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CONSTRUCTION ECONOMIST FALL 2012 - Canadian Institute of ...
CONSTRUCTION
              ECONOMIST
                                                                                  FALL 2012

              The Journal of the Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyors
              Le Journal de l’Institut canadien des économistes en construction

                                         CIQS recognizes two additional
PM 40065075

                                         fully accredited programs
                                                                                              ciqs.org
CONSTRUCTION ECONOMIST FALL 2012 - Canadian Institute of ...
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CONSTRUCTION ECONOMIST FALL 2012 - Canadian Institute of ...
CONSTRUCTION
                                                                            ECONOMIST
                                                                                                                                                                                                                     FALL 2012
The mission of CIQS is to promote and
advance professional quantity surveying
and construction estimating; to establish
and maintain national standards;
to recruit, educate and support                                                        The Journal of the Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyors
our members.                                                                           Le Journal de l’Institut canadien des économistes en construction

Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyors
                                                                                         Features
90 Nolan Court, Unit 19, Markham, ON L3R 4L9
t. 905/477.0008 f. 905/477.6774                                                            The evolution of construction cost
toll free. +1 866/345.1168
e. info@ciqs.org                                                                           estimating and project management technology .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .                                                                         12
www.ciqs.org

Executive Director                                                                             Challenging yourself without changing jobs.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 16
Lois Metcalfe. ........................... . . . . . . execdir@ciqs.org

                                                                                                 Two additional fully accredited programs for CIQS. .  .  .  .  . 19
Editor
Joshua Mutize, PQS.................... . . conecon@ciqs.org
Translation
André Bernard, ECA
                                                                                                   2012 AGM presentations.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 20
Send Change of Address to:
Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyors
90 Nolan Court, Unit 19, Markham, Ontario L3R 4L9                                                    Construction cost trends .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 27
CIQS Council
President:
Mark Russell, PQS(F)
1st Vice President & CIQS - Maritimes Rep:
Mark Gardin, PQS
Secretary/Treasurer &
CIQS – British Columbia Rep:
Roy Howes, PQS
CIQS - Ontario Rep:
Chris Court, PQS
CIQS - Prairies and NWT Rep:                                                                                                                                                                                                        16
Dave Burns, PQS
CIQS - Québec Rep:                                                                                            On cover – 1st photo: L to R - Michael Bernier, CIQS – Prairies and NWT Vice President,
Jean Paradis, ECA                                                                                             Mark Gardin, CIQS Vice President, Nancy Wheatley, RRC Dean of School of Construction
Past President                                                                                                 & Engineering Technology, Dave Burns, CIQS – Prairies and NWT President, Jerry
& CIQS - Newfoundland and Labrador Rep:                                                                        Johnstone, RRC Chair Civil Engineering Technology, David Lai, CIQS Education
Roy Lewis, PQS(F)                                                                                               Administrator and Roger Ward, CIQS – Prairies and NWT Director;
Education Administrator:                                                                                          2nd photo: L to R – Mark Russell, CIQS President, Gord Nixon, SAIT’s Vice President,
David Lai, PQS(F)                                                                                                 Academic,, David Lai, CIQS Education Administrator, Dave Burns, CIQS – Prairies and
                                                                                                                   NWT President, Dr. Faisal Arian, Academic Chair, Bachelor of Science Construction Project
                                                                                                                   Management at SAIT and Scott MacPherson, Dean, School of Construction at SAIT.

                                                                          Departments
Statements of fact and opinion expressed are those of
the authors and CIQS assumes no responsibility for the
content, nor do they represent official policy of CIQS.

Published four times a year on behalf of the                              President’s message. .           .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 4
Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyors by
                                                                          Executive Director’s message.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 6
                                                                          Editor’s message .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 8

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                                                                          Welcome new members.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 18
info@kelman.ca         www.kelman.ca

Managing Editor. ........................ Chris Kelman
                                                                          Industry news. .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 29
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CONSTRUCTION ECONOMIST FALL 2012 - Canadian Institute of ...
President’s Message

  Our Council has wasted no time                                                                                           Mark Russell, PQS(F)

 C                                                     Volunteers are the lifeblood of the Institute and
               ouncil started off the year with
               a list of goals to accomplish
               and they have wasted no time            their time, efforts and input have helped the
               in getting down to work.
     The September Council meeting has in              Institute flourish and grow.
  recent years turned into the ‘Roadshow’
  meeting for Council, whereby we visit               Council then spent time on Friday after-      the pleasure of meeting Mr. Pascal Asselin,
  an Affiliate for our Council meeting, as         noon with Red Door Media, the firm com-          President of Le Comité Européen des Econ-
  opposed to meeting at the CIQS Head              missioned to update the website and new          omistes de la Construction (The European
  Office. For the second year in a row             content management system. The evalua-           Council of Construction Economists - CEEC),
  we found ourselves in the West for yet           tion process that last year’s Council under-     during his recent vacation in Vancouver. We
  another accreditation ceremony. This             took was very detailed and all-encompass-        had a lengthy discussion on the attributes,
  year it was CIQS Prairies and Northwest          ing. The status report and overview pro-         strengths, issues and challenges of our
  Territories’ turn to host CIQS Council,          vided by Red Door Media was professional         respective organizations and found that we
  predominantly to partake in the celebra-         and impressive and they are well on their        have more in common than we could have
  tions surrounding the accreditation of the       way to having the new system ready for           imagined. An invitation was extended to
  Construction Project Management degree           early 2013. Users of the old CIQS website        attend the next CEEC meeting in Novem-
  course at the Southern Alberta Institute of      and Members Only area will notice a huge         ber, which was discussed and accepted by
  Technology (SAIT).                               change in the look, functionality and acces-     Council, so I will be representing CIQS at
     The accreditation of any course takes         sibility of the new website – all tied back to   the meeting.
  an incredible amount of time, from the           the new CIQS Brand Standards.                      We are busy planning our attendance at
  initial contact through to fostering relation-      CIQS Prairies and Northwest Territories       the PAQS Congress in Xi’an, China next
  ships to course comparisons to analytical        hosted a meet and greet with the local           May. Readers of the last Construction
  matrix and final evaluations. This work          Calgary members and Council late Friday          Economist will note from Andrew Collins’
  in the first instance is carried out by the      afternoon. These events are invaluable to        report that the CIQS representation, in
  volunteers at the Affiliate level, prior to      all parties, as the members get the oppor-       terms of number of attendees, is contrary
  approval by the CIQS Education Admin-            tunity to engage with Council and, in turn,      to our standing within the organization and
  istrator and subsequent presentation to          Council gets face time and a chance to           our level of participation within various com-
  Council for final review and approval. The       meet more of the membership and Affiliate        mittees. In order to stay at the forefront of
  documentation provided is extensive and          Board volunteers. This informal forum pro-       these organizations, we need to expand our
  credit is due to the CIQS Prairies and           vides a good opportunity for dialogue on a       registration numbers and Council is pursuing
  Northwest Territories Board and volun-           variety of topics.                               avenues that could allow this to happen.
  teers who now have two accreditations in            Before I move on, Council passes on             As important as CIQS participation is at
  place (the other being Red River College         our thanks to CIQS Prairies and Northwest        International events, we cannot lose sight
  in Winnipeg) and are working hard on             Territories for hosting an enjoyable week-       of participation within our own country. Vol-
  their third – all within the space of a year.    end which was also tremendously pro-             unteers are the lifeblood of the Institute and
     The ceremony at SAIT was attended by          ductive. The inimitable and effervescent         their time, efforts and input have helped the
  80 people consisting of a mix of students,       CIQS Prairies and Northwest Territories          Institute flourish and grow. For recent evi-
  faculty, Affiliate Board members and CIQS        President, Dave Burns PQS, was our main          dence of this you only need to look at what
  Council. SAIT also took the opportunity to       host and the enthusiasm that he has for          has been achieved with the increase in ac-
  proudly showcase their newly completed           his City, Affiliate and Profession is both       creditations across the entire country.
  $400M Trades and Technology Complex,             palpable and infectious.                           If you are interested in getting involved,
  which spans 753,000 square feet over                My last message touched on the need           then I would encourage you to do so. Who
  three buildings.                                 to maintain our International status. I had      knows, you may even like it.

4 | CONSTRUCTION ECONOMIST | www.ciqs.org | Fall 2012
CONSTRUCTION ECONOMIST FALL 2012 - Canadian Institute of ...
Message du Président

Notre Conseil n’a pas perdu de temps

L
           e Conseil a débuté l’année avec      de $400M du «Trades and Technology               tion Affiliée et sa Profession est à la fois pal-
           une liste de buts à atteindre et     Complex», qui s’étend sur 753,000 pieds          pable et contagieuse.
           n’a pas perdu de temps à se          carrés répartis en trois bâtiments.                 Mon précédent message traitait de la né-
           mettre à la tâche.                      Le Conseil a passé du temps, le ven-          cessité de maintenir notre statut International.
   La réunion du Conseil de septembre des       dredi après midi, avec «Red Door Media»,         J’ai eu le plaisir de rencontrer Monsieur Pas-
dernières années tournait en «Roadshow»         la firme mandatée pour rafraîchir notre site     cal Asselin, président du Comité Européen
où nous visitions une Association affiliée      internet et système de gestion de contenu.       des Économistes de la Construction (CEEC),
pour notre réunion du Conseil, plutôt que       Le processus d’évaluation que le Conseil         durant ses récentes vacances à Vancouver.
de tenir la réunion au siège de l’ICÉC. Pour    de l’an dernier avait entrepris était très dé-   Nous avons eu une longue discussion sur les
la deuxième année consécutive, nous nous        taillé et compréhensif. Le rapport d’étape       attributs, les forces, les problèmes et défis de
sommes retrouvés dans l’ouest pour une          et le sommaire présenté par «Red Door            nos organisations respectives et avons trouvé
nouvelle cérémonie d’accréditation. C’était     Media» était impressionnant et profession-       que nous avons plus en commun que ce que
cette année le tour du «CIQS Prairies and       nel et ils sont en train de mettre en place      nous pouvions imaginer. Une invitation nous
Northwest Territories» d’accueillir le Con-     un nouveau système qui sera opération-           été faite d’assister à la prochaine rencontre
seil de l’ICÉC, principalement pour partag-     nel en début de 2013. Les utilisateurs de        du CEEC en novembre, laquelle fut discutée
er les célébrations entourant l’accréditation   l’ancien site internet du CIQS/ICÉC et de        et acceptée par le Conseil, aussi je vais
du programme et diplôme en Gestion de la        la section Membres Seulement, verront un         représenter le CIQS/ICÉC à cette rencontre.
construction au «Southern Alberta Institute     changement important dans l’apparence,              Nous nous activons à préparer notre par-
of Technology (SAIT)».                          la fonctionnalité et l’accessibilité du nou-     ticipation au congrès du «PAQS» à Xi’an,
   Peu importe le cours, son accréditation      veau site internet - tout étant lié aux nou-     en Chine en mai prochain. Les lecteurs du
requiert un temps incroyable, du premier        veaux standards de marque du CIQS/ICÉC.          dernier «Construction Economist» noteront
contact, à travers les démarches visant            Le CIQS Prairies and Northwest Ter-           du rapport d’Andrew Collins que le CIQS, en
à développer les relations, aux comparai-       ritories tint un «meet and greet» avec les       termes du nombre de participants, y était
sons de cours, aux matrices analytiques         membres locaux de Calgary et du Conseil          sous représenté, ce qui est contraire à nos
jusqu’aux évaluations finales. Ce travail       vendredi en fin d’après-midi. Ces événe-         obligations au sein de l’organisation y com-
est d’abord entrepris par des bénévoles         ments sont d’une grande valeur pour              pris le niveau de participation au sein des
au niveau de l’Affiliée, avant d’être ensuite   toutes les parties, puisque les membres y        divers comités. Afin de rester aux premiers
approuvé par l’Administrateur à l’éducation     ont l’opportunité de rencontre avec le Con-      rangs de ces organisations, nous devons
de l’ICÉC et ensuite présenté au Conseil        seil et en contrepartie le Conseil obtient       augmenter le nombre de nos membres par-
pour revue et approbation finale. La docu-      du face à face et la chance de rencontrer        ticipants et le Conseil étudie des manières
mentation fournie est extensive et le crédit    davantage de membres et bénévoles du             de rendre cela possible.
en revient au conseil du «CIQS Prairies         conseil de l’Affiliée. Ce forum informel pro-       Aussi importante que puisse-t-être la par-
and Northwest Territories» et ses bénév-        cure une bonne occasion de dialogues sur         ticipation du CIQS à des événements interna-
oles qui ont maintenant deux accrédita-         une variété de sujets.                           tionaux, nous ne devons pas perdre de vue
tions en place (la deuxième étant celle du         Et avant de passer à autre chose, je          la participation à l’intérieur de notre propre
«Red River College» à Winnipeg) et qui          transmets les remerciements du Conseil           pays. Les bénévoles sont le sang de l’Institut
travaillent maintenant à leur troisième -       au «CIQS Prairies and Northwest Ter-             et leur temps, leurs efforts et apports ont
tout cela en l’espace d’un an.                  ritories» pour nous avoir procuré une fin        contribué au développement et la croissance
   La cérémonie au SAIT accueillait 80          de semaine aussi agréable et extraordi-          de l’Institut. À l’évidence, nous n’avons qu’à
personnes réparties en étudiants, ensei-        nairement productive. L’inimitable et ef-        regarder ce qui a été accompli en termes du
gnants, membres du conseil de l’Affiliée        fervescent président du «CIQS Prairies and       nombre d’accréditations à travers tout le pays.
et membres du conseil de l’ICÉC. Le SAIT        Northwest Territories», Dave Burns PQS,             Si vous êtes intéressé à vous impliquer,
profita de l’occasion pour montrer avec fi-     fut notre principal hôte et l’enthousiasme       alors je vous encourage à le faire. Qui sait,
erté les nouvelles installations d’une valeur   qu’il démontre pour sa Ville, son Associa-       vous pourriez même aimer ça...

                                                                                      Fall 2012 | www.ciqs.org | CONSTRUCTION ECONOMIST | 5
CONSTRUCTION ECONOMIST FALL 2012 - Canadian Institute of ...
Executive Director’s Message

  Canada
  Not-for-Profit Corporations Act                                                                                                  Lois Metcalfe

  A
              new Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act             be changed to comply with CNCA, what is outdated,
              (CNCA) came into effect on October 17, 2011.           inapplicable, etc. and what needs to be changed. We are
              This means that corporations governed by the           currently drafting articles for the Certificate of Continuance
              Canada Corporations Act will have three years (until   which will replace our Letters Patent. The next step will
  October 17, 2014) to continue under the new Act. The new           be to revise our By-laws. CIQS have retained legal counsel
  Act will not automatically apply. Every national not-for-profit    to ensure compliance and it is hoped that we will be in a
  association needs to take the necessary steps to transition to     position to present these documents for approval at the
  the new Act.                                                       2013 Annual General Meeting in Montreal.
    This has been on CIQS Council’s radar for the last year.           If you would like more information on the new
  We are currently reviewing our letters patent, supplementary       Canada Not-for Profit Corporations Act please visit
  letters patent and By-laws to determine what needs to              www.ic.gc.ca or feel free to contact me.

      The new Act will not automatically apply. Every national not-for-profit
      association needs to take the necessary steps to transition to the new Act.
                                                                             p-543_ai.pdf      1    12-04-17    7:49 AM

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CONSTRUCTION ECONOMIST FALL 2012 - Canadian Institute of ...
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CONSTRUCTION ECONOMIST FALL 2012 - Canadian Institute of ...
Editor’s Message

  Cost trends,
  building permits and sustainability                                                                               Joshua Mutize, PQS

I
    n July, the total value of permits          For more details on building permits,      compared to previous month.
    declined in six provinces, led            see the related article in this issue.          In August, employment rose
    by Ontario and followed by                                                             by 15,000 in British Columbia, pushing
    Saskatchewan and Alberta. This            Cost escalation 2012                         the unemployment rate down 0.3 per-
  decrease in July was 2.3% from June.        Construction escalations in Canada are       centage points to 6.7%. Compared
     After two consecutive monthly            currently trending at 2.1%. Moderate         with 12 months earlier, employment in-
  gains, Ontario recorded the largest         escalation is expected throughout 2012       creased 2.3% above the national growth
  decrease, mainly as a result of             and is expected to sharply rise beginning    rate of 1.0%.
  lower construction intentions for           in spring 2013. Material prices will            In Saskatchewan, employment in-
  multi-family dwellings, institutional       continue to dominate cost escalations in     creased by 4,600, bringing gains over
  and industrial buildings. In Canada,        most parts of Canada; however, labour        the past 12 months to 3.6%, the highest
  Toronto and Regina are the two              will continue to dominate Alberta and        growth rate of all provinces. The increase
  cities that posted the largest permit       Ontario. Due to China’s large scale          in employment in August pushed the
  decrease. Regina construction market        investments in ultra-high voltage power      unemployment rate down 0.6 percentage
  is mostly dominated by multi-family         transmission lines, Canada, like the rest    points to 4.4%, tied with Alberta for the
  dwellings and institutional buildings,      of the Americas, will continue to see        lowest rate among all provinces.
  the sudden cold feet on intended            increases in the prices of copper and           Employment increased by 3,400 in
  construction resulted in Regina’s           aluminum.                                    Manitoba in August and the unemploy-
  decrease in permit value. Toronto, on          Other material price escalations are      ment rate fell by 0.3 percentage points
  the other hand, was impacted by sharp       primarily due to added pressure on           to 5.4%. Compared with 12 months ear-
  decrease in residential and educational     supplies due to emerging economies in        lier, employment was up 0.9%.
  institutional.                              countries such as India, Uruguay and            Employment fell by 25,000 in Ontario
     The decline in Saskatchewan, which       Brazil. For more details on construction     leaving employment similar to its level in
  was the second in a row, originated         cost indices, see article in this issue on   August 2011. The unemployment rate in
  from residential and non-residential        cost escalations.                            the province was 8.0% in August 2012.
  construction. The total value of permits                                                 (Source – Statistics Canada)
  in Saskatchewan was 10.3% higher            Labour force                                    So, what are my construction opinions
  than the monthly average in 2011.           Employment rose by 34,000 in August          in the next 12 months?
     The Alberta decrease was                 due to an increase in part-time work.           Despite the drop in construction
  contributed to lower construction           Overly, employment increased by 1.0%         intentions in most of the provinces, my
  intentions in educational institutional     or 177,000 over last year. Part-time         forecast is that, overly, on a year to year
  and residential. In contrast, Alberta       work represents 70% of this increase.        basis building permits value still points
  posted large increases in permit            Employment opportunities were more           to a steady 2012 and probably starts a
  values for non-residential structures,      favourable among people aged 55 and          noticeable climb beginning spring 2013.
  such as manufacturing plants, utilities     over, while the student employment rate      Employment will continue holding strong
  and transportation-related buildings.       actually dropped 2% compared to the          in Alberta, British Colombia and Quebec.
  Calgary Airport is a good example of        same month last year.                        Despite spikes in materials as a result
  a large scale transportation-related          Based on a Statistics Canada               of strong infrastructure developments in
  buildings investment. Alberta’s gain        labour survey employment in Quebec           China, India and Brazil, slow construction
  rose 6.4% to $1.7B. Although multi-         increased by 33,000 jobs due to a            in Europe will provide a windfall to North
  family dwellings attributed to the          major increase in part-time work.            America; holding material prices from
  decrease, the percentage contribution       This slightly improved the rate from         spiking in double digits. Now, I would
  was lower than that experienced in          the previous year. Employment rate           like to pen down and lead you into
  Ontario and Saskatchewan.                   for August was unchanged at 7.6%             a discussion on future of sustainable

8 | CONSTRUCTION ECONOMIST | www.ciqs.org | Fall 2012
CONSTRUCTION ECONOMIST FALL 2012 - Canadian Institute of ...
Editor’s Message

                         The connection between climate disruption and
                         the built environment has emerged strongly in
                         the public consciousness over the past decade.

construction. At World Economic Forum      safe drinking water is ensured for all, the                    disciplines and move beyond boundaries
2012, sustainability was one of the        framework is clear and progress can be                         that are seen as impassable today.
topics that consumed world leaders’        more rapid.                                                      The following topics will be explored
discussions. Please read this not just        Sustainable construction is defined                         in order to identify opportunities for
for interest, but think about what we      broadly as engaging all dimensions                             stakeholders to catalyze sustainable
as an industry can do to take a strong     of human environment; building,                                construction, nurture collaboration
leadership in our communities?             infrastructure, materials, energy,                             between different sectors of the public
                                           landscapes and systems. The concept                            and private realms and consider
Future of sustainable construction         is also based on a clear understanding                         educational strategies:
(Source: World Economic Forum 2012)        of the societal dimensions that support                        • Energy (sources, distribution, demand/
The connection between climate             the building industry worldwide. This                             use)
disruption and the built environment       elevation of the social dimension of                           • Carbon (mitigation, metrics)
has emerged strongly in the public         sustainability has emerged as a powerful                       • Materials (sources, use at various
consciousness over the past decade.        trend in current sustainable or green                             scales in construction, development of
Expectations are now great for an          initiatives.                                                      alternatives)
industry that historically has been                                                                       • Logistics (structures of supply,
among the slowest to change.               Dimensions                                                        assembly and distribution that support
   In order to respond effectively         It has become clear that the structure of                         the culture of construction)
to these changes, all stakeholders         communities - cities, towns and villages                       • Water (sources, distribution, quality/
benefit from envisioning a positive        – has a much more significant effect than                         health, demand/use)
future in which environmental              the ‘greening’ of buildings alone.                             • Society (the equitable reconciliation
needs are reconciled with social and          Progress towards this vision will be                           of environmental and economic
economic dimensions. This is the           far more effective when stakeholders                              dimensions that shape communities)
definition of sustainable development.     focus on the accrual of positive effects                       • Metrics (how to define and quantify
The environmental movement has             rather than on the reduction of negative                          progress in all the above across scale
traditionally emphasized limits,           ones. Simply being ‘less bad’ is not good                         and cultures)
encouraging individuals and societies      enough. What is needed is an ‘eco-                             Look to the next issue for more
to be ‘less bad’ and reduce impact.        effective’ approach that enables us to                         sustainability articles as well as an article
As an end in itself, this call to          envision solutions, create synergies among                     on International Construction Outlooks.
personal environmental and societal
responsibility has not catalyzed change
to the extent needed to achieve vaunted
goals such as carbon neutrality. The
emphasis is on current behavior and not
                                                                             PROFESSIONAL CONSTRUCTION
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Nor are the sustainability perspectives
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capita consumptions are so dramatically                   Modelogix for Generating Defensible Budgets from Historical Cost Data.
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                                                                                         Fall 2012 | www.ciqs.org | CONSTRUCTION ECONOMIST | 9
CONSTRUCTION ECONOMIST FALL 2012 - Canadian Institute of ...
Education Updates

 Congratulations on
 development of SAIT program                                                                                                       David Lai, PQS (F)

 T
            he first CIQS Council meeting for 2012/2013 took
            place in Calgary in September 2012. This meeting                Congratulations to those
            was planned to coincide with the accreditation
            ceremony of the Bachelor of Science degree program
                                                                            members of the Institute who
  in Construction Project Management offered by the SAIT
  Polytechnic. Congratulations to those members of the Institute
                                                                            were involved in the development
  who were involved in the development of this program. Details             of this program.
  of this event are published under separate articles in this
  edition of the Construction Economist. It is interesting to note           subject C309 – Development Economics to the Direct Final
  that prior to 2011, all of the fully accredited programs were              Examinations for PQS will become effective in January 1,
  located in Ontario. Since March 2011, the CIQS has accredited              2013;
  three B.Sc. degree programs outside of Ontario. This is a great         • The pass mark for the Direct Final Examinations will
  achievement for the Institute and it means that we now have                change to 60% instead of 70%;
  fully accredited programs covering a wider geographical area of         • There will be no limit on the number of times a candidate
  the country.                                                               can attempt the examinations.
    Other educational items discussed at the CIQS Council               • Council decided that the rule that candidates attempting the
  meeting were:                                                           CEC or PQS designation via the Direct Final Examinations
  • It was brought to Council`s attention that the current TPE            must take the CIQS examinations will remain in effect.
     diary process/requirements may need improvements since             • A new text book for subject C309 – Development Economics
     they create challenges during the assessment process.                has been identified and will be published by CIQS. This
     Council decided that the mandatory areas of experience for           book is written by one of our retired members, Mr. James
     CEC need to be identified separately from those of PQS.              Cuthbert, PQS (F).
  • The requirements for the Direct Finals Examination for CEC          • I put forward the suggestion that a National Education and
     and PQS were discussed. Council decided that as of January           Membership Committee be created. Council was in full
     1, 2013, the following changes will become effective:                agreement since there would be huge benefits arising from
     • Subject C304 – Contract Administration will be added to            this committee. Each Affiliate will have representation on this
        the Direct Final Examinations for CEC;                            committee and suggestions arising from this committee will
     • Now that a new text has been identified, the addition of           be reflective of the wide spectrum of our membership.

                                                               Continuing Education at George Brown College
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                                                               and programs. Our industry-professional instructors, innovative courses
                                                               and up-to-date distance-education delivery methods keep our students
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                                                               provide the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in the construction
                                                               estimating/project management field.

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                                                               For more information, call 416-415-5000, ext. 4861 (long distance
                                                               1-800-265-2002, ext. 4861) or e-mail cetechqs@georgebrown.ca.

10 | CONSTRUCTION ECONOMIST | www.ciqs.org | Fall 2012
CPD Corner

Mark Gardin, PQS      To be or not to be...continuous

W
                 illiam Shakespeare was a bit of a genius when            For the CIQS CPD program, there is no question, it absolutely
                 it came to profound quotes. Writing poetry and        must be administered annually and remain continuous. Otherwise,
                 plays was to him what numbers are to a quantity       if we compared to other professional organizations, it is merely
                 surveyor. His works were filled with now famous       smoke and mirrors. This is the single greatest reason why we do
quotes like the one I kind of borrowed for the title of my article     not have ‘carrying over’ points for multiple years. I believe this prac-
from his masterpiece Hamlet. And in Henry IV, he gave us:              tice will dilute the fundamental goals and principles of the program.
           “...When we mean to build,                                     And our CPD program can focus the word ‘continuous’ – but in
           We first survey the plot, then draw the model;              the context of change. At the last Council meeting held in Septem-
           And when we see the figure of the house,                    ber, Council voted in favour to remove the maximums in all the cat-
           Then must we rate the cost of the erection;                 egories except Professional Activity.
           Which if we find outweighs ability,                            This new change came about from discussions on the current
           What do we then but draw anew the model                     CPD points system and whether a review is warranted. One exam-
           In fewer offices, or at last desist                         ple relates to members who sit on chapter, affiliate and national
           To build at all? Much more, in this great work,             boards (or all three at the same time) who dedicate countless hours
           Which is almost to pluck a kingdom down                     of personal time but would only receive the maximum 20 points
           And set another up, should we survey                        under the Participation category.
           The plot of situation and the model,                           This initial change to eliminate the maximums gives actively
           Consent upon a sure foundation,                             participating members more access to additional CPD points. And
           Question surveyors, know our own estate...”                 hopefully it may encourage other members to participate on boards.
   This is a great interpretation of what a quantity surveyor is           The next step is to complete an overall review of the points
asked to do on a daily basis. We should be proud to be in a pro-       awarded in each category and determine if further changes are war-
fession having such recognition and history that dates back over       ranted. Feedback from the membership is always welcomed and all
400 years.                                                             suggestions will be reviewed.
   But enough with the history lesson; let us get to the good stuff:      So it appears CIQS will opt for the ‘to be’ part of Shakespeare’s
Continuous Professional Development. And my focus in this arti-        question and be not only continuous in learning but also in change
cle is the word ‘Continuous.’                                          and evolution.
   By now, we understand in our professional life, learning is not        And why not leave you with one more quote from Shakespeare
over when we leave school and begin working – it is life-long, and     that I found very relevant and amusing to me as a quantity surveyor.
it is where the ‘continuous’ derives from in CPD. Why life-long        “I am not bound to please with my answers.” Sometimes quantity
learning? In our profession, is there not continuous change? Every-    surveyors are the bearers of bad news when we are in a situa-
thing in the construction and infrastructure industry is constantly    tion where the design (however wonderful it may be) exceeds the
and rapidly evolving. Stop learning, and we will be left behind.       budget.

   Congratulations to the following members who have qualified as a PQS or CEC                                 (including reinstatements):
    CIQS – Ontario                  Robert M. Ennis, PQS               CIQS – Prairies and NWT
    Amal Abdelsayed, CEC            Maha Farahat, PQS                  Vipulchandra Bakre, CEC             Faizur Khan, CEC
    Solomon Agbede, CEC             Mark Smith, CEC                    Raymond Bott, PQS                   Wayne Procter, PQS
    Mukhtar Almuflahi, CEC          Feyza Tatar, CEC                   Joseph C. Coyne, PQS                Dennis G. Sutherland, CEC
    Innocent Ariajegbe, PQS                                            Alistair Dearie, PQS
    Hafeez Azeez, CEC               CIQS Members at Large              Arlo William Duffy, CEC
    Nicholas Bowe, PQS              Abiola Adebisi, CEC                Jessel Pineda Gonzales, CEC
                                    Olagundoye Akinlabi, PQS

                                                                                   Fall 2012 | www.ciqs.org | CONSTRUCTION ECONOMIST | 11
The evolution of
 construction cost estimating
 and project management technology                                                                                           By Peter Cholakis

  Introduction
  Accurate, timely and transparent cost          provide a means to create and report a          lect, store and provide cost data in electronic
  estimating is critical to the success of any   construction cost estimate. Cost con-           format, including materials, equipment, labor
  renovation, repair, sustainability or new      struction models can also be built within       line items, productivity factors, as well as
  construction project. An equally important     speadsheets. Productivity improvements          assembly and square foot cost information
  consideration is the construction delivery     result from the ability of Excel to easily      and localized cost indices such as the City
  method.                                        handle a lot of the more mundane calcula-       Cost Index (CCI).
     Most construction cost estimators con-      tions required.                                    Based upon the size and type of construc-
  tinue to rely primarily upon hardcopy docu-       One problem with spreadsheets, how-          tion project, estimators soon found that they
  ments and electronic spreadsheets such as      ever, is their inherent vulnerability to er-    could improve their productivity and accu-
  Microsoft ExcelTM. Relative to construction    rors due to data entry, a problem that only     racy even further by sharing cost data and
  delivery methods, most Owners, Contrac-        increases along with the complexity of          leveraging standardized reference cost infor-
  tora and AE’s engage in a version of the       an estimate. Also, as the formulae within       mation for specfic items/areas. Standardized
  outdated and adversarial design-bid-build      the spreadsheets become more numerous           cost data architectures also became impor-
  process. (DBB).                                and complex, errors became exponentially        tant, such as the Construction Specifications
     Growing numbers of cost estimators,         more frequent and costly. Spreadsheets          Institute’s (CSI) Masterformat, Uniformat and
  however, have the need to work with mul-       also do not easily account for the use of       even newer OMNICLASS.
  tiple projects and multiple estimates simul-   dynamic vs. static cost information or su-
  taneously, securely share information on       port the use of historical information. Both    Collaborative, Integrated Project Deliv-
  active projects and better leverage local-     have proven to be important variables for       ery methods and Job Order Contracting
  ized cost information reuse historical data.   many construction projects. Lastly, since       As noted spreadsheets have proven value for
  At the same time, Owners, Contractors          spreadsheets are bascially single user          single, ‘static,’ estimates of a certain project
  and AEs are recognizing the need to work       applications, collaboration and reporting       size, as well as a media to gather and trans-
  collaboratively as early in the construction   relative to roll-ups for example, are both      fer data sets. Similarly, the integration of
  process as possible.                           problematic. Audit trails on a ‘cell’ level     electronic cost books with spreadsheets are
     As a result many are moving to ad-          are also not possible, thus transparency        equally valuable for individuals performing a
  vanced cost estimating and management          and accuracy are negatively impacted.           small number of relatively straight forward
  systems and various forms of integrated        Multiple people working on the same             construction, repair, or renovation estimates
  project delivery (IPD) methods. Further-       spreadsheet, or multiple spreadsheets,          and projects, say three to five per year.
  more, these ‘innovators’ are discover-         while on the same project is inefficient           However, with greater productivity re-
  ing that significantly higher productivity     and risk prone. Thus estimates and as-          quired, the need for collaboration, transpar-
  (50%+) and cost savings (5%-20%+) may          sociate information and reports created         ency and better information use and reuse
  be attainable. The collaborative aspects       using spreadsheets tend to be created           became apparent. Thus, two signifincant
  of these advanced cost estimating and          and stored in different locations, making       developments came to be, (1) newer, col-
  project management software systems            information difficult to accurately retrieve.   laborative construction delivery methods
  are also better aligned with the process of    As a result, changes extremely costly to        such as Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) and
  life-cycle management supported by digtial     execute, while old data errors are perpetu-     Job Order Contracting (JOC), and (2) con-
  technology, otherwise known as Building        ated, copied over and over again.               struction cost estimating and project delivery
  Information Modelling (BIM).                      As it became apparent that more local-       software technology.
                                                 ized and historical data would be critical         Job Order Contracting is a form of Integrat-
  Spreadsheets                                   to improving the accuracy of construction       ed Project Delivery developed over 20 years
  Construction estimating involves the           cost estimates and cost models, organiza-       ago and has a long, successful track record
  estimating of material, labor, equipment,      tions instituted a formal process for col-      within certain institutional sectors in the
  overhead and contingencies. Spread-            lecting and storing this information. Indi-     United States, and is now moving into Cana-
  sheets, most commonly Mircrosoft Excel,        vidual Owners, Contractors and AEs be-          da. Collaborative cost estimating and project
  are used by more estimators for this           gan to collect this information internally in   management solutions have been develop to
  purpose than any other tool. Spreadsheets      databases. Third party cost organizations,      support these and other constuction delivery
  have significantly improved cost-estimation    such as RSMeans Company LLC, North              methods. The result is a system of business
  capabilities and accuracy since the 1980s.     America’s leading source for commercial         processes and supporting technology to ena-
  Relatively easy to master, spreadsheets        construction cost data, also began to col-      bles Owners, Contactors and AEs to modify

12 | CONSTRUCTION ECONOMIST | www.ciqs.org | Fall 2012
and constantly improve upon construction         Traditional Construction Procurement Process: 9 to 15 Months

project delivery process to meet their indi-
vidual and changing requirements, while all
communicating with the same vocabulary,
and sets of information.
   For focus, let us talk a little more about
Job Order Contracting as a process and           JOC Construction Procurement Process: 3 to 5 Months
how it is supported in cost estimating and
project management software technology.
JOC provides a much needed solution for
most public institutions attempting to deal
with large building portfolios, including but
not limited to, DOD and non-DOD Federal
Government, State and Local Governments,            A properly designed and implemented                         4] Performance Basis - on time and on
K-12 and Higher Education, Healthcare and        Job Order Contractng can save time and                            budget performance can be more
other public services.                           money, as well as improve overall quality                         readily monitored and becomes the
   Job Order Contracting is a competitively      by encouraging collaborative communica-                           norm as contractors are motivated to
negotiated, fixed unit price, indefinite         tion, expediting procurement processes,                           meet and exceed owner expectations in
quantity contract construction project           and enabling higher visibility into costs.                        order to receive additional task/delivery
procurement method. Public agencies              A professionally developed and managed                            orders.
negotiate and enter into a competitively         JOC program saves from 8% to 15% or                            5] Higher Return on Investment (ROI) -
bid contract with a JOC contractor for an        more in time, design and procurement                              collaborative, predefined JOC pro-
amount it could potentially spend over a         costs. The JOC process also allows public                         cesses and defined accountability
certain time period.                             entities to begin construction projects in                        better integrate all project participants
   Procurement processes are established         weeks rather than months. Project work                            and mitigate change orders and legal
when putting a JOC program in place.             orders can be assigned without bidding                            claims. A JOC contractor may assume
   Complete design and specifications may        each project out. A higher percentage of                          full responsibility for errors, omis-
not be required; thus negotiations may be        construction funds are used for work pro-                         sions, execution of the design, or the
necessary to define processes required to        jects vs. procurement costs. JOC requires                         contractual relationship may be with
accomplish a specific construction task.         less time to start a project than conven-                         an Architectural/Engineering firm.
   A cost guide - a construction cost data-      tional methods.                                                   Projects also can be started more
base of detailed priced tasks - includes a          Other JOC benefits can include:                                quickly which can lead to dramatic
variety of facilities and physical infrastruc-   1] Expedited facility management - the                            cost savings. Lower administration and
ture including construction, maintenance,            repair, renovation, maintenance, and                          procurement costs enable owners to
repair and renovation work items. The                renewal components of managing a                              focus scarce resources on projects.
priced tasks form the basis for defining and         facility portfolio represent a wide range                     Design costs are also mitigated as the
negotiating task orders and projects.                and high frequency of construction                            technical specifications are defined
   The duration and value of JOC’s vary from         projects. JOC expedites the facility                          and included as part of the basic JOC
three to five years, with annual volumes             management process by minimizing as-                          contract, and a significant percentage
from $1M to $100M.                                   sociated procurement costs and costly                         of JOC projects can be scoped without
   The following figure illustrated a typical        construction delays.                                          full design documents. Economies of
JOC process:                                     2] Green and sustainability projects - the                        scale can also be achieved as group-
                                                     need to address improved sustainabil-                         ing of multiple small or similar projects
                                                     ity and high performance for Existing                         can spread out indirect costs, general
                                                     Buildings (EB) is well known. JOC                             conditions and overhead costs.
                                                     can be readily applied to expedite the
                                                     deployment of HVAC, exterior shell,                        Cost estimating and
                                                     lighting, building automation and                          project management software
                                                     similar construction projects needed                       The evolution of technology that
                                                     to achieve high performance building                       integrated business processes, specfically
                                                     targets or mandates per LEED EB and                        efficient project devlivery methods ,
                                                     similar guidelines.                                        was the next logical step. Thus cost
                                                 3] Support for Local Economies - JOC                           estimating and project management
                                                     readily enables local minority and small                   software has evolved to support and
                                                     subcontractors to perform construction                     manage multiple construction delivery
                                                     work.                                                      methods, and there associated multiple

                                                                                                Fall 2012 | www.ciqs.org | CONSTRUCTION ECONOMIST | 13
projects and associated estimates. These                   of construction projects on time and                     delivery and management software
  newer systems, available over the past                     on budget. Owners, contractors and                       and the subsequent integration with
  ten years, integrated contract, project,                   AEs now have multiple methods to                         Building Information Modelling will
  estimate and document management.                          select from based upon their needs.                      further enhance the ability to produce
  Tools include visual cost estimating,                      Spreadsheets were a major improvement                    accurate cost estimates and control costs
  advanced search engines, and both                          in the 1980s, followed by formal                         throughout a buildings life-cycle.
  custom and electronic standardized cost                    processes for collecting and harnessing
  data.                                                      historical information to more accurately
    These integreated software systems                       project and control costs. Over the past                      The author is the Chief Marketing
  assure contract compliance by not                          decade, a powerful new capability has                         Officer for 4Clicks Solutions
  simply having a cell in a spreadsheet                      been added, collaborative cost estimating                     (www.4clicks.com), a leading
  with calculated totals, hidden formulas                    and project management software.                              provider of cost estimating and
  and lack of traceability. They also                          The evolution of transparent and                            project management software
  help to organize and standardize                           collaborative cost estimating and                             and solutions to the DOD Sector,
  office, electronic files, emails, project                  project management software mitigates                         and RSMeans Strategic Business
  documents and attachments. Sharing,                        the unproductive aspects of creating                          Partner. Mr. Cholakis helped to
  updating, and reusing estimates and                        estimates one at a time from scratch,                         define and established the concept
  project information is enabled with                        and working ‘in a vacuum.’ Additional                         of CPMS (Capital Planning and
  internal and external partners.                            benefits include the reduction of data                        Management Solutions), and has
                                                             input and formulae errors, as well as                         domain knowledge and expertise in
  Summary                                                    costly ‘errors of omission,’ common                           facilities lifecycle costs and total cost
  Over the past forty plus years, there                      with ‘ad hoc’ spreadsheet-centric                             of ownership. You can contact him at
  have been many initiatives to improve                      approaches. The application of cloud                          pcholakis@4Clicks.com.
  cost estimating to facilitate the delivery                 computing to cost estimating and project

                                                                                                                       The 17th Pacific
                                                                                                                   Association of Quantity
                                                                                                                    Surveyors Congress
                                                                                                                      Sofitel Xian on Renmin Square.
                                                                                                                                         Xi’an China   18 - 21May 2013

                                                                                      Congress Theme
                                                                                      Construction Information -
                                                                                      Cornerstone of the Valuation Management

      Contract us
      ●
          Website:   www.paqs2013.cn
                                                                                 +
      ●
          E-mail: organise@ceca.org.cn   paper@ceca.org.cn
      ●   Tel:(0086-10) 5781 1845                                         PAQS 2013                 Congress Organizer: China Engineering Cost Association
      ●   Fax: (0086-10) 5781 1485

14 | CONSTRUCTION ECONOMIST | www.ciqs.org | Fall 2012
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                                                                                                                                                            Fall 2012 | www.ciqs.org | CONSTRUCTION ECONOMIST | 15
Challenging
 yourself without
 changing jobs
                        By Patrick Cantin, PQS

  Have you ever wanted to
  switch disciplines within the construction
  sector? Explore opportunities with friends
  or colleagues with ties to the mechanical,
  electrical, structural or civil side of the
  spectrum? Perhaps dabble in a field where          For me the switch was simple. Continue      scope of work helped me to better under-
  you always wanted to explore yet were too       working outside in weather and in a job        stand and respect the project from multiple
  busy working within your comfort zone.          that was beginning to take its toll on my      levels and how each project required a
     Now take a moment to think about             body or, switch to something that I knew       team of professionals, not just one.
  what events led you to the career path          I could do if I simply had the push and           Today’s society is so pre-occupied with
  you are currently on. Are you challenged        drive in the right direction.                  simply changing jobs every time we feel
  every day or is there something lingering          The first day on the new job saw me         the need for change but in reality, oppor-
  within you screaming for more?                  asking myself the question: What am I          tunities exist to become an even greater
     You need not change jobs to seek new         doing here? Handed a specifications book       asset to your company or organization by
  adventures but rather, look at exploring        for a new $10M school and advised to           simply expanding your skills to disciplines
  the opportunities of expanding your inter-      learn it well, my job was to assist the lead   that pose new challenges. The tools are
  ests on the same jobsite by opening your        estimator. While he was busy being the         right in front of you and exist at your fin-
  eyes to include other disciplines.              Project Manager for the project, my job        gertips.
     Take my experiences for example. When        was simple. Find the errors and omissions         The next time a new project appears
  I graduated from Niagara College, my            within the prints and make sure we were        in front of you, I challenge you all to take
  immediate focus and passion was within          one step ahead of any challenges that          the opportunity and explore outside of
  the civil construction side of things. Some-    could negatively impact the schedule. I        your comfort zone. Take a look at the civil,
  thing about heavy equipment and being           remember looking like what I thought was       mechanical, electrical or even structural
  the first ones on the jobsite early every       an idiot walking around the jobsite with       drawings and specifications and make a
  morning and the last ones to leave late at      a detail and specifications book in hand       conscious effort to better understand why
  night were but some of the reasons why I        and comparing what was constructed             the design team has chosen to implement
  chose this line of work. Be it a new build-     versus what was designed on site. Asking       a certain design, why a selective material
  ing site where foundations needed to be         the site supervisor question after question    type has been chosen or why a pre-deter-
  dug, a new municipal infrastructure pro-        until he finally convinced the business        mined piece of equipment has been speci-
  ject where services needed to be surveyed       owner to make me strap on a tool belt          fied. Continue to exercise this practice over
  and installed or the construction of a spur     and spend the next two months on the           several projects and trust me when I say
  line in the dead of winter to a new remote      jobsite. Eyes wide open and absorbing          this, such an exercise will truly make you
  mine in the middle of nowhere.                  every opportunity, every waking hour, no       a better professional and a well respected
     Somewhere early in my career, an op-         two projects since that moment have ever       team member amongst your peers.
  portunity presented itself to leave the         been the same. Even similar future pro-
  crazy life of blistering cold winters and       jects provided excitement as I would dwell                       About the author – Patrick
  sizzling hot summers to the comforts of         (after hours of course) at examining the                         is the current Director of
  an office. The catch to this change was         mechanical facet of the project; first with                      Building Installation for
  the change of disciplines. I decided to         the drawings, then the specifications and                        le Conseil scolaire public
  switch from my comfort zone of quantify-        shop drawings then the actual installation.                      du Nord-Est de l’Ontario
  ing, pricing, ordering and managing from           As a Project Manager for a General                            in North Bay. Past
  the civil field to the field of architecture.   Contractor, I was always one to push the                         employments included
                                                                                                   several years with the Ministry of Natural
  College had prepared me with a baseline         schedule knowing full well that time was
                                                                                                   Resources Northeast Regional Engineering
  of knowledge in all disciplines however; I,     money. What I failed to realize was that
                                                                                                   Unit and prior to that, Project Manager
  like most of us, stuck to what I perceived      every trade on the job had a vested inter-
                                                                                                   and Quantity Surveyor for Cy Rheault
  to know best and feel the most comfort-         est in the project. Getting to better un-        Construction Ltd. of Timmins, Ontario.
  able with.                                      derstand how the trades completed their

16 | CONSTRUCTION ECONOMIST | www.ciqs.org | Fall 2012
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