TRAINING.

Overview

After Participating in this Course, You Will Be Able To:

• Utilize the principal Canadian standard form construction documents issued by ACEC, RAIC, and CCDC for your projects.
• Understand the allocation of risk among parties within these construction contracts.
• Learn why using standard-form construction documents is advantageous for fair risk allocation.
• Apply these standard form contracts consistently to minimize potential disputes and claims.
• Manage engineering and construction projects fairly by adhering to these standard form documents throughout the project lifecycle.

Description
When new contract documents are written, considerable effort is necessary to ensure they are complete and consistent, ensuring critical items are noticed. This process can be time-consuming and prone to errors, leading to potential issues during the project. However, these problems can be avoided by using standard documents that are well-designed, thoroughly reviewed, and accepted by major construction industry organizations. Standard documents provide a reliable foundation that addresses all necessary aspects, reducing the likelihood of omissions and inconsistencies.

By using a standardized set of contract documents developed by various industry organizations in Canada, you can significantly reduce the occurrence of these problems. One such organization, the Canadian Construction Documents Committee (CCDC), plays a crucial role in this process. The CCDC is a broad-based coalition of construction industry organizations whose mission is to develop and distribute quality construction documents. These documents are crafted to ensure they are comprehensive and fair, benefiting all parties involved in a construction project.

Utilizing CCDC documents and other standardized forms ensures that your contract documents are complete, fair, and widely accepted within the industry. This acceptance facilitates smoother project execution, as all parties are familiar with the terms and expectations outlined in these documents. By adopting these standardized forms, you can enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of your construction projects, minimizing disputes and ensuring a more streamlined and successful project management process.

Who Should Attend
This course is designed for professionals responsible for developing, managing, and utilizing construction contract documents in industrial, commercial, institutional, and multi-unit residential buildings.

Architects, building inspectors, consulting engineers, construction managers, and contract administrators will find immense value in understanding and effectively using these documents. Contractors, engineers, facility managers, and financial managers are also key attendees who will benefit significantly. Legal advisors specializing in construction law, owners and their representatives, principals, procurement managers, and project managers will gain crucial insights. Additionally, quantity surveyors, safety officers, site supervisors, and urban planners will find the course invaluable for enhancing their roles and ensuring project success.

Special Features

Attendees can purchase their copy of the CCDC 2 – 2020; however, it is not a requirement for this course. https://www.ccdc.org/document/ccdc-2-2020/

To download CCDC’s electronic documents, you need a registration number. Please see below for instructions and the list of document outlets.

Instructions:

• Purchase a registration number from a document outlet
• Proceed to download your document by selecting the blue button above
• Once in the registration form, please enter your registration number
• Note that some fields in the registration form are mandatory.

Please note: You can check other time zones here.

Syllabus

DAY I

Welcome, Introduction, Workshop Preview, Learning Outcomes and the Assessment Method

Introduction

• The purpose and importance of contracts - contract law in a nutshell
• The court’s role in the enforcement and interpretation of contracts
• The two main types of contract terms
• Express
• Implied
• Types of Contracts
• Negotiated Contracts
• Not quite a negotiation - the battle of the forms
• Contracts of Adhesion
• Owner Standard Forms
• Industry Standard Forms
• The benefits of Industry Standard Forms: legal, economic, psychological
• A short history and geography of Industry Standard Forms
• USA - the AIA Standard Forms, ConsensusDocs
• Global - FIDIC Standard Forms
• The United Kingdom - JCT, NEC, ICE
• Canada - the Canadian Construction Documents Committee (CCDC)

Types of Construction Contracts (Project Delivery Systems)

• Inherent legal obligations derive from the type of contract chosen
• How the choice of payment method - fixed price, unit price, or cost plus - allocates most of the contractual risk
• The traditional model: Design - Bid - Build
• The search for a better mousetrap: modern alternative project delivery systems:
• Construction Management
• Integrated Project Delivery

An Overview of How Construction Contracts Implement the Choice of Project Delivery Method

This will look at and compare how the CCDC-2 2020 and other standard form construction contracts use contract language to implement a particular project delivery method by reference to the CCDC-2 2020 Stipulated Price Contract and other Standard Form Contracts, including:

• OPSS
• CCDC 2MA 2016 - the master agreement between owner and contractor
• CCDC 4 2011 - unit price contract and CCDC 18 2001 civil works contract
• CCDC 5A 2010 construction management contract - for services
• CCDC 5B 2010 construction management contract - for services and construction
• CCDC 14 2013 design-build stipulated price contract
• Various Federal Government Standard Acquisition Clauses

The Language of the Bidding Process

This will consider the absence lack of industry-standard contract language to implement construction procurement by looking at various organizations’ precedents available:

• CCDC bidding documents: contractor’s qualification statement, stipulated price bid and reviewing how owners affect procurement by either implementing a Ron Engineering-style Contract A or a low-risk negotiated procurement in light of the legal requirements imposed upon the public sector procurement process under applicable Trade Agreements and the common law of contracts.

DAY II

A detailed and granular look at Standard Form Construction Contracts

Using the CCDC 2 2020 stipulated price contract as a guide, the seminar will provide a detailed analysis of the components and terms of a traditional fixed-price construction contract, considering the commercial purpose and legal effect of the following:

• Parts of the construction contract
• The agreement
• The general conditions
• Definitions and preliminary matters
• Contract documents and interpretation
• Subsurface and physical conditions
• Contractor's responsibilities
• Other work at the site
• Owner's responsibilities
• The role of the consultant
• Changes in price and time
• Quality of construction provisions
• Payments
• Claims
• Suspension and termination
• Dispute resolution
• Bonds and Insurance

For comparison, selected provisions of other Standard Form Stipulated Price Contracts will be reviewed to demonstrate alternative ways to achieve desired outcomes, including OPSS and Federal Standard Acquisition Clauses.

Workshop - Tinkering with the Standard Form through Supplementary Conditions

• Role and purpose of supplementary conditions
• The class will look at circumstances where an owner might not want to use a particular general condition and consider how a supplementary condition could change the contract terms.

Subcontracts, Administrative Documents, and Support Forms

This will look at other standard form documents necessary to implement and document the construction process, including.

• The CCA-1 2021 Stipulated Price Subcontract
• The Application for Payment/Proper Invoice (where applicable)
• Change Orders
• Statutory Declarations
• Certificate of Substantial Performance
• Proper Invoices

DAY III

Contracts for Design Services

Introduction - the sources of Standard Form Design Services Contracts and the considerations going into their terms, such as

• RAIC Document 6 2022 - standard form of contract for architectural services
• OAA 600 [2021] - the Ontario Architect’s Association standard form architectural services agreement
• ACEC Document 31 - 2010 - engineering agreement between client and engineer

Using the RAIC 6Six as a guide, a detailed and granular look at the Content and terms of Agreements for Design Services, including

• Structure and use
• Describing the scope of services
• Owner's responsibilities
• Compensation
• Time for performance
• Payment procedures and measures of compensation
• Opinions of cost
• Ownership and use of documents
• Dispute resolution
• Suspension and termination
• Notice of acceptability
• Insurance
• Hazardous environmental conditions

Where applicable, the terms of other standard form design services agreements will be viewed to compare alternative contract language to achieve the same or different outcomes.

Other Design Services Agreements

This section will look in a general sense at the features of other standard form design services agreements, such as:

• Abbreviated and short-form client architect agreements
• ACEC Document 35 - 2013 project management
• ACEC Document 36 - 2012 agreement of studies and reports
• ACEC Document 39 - an agreement between the owner and the owner’s engineer for design/build projects
• CCDC 15 2013 - design services contract between design-builder and consultant
• RAIC 9 - Canadian standard form of contract between consultant and architect
• ACEC Document 32 - 2011 agreement between engineer and sub-consultant

Questions and Answers and Feedback to Participants on Achievement of Learning Outcomes

Instructor

Michael MacKay practiced law in Toronto for over 21 years, the last 19 almost exclusively in the field of construction law and the last 14 at his own firm. He was a member of the Ontario Bar Association’s Construction Law Section’s Executive Committee from 1993 to 2009 and for most of that time co-edited its newsletter “Nuts & Bolts.” He is a frequent contributor to the Construction Law Letter.

For over 20 years, he has travelled all across Canada to talk on construction law topics – including a complete construction law course for EPIC.