January 21, 2008

Project Management

Committee drafts national guideline for early stages of building projects

PATRICIA WILLIAMS

staff writer

A committee that includes representation from the Canadian Construction Association (CCA) is developing a national guideline for starting building projects.

Currently in the draft stage, the 40-page document outlines management practices needed from the time a project is a glint in an owner’s eye, through project development and preliminary design.

“The industry has comprehensive information about final design and construction processes, but still needs a concise guideline about earlier project stages,” the authors state.

The guideline is being developed by a steering committee that includes representation from Engineers Canada, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and the BC Building Projects Committee in addition to the CCA.

The committee has released an exposure draft for review and comment. It is seeking responses by April 30. Starting Building Projects covers the transition from capital planning and the sequence of decisions and practices for delivering “a strong foundation” for a project’s success in its business planning and development stages.

In a recent newsletter, the CCA said a key premise is that if the early stages of the project are well managed, bid document preparation, bidding and construction “will be relatively straight forward.”

The recommended procedures are intended to benefit owners and their project managers, design professionals and builders, among others. Committee member Brad Greene, the CCA’s second national vice-chair and president of Project Management Services Inc. of St. John’s, said the document is expected to be a particularly useful resource for owners and developers.

“Normally, their business is something else — it’s not construction. But they have a need for a facility,” he said.

“We wanted to give them some sort of guideline to assist them at the start of the project, so that they don’t go too far down the wrong path and perhaps regret it later.”

The document is scheduled to be published later this year.

Print | Email | Comment