APRIL 2014
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tainable development are just
some issues the CCA is involved
in.
CORE FUNCTION
As well, the CCA develops stan-
dard contract documents us-
ing The Canadian Construction
Documents Committee (CCDC)
– a national joint committee re-
sponsible for the development
of standard Canadian construc-
tion contracts – as its guide. The
association works with owners,
consulting engineers, architects
as well as contractors to develop
unbiased contract forms so they
are fair for all parties. “When-
ever you sign a contract there’s
a lot at risk, so you want con-
tractual documents that are fair
to all parties and will limit dis-
putes in liability,” says Boucher.
Also issuing guides with the use
of the forms to answer any and
all inquiries, the documents are
used for design-build, P3 or tra-
ditional lump sum projects and
available to all members.
The CCA has been active in the
promotion of inter-provincial
mobility and remains dedicated
to the development of nation-
al industry-workforce training
standards. “The core function
of the CCA has not changed
dramatically since our incep-
tion,” says Boucher. “We work
with governments to make
sure there are funds for train-
ing purposes that the provinces
will have to manage and bring
about the best training systems
possible. For example, when
you have major investments in
infrastructure, it must serve the
whole economy, as well as the
firms dedicating their lives to
improving our infrastructure.”
“NEW CULTURE
FOR INNOVATION”
With strong support from CCA,
Canadian Construction Innova-
tion launched this year with a
mission to promote leading-
edge construction research and
innovation to Canada’s con-
struction industry. “The goal is
to bring about a new culture
for innovation and the com-
mercialization for new innova-
tive solutions in the industry
that will increase efficiencies
and productivity to facilitate the
modernization of the way things
are built,” says Boucher. “Soon
enough it will be in full opera-
tion, and we’ll start seeing some
major differences.”
In addition, the association con-
tinues to play a strong role in
the development of standards
related to emerging technolo-
gies. One such example would
be the Institute for BIM in Cana-
da, which has been working on
a series of documents, including
case studies and contract lan-
guage that will soon be released
with the goal of facilitating the
uptake of BIM practices by the
industry across the country. The
