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WINNIPEG — The Manitoba Heavy Construction Association (MHCA) recently met with Winnipeg Chief Construction Officer Tom Sparrow who says he wants to meet with members of the heavy construction industry, including touring infrastructure projects, to get a better sense of the work underway and the challenges from the industry’s perspective.

According to a notice from the association, the meeting took place late last month with the MHCA board.

Sparrow is Winnipeg’s first-ever chief construction officer and brings with him more than 35 years of experience in construction and infrastructure management across both the public and private sectors to the role.

The MHCA is reporting his priorities are “about ensuring project cost containment and value for money through planning, oversight and verified cost-estimates prior to tendering and contracting, and through project completion.”

The steps include:

• Oversight of the North End Water Pollution Control Centre, the cost estimate of which has spiralled from about $800 million in 2018 to $3 billion.
• Capital project policies and reporting.
• Increasing bidder participation.
• Validation of cost estimates, from both public administration and contractors. This will include evaluating the impact of change orders.
• Ensuring cost estimates reflect current pricing, rather than years earlier.
• Creating greater transparency, accuracy and accountability in project management, while reducing the current levels of internal reporting at the city.
• Improved co-ordination among multiple agencies and utilities to relieve impact on the flow of traffic from roadworks.
• Increasing delivery of construction project.
• Reviewing bid models and procurement strategies, including piloting of multi-year tendering to co-ordinate with Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure project planning allowing industry to understand the opportunities and to set out business plans regarding capacity, capital acquisition and workforce demands.

“This was a very welcome and comprehensive discussion with the chief construction officer,” MHCA president and CEO Chris Lorenc said in a statement.

“We think he can be central to helping administration streamline process, clarify roles and responsibilities to assist both administration and industry in achieving and delivering on their respective responsibilities. All of this can help ensure that the municipal infrastructure investments and the programs return highest and best value to the taxpayer.”

During the meeting, the MHCA presented its priorities which included collaboration, “in a relationship of trust,” between the city departments and industry; early engineering design awards; early tendering and timely awards to contractors; monitoring prices against pre-tender estimates; prompt payment;

post-project rating of public owner, the consultants and the contractors.

“We are encouraged by Mr. Sparrow’s genuine desire to learn, firsthand, about the work we do, how its delivery is tied to program tendering and to the city’s infrastructure investment strategies,” Lorenc added. “These reviews can affect not just cost management of very large projects, but in efficiently and cost-effectively delivering road and related construction projects resulting in their noticeable improvement.”