the saskatoon - csc - construction specifications...

Saskatoon Chapter: PO Box 7273, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7K 4J2 Editor: Brad Smith [email protected]

CSC Conference Kelowna, BC

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The Saskatoon

September 2016

JUN

7

OCT

26

NOV

30

JAN

25

FEB

22

MAR

29

MAY

24-28

2015/2016 Executive Committee

Chapter Director Brent Fraser, RSW (306) 652-5044 [email protected]

Chapter Chair Brennen Mills (306) 270-5184 [email protected]

Chapter Vice-Chair Amber Moar (306) 683-2912 [email protected] 2

Education Officer Jenny Dergousoff (306) 667-2409 [email protected]

Specifications Officer Brent Fraser, RSW (306) 652-5044 [email protected]

Architectural Officer Vacant

Engineering Officer Trevor Knoll (306) 477-0655 [email protected]

Facility Manager Officer Daryl Cherry (306) 966-4643 [email protected]

Interiors Officer Carolyn Saganaski (306) 667-2400

[email protected]

Trade Contractor Officer Bob Spenst, CTR, CCCA (306) 382-6312 [email protected] 2

Legal Officer Misty Alexandre (306) 933-1352 [email protected]

General Contractor Officer Brennen Mills (306) 270-5184 [email protected]

Secretary/Treasurer Kelly Boldt, CSP (306) 343-7280 [email protected]

Programming Officer Amber Moar (306) 683-2912 [email protected] 2

Membership Officer Garry Booth (306) 652-5044 [email protected] 2

Newsletter Editor Brad Smith (306) 652-5044 [email protected] 2

Member at Large Rick Kalenchuk, CCCA (306) 966-2407 [email protected] 2

Upcoming Events

In This Issue

Upcoming Events..................... Executive Committee................ CSC Saskatoon Presents:........ About Us................................... Welcome Back.......................... 2016 CSC Golf Day.................. Legal Article........................... Membership.............................. Advertising............................. Conference.........................

1 1 2 3 4 4

5-6 7

7-8 9-10

10 Parameters of Acoustics

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Annual CSC Saskatoon

Golf Tournament

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26 TBA

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05 Drone Technology In Surveying

The Saskatoon September 2016

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CSC Saskatoon Presents:


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Contact any member of the executive

Attend one of our meetings

Visit the association website at

csc-dcc.ca

Visit our chapter website at

saskatoon.csc-dcc.ca

Send your name and address to:

Construction Specifications Canada

Saskatoon Chapter

PO Box 7273

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7K 4J2

Have an idea for the Specifier? I would love to hear from

you. An announcement, upcoming event, or technical

article. Any submissions can be emailed for review to

[email protected] and I will do my best to get it in

print. Deadlines for submissions are the first Friday of the

month for that month’s Specifier.

Speak up and be heard.

Remember to encourage your colleagues, associates,

and clients to attend our monthly meetings.

Thank you,

Brad Smith

Newsletter Editor, CSC Saskatoon Chapter

Our Mission

Construction Specifications Canada (CSC) is a national multi-disciplinary, non-profit association with

chapters across Canada. CSC is committed to ongoing development and delivery of quality education

programs, publications and services for the betterment of the construction community.

To this end, CSC pursues the study of systems and procedures which will improve the co-ordination

and dissemination of documentation relevant to the construction process.

CSC Seeks to enhance the quality of the design and management aspects of construction activity

through programs of publication, education, professional development, and certification, believing that

in so doing it can best contribute to the efficiency and effectiveness of the industry as a whole.

Our Vision

That Construction Specifications Canada is the construction community’s first choice for quality

documentation, education and networking.

Our Values and Core Beliefs

Quality, Professionalism, Teamwork, Integrity, Openness & Innovation

The newsletter acts as a moderator without approving, disapproving, or guaranteeing the validity or accuracy of any data, claim, or

opinion appearing under a byline or obtained or quoted from an acknowledged source. The opinions and comments expressed by the

authors do not necessarily reflect the official views of Construction Specifications Canada. Also, appearance of advertisements and

new product or service information does nor constitute an endorsement of product or service featured.

About Us

Editor's Message For More Information

The Saskatoon

csc-dcc.ca

Welcome Back

By: Brennen Mills, CSC Saskatoon Chapter Chair

Wow! What a summer, and we look to be having as nice a September as we could ask for! Thank you

for this year’s support and membership in our local CSC Chapter.

With a slower year I’ve managed to spend some quality time with family and friends in and around

wonderful City of Saskatoon. I hope you have kept busy and also made time for summer activities!

I’ve had the opportunity to attend the Annual CSC Convention in Halifax earlier this summer. What an

excellent opportunity to learn the new and exciting

a fun filled convention and allowed to shake hands with many peers from around Canada.

As a volunteer executive we have begun planning our upcoming season and hope to attract new and

old members alike to the monthly meetings and activities. Please do not hesitate to contact myself or

any of the executive members with new ideas, questions or concerns.

If you cannot commit to joining our executive team please consider volunteering with one of our active

committees. We can always use more help organizing the next golf event, mixer event, or monthly

meetings!

Thank you to my fellow executives for their work this past year and I look forward to what 2016

has to offer within CSC!

2016 CSC Golf Day

A great day of fun, and some even showed up to Golf, at our annual CSC Golf Day!

CSC Golf Day at the Moon Lake Golf and Country Club was a success. The

course was in great shape and the weather was excellent. Prizes, Steak and

Shrimp were an excellent finish to the day. Thank

in our annual tournament.

We had great support this year from our hole sponsors which offset the costs of the event. I wan

thank each of them for making this event possible. Many door prizes were also contributed by

participants who allowed a large number of guests to go home with more than their score cards.

Our Executive has decided to host this event again in Saskat

has any suggestions please feel free to contact me by email at

Congratulations to

the winning team!

Darren Remenda

Don Shankowsky

Trevor Knoll

Larry Peters

The Saskatoon

dcc.ca

By: Brennen Mills, CSC Saskatoon Chapter Chair

w! What a summer, and we look to be having as nice a September as we could ask for! Thank you

for this year’s support and membership in our local CSC Chapter.

With a slower year I’ve managed to spend some quality time with family and friends in and around



excellent opportunity to learn the new and exciting trends and news in our industry. We were provided



e monthly meetings and activities. Please do not hesitate to contact myself or

any of the executive members with new ideas, questions or concerns.


ttees. We can always use more help organizing the next golf event, mixer event, or monthly

Thank you to my fellow executives for their work this past year and I look forward to what 2016

A great day of fun, and some even showed up to Golf, at our annual CSC Golf Day!

CSC Golf Day at the Moon Lake Golf and Country Club was a success. The

shape and the weather was excellent. Prizes, Steak and

Shrimp were an excellent finish to the day. Thank-you to all that participated

We had great support this year from our hole sponsors which offset the costs of the event. I wan



Our Executive has decided to host this event again in Saskatoon next year on June 7th

has any suggestions please feel free to contact me by email at [email protected]

Hole Sponsors:

Plasti-Fab

Penwest Sales

Saskatoon Fire & Flood

CP Distributors

IKO

Cloverdale Paint

September 2016

of 10

w! What a summer, and we look to be having as nice a September as we could ask for! Thank you

With a slower year I’ve managed to spend some quality time with family and friends in and around our



trends and news in our industry. We were provided



e monthly meetings and activities. Please do not hesitate to contact myself or


ttees. We can always use more help organizing the next golf event, mixer event, or monthly

Thank you to my fellow executives for their work this past year and I look forward to what 2016-2017

We had great support this year from our hole sponsors which offset the costs of the event. I wanted to



th 2017, if anyone

[email protected]

Hole Sponsors:

Fab

Penwest Sales

Saskatoon Fire & Flood

CP Distributors

Cloverdale Paint


csc-dcc.ca of 10

Legal Article

Part 2 of Elan Construction Limited v. South Fish Creek Recreational Association:

Why the courts can’t compare visible apples with invisible oranges

By: Misty Alexandre, Robertson Stromberg LLP

Earlier this year, I reported on a decision of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench in Elan Construction

Limited v. South Fish Creek Recreational Association (2015 ABQB 330).

As a recap, this case involved the tendering of an addition to a skating rink/multi-purpose facility.

South Fish Creek Recreational Association (“Fish Creek”) included a relatively complex evaluation

formula in its Instructions to Bidders, one that would award points to each bidder based on 4 specific

criteria (price, completion date, experience and references). When the project was awarded to

Chandos Construction, Elan Construction Limited (“Elan”) ultimately sued Fish Creek and alleged that

they had not followed their own evaluation criteria in awarding the project. The trial judge agreed with

Elan, holding that Fish Creek had in fact breached their obligations in Contract A. To Elan’s surprise,

though, the Court determined that Elan was only entitled to nominal damages of $1,000 (a ways off

from the $704,908 Elan was claiming). The Court’s reasoning: since Chandos Construction actually

suffered a loss on the project, the trial judge determined that Elan would have been doomed to a

similar fate.

This decision has made many in the industry uneasy; no one is comfortable with the prospect of

painstakingly proving a breach of Contract A, only to receive a purple participation ribbon at the end.

As it turns out, neither party was happy with the result – Fish Creek appealed the finding that it had

breached Contract A, while Elan appealed the nominal damage award. So, the Alberta Court of

Appeal took a closer look, and their findings will be of some comfort to contractors.

Breach of Contract A

The Court first reviewed Fish Creek’s appeal on the finding that they breached Contract A. In a

nutshell, Fish Creek argued that the provision in the Instructions to Bidders allowing them “sole and

unfettered discretion” gave them the absolute power to award the project to the bidder of their

choosing, using whatever methodology they saw fit.

Not surprisingly, the Court of Appeal affirmed the trial decision, finding that “to maintain the legitimacy

and integrity of the bid process, a reference to an owner’s being entitled to evaluate criteria in their

“sole and unfettered discretion” cannot include the right to depart from fundamental contents of the

Instruction to Bidders on which bidders would properly and reasonably place reliance in composing

their bids.”

To demonstrate this conclusion, the Court pointed out that while Fish Creek included a reference to

August 1, 2011 as a desired (though not mandatory) completion date in the bid documents, the fact

that Elan committed to this date in their bid was somehow held against it! Using a criteria not

explained to the bidders, Fish Creek took the average of all completion dates in the bids (which turned

out to be August 5, 2011), and then awarded points to bidders based on how far their own completion

date deviated from that one. Fish Creek justified this approach by stating it would constitute “the most

achievable or right date”, and further by expressing concerns whether Elan could even meet the

desired August 1 date (despite not having any evidence to support this concern). Such an approach

was flawed, and ignored the reality of Elan’s own capacity to meet this date (as an aside, 4 other

contractors actually bid the August 1 date or earlier).


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Legal Article, cont'd

Damages

On the damage issue, the Court of Appeal’s views were much different than the trial judge though. In

addition to purely technical deficiencies with the pleading documents, the Court rejected the trial

judge’s assessment of nominal damages for several other reasons, including:

• The trial judge incorrectly placed the burden of proving Elan’s fate v. Chandos fate on Elan; rather, it was Fish Creek’s job to prove that Chando’s losses would inevitably have been incurred by Elan as well;

• Fish Creek failed to provide any real evidence (both expert and otherwise) to compare the outcomes of Elan v. Chandos. In particular, the evidence showed that Chandos and Elan had different approaches and plans for proceeding on the project, including sequence of events, start times, personnel and subcontractors (with the exception of a few in common);

• For the subtrades in common between Elan and Chandos, the trial judge discounted Elan’s profit margin calculations, reasoning that the losses suffered by Chandos for these common trades would have equally been suffered by Elan. This approach was found to be based primarily on speculation by the trial judge, and once again, incorrectly placed the burden on Elan to disprove that its losses would not have been the same as Chandos.

• While the trial judge assumed that losses related to bad weather and design flaws would also have been incurred by Elan, the Court of Appeal found no evidence to support this (and actually, even some evidence to suggest otherwise).

• Finally, in assessing Elan’s potential losses, the Court noted that the trial judge factored in a settlement figure reached between Fish Creek and Chandos in relation to the design flaws and resulting delay on the project. In particular, the evidence suggested that Chandos was risk averse, a factor likely taken into account in the settlement amount, but Elan was less so. For example, the Court of Appeal suggested that both Elan and Chandos could have relied on GC 6.5.1 in the CCDC2 contract to justify a claim for more compensation from Fish Creek in relation to the design flaws and resulting delays. While Chandos appeared more risk averse, there was no evidence to show that Elan would not have asserted those rights more vigorously in settlement discussions.

The Court summed it up best when it concluded that “Fish Creek was not just attempting to have the

trial judge compare an apple to an orange. It was an attempt to get the trial judge to compare a visible

apple and an invisible orange.”

Both parties agreed that the Court of Appeal should re-assess damages as opposed to sending the

matter back to Queen’s Bench. As a result, the Court of Appeal awarded Elan the amount claimed,

minus 2 discounted amounts for expenses that, on the evidence, Elan could not have avoided.

In my prior article following the Queen’s Bench decision, I cautioned contractors to put careful thought

into the hypothetical outcome of the project had it rightfully been awarded to them. Even despite the

Court of Appeal’s findings in this case, this advice still rings true. If it can be shown to the Court that

the unsuccessful bidder would have suffered a loss similar to that of the successful party, the

unsuccessful bidder’s damages will be altered accordingly. However, what has changed (or rather,

been clarified) is who is responsible for predicting the future. The burden of proving the likely fate of

the unsuccessful bidder lies not at their own feet – the Owner must bring this evidence and convince

the Court likewise.


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For More Information on Membership:

Contact any member of the Executive

Attend one of our meetings

Visit the association website at csc-dcc.ca

Visit our chapter website at saskatoon.csc-dcc.ca

In the construction industry’s fast-paced environment, the need for and value of Construction

Specifications Canada is greater than ever. CSC brings together individuals from all segments of the

construction industry. All who have a vested interest in Canada’s largest industry are invited to join

CSC. When you Join CSC you become a part of the only association that brings together

professionals from all aspects of the construction industry.

Membership In CSC

CSC offers members of the Design Team the opportunity to meet with other members and

exchange information. It also affords you the chance to help improve technology and its

management, and the means to improve ways in which your ideals are translated into

clear, concise and complete documentation

If you are a member of the Building Team, Construction Specifications Canada offers you

the opportunity to become involved in formulating specifications. Your valuable input into

the programs can help generate time and cost savings as well as improve performance.

The multi-disciplinary composition of CSC allows members of the Supply Team to meet

with other members of the construction team. CSC programs in data filing and information

retrieval are geared to present convenient and concise information on your products for

proper evaluation and specification.

If you are a student of architecture, engineering or construction technology, CSC will

provide you with greater exposure to and a better understanding of the Construction

Industry, giving you an excellent opportunity if you plan a career in the construction field.

The Saskatoon Specifier offers the opportunity to place your business card in every issue for one full year (minimum 7 issues). This offers your company exposure throughout the Saskatoon construction industry. Full page and half page spaces are also available. To place your ad in the next issue, please send your business card, full page ad, or half page ad and a cheque for the appropriate amount: MEMBER NON MEMBER Business card (7 Issues): $40.00 (GST included) $50.00 (GST included) Half page ad (Single issue): $35.00 (GST included) $45.00 (GST included) Full page ad (Single issue): $50.00 (GST included) $60.00 (GST included)

Cheques should be made payable to the Saskatoon CSC Chapter. Mail to:

Brad Smith c/o Henry Downing Architects 2233 Avenue C North, Saskatoon, S7L 5Z2

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