and custom made kitchens.<br />
Bathroom Vanities: Let Oakridge Kitchens custom design your<br />
bathroom vanity and turn your bathroom into an oasis of comfort.<br />
Wall Units: Your custom built wall unit or media centre will look<br />
good, keep you organized, hide equipment, wires and connectors<br />
and be the focal point of your room.<br />
Bars: A room with an ambience of fun and enjoyment that can add<br />
an entirely new dimension to your home.<br />
Architectural Millwork: Your place of business needs to be<br />
efficient and functional and it needs to tell your employees,<br />
colleagues and customers something about your company. Unique,<br />
custom designed architectural millwork can help set your place of<br />
business, and your company, apart from the rest.<br />
Our company: Our family owned and operated business is proud<br />
of our innovative designs, quality workmanship and exceptional<br />
service. The Oakridge team consists of Paul DiGirolamo,<br />
responsible for design and custom millwork; Lorenzo DiGirolamo,<br />
responsible for production and field installations; and Michael<br />
DiGirolamo, in charge of sales, marketing and customer service.<br />
Protecting your environment: We are Environmentally Friendly<br />
Certified. Oakridge Kitchens now offers the choice of utilizing urea<br />
formaldehyde free plywood and particle core materials.<br />
Quality Statement Oakridge products are guaranteed to give<br />
100% satisfaction in every way. If our product or service proves<br />
otherwise, we promise to correct the problem to the complete<br />
satisfaction of our customers. All of our products and installations<br />
are warranted against materials defect and workmanship. This has<br />
been our family tradition since 1992.<br />
9 Bradwick Dr., Concord, Ontario L4K 2T4<br />
Ph: (905) 761-2815 Fax: (905) 761-5984<br />
ouzi@oakridgemillwork.ca
“WeirFoulds has serviced our<br />
corporate, real estate, leasing,<br />
design-build, construction,<br />
consulting and other legal needs<br />
for more than 35 years, as we<br />
expanded from a single location to a<br />
multi-faceted complex of companies<br />
with offices throughout the world.”<br />
Victor Smith, CEO, Ingenium Group Inc.,<br />
An Integrated Consulting and Design-Build Company<br />
grew up with WeirFoulds.<br />
To find out more, call Glenn Ackerley<br />
at 416.947.5008 or email him at<br />
ackerley@weirfoulds.com.<br />
Protect your future. Gain a competitive advantage. WeirFoulds LLP.<br />
416.365.1110<br />
www.weirfoulds.com