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The Canadian Construction Association’s inaugral Best Practices in Construction Symposium was held Oct. 30 and 31 at the Hilton Toronto Airport Hotel featuring two days of educational presentations and panel discussions aimed at improving the ways Canadian general contractors go about their business. At a rough count, about 200 attendees were present.
Dan Playfair
Dan Playfair, former vice-president of major component replacement future unit planning at Bruce Power, opened the day with a fascinating look at the work he led to refurbish and update the nuclear reactors at the Bruce nuclear plant in Tiverton, Ont. Coming from a background in candy production, Playfair was hired to streamline the project to replace the old manual process for inserting rods into the reactor with a new automated system using robots. Attendees were treated to some rarely seen video of the insertion process operating. Playfair said the team brought the amazingly complex and high-stakes project – that involved several unionized labour groups – in on time and on budget using continuous improvement methods emphasizing worker input to identify ways to improve their process. An example was a delicate but heavy cylinder that needed to be inserted into another cylinder – doing this frequently caused damage to the parts. At the suggestion of his team, engineers were able to 3D print a plastic guide ring that eliminated the issue. Playfair also noted that excessive fear of failure is a great barrier to progress and spoke candidly about two expensive R&D efforts he led that did not end up being feasible.
From left, Jorgen Kvist (CCA), Audrina Lim (Chandos Construction, Jani Loots (JLL) and Andrea Linsky (Alberta Ecotrust)
The “Building a Greener Future” panel discussed all things sustainable building. Panelists came from a mix of sustainable builders, private consultants and government energy regulators. The difficulty of harmonizing energy efficiency codes for different parts of the country was addressed, with panelists noting that investment in new construction can flee jurisdictions where the rules are too onerous. Lim pointed to the urgency of addressing climate change using the example of her former home in Australia which was destroyed by wildfires. The panel acknowledged that great progress toward net zero building has been made, but that there is still a long way to go and the next steps will be difficult. Better data collection and use and better coordination between industry, regulators and the public are needed.
“Breaking Silos: The power of collaborration in construction” was a useful panel discussion explaining Integrated Project Delivery contracts where general contractors, project owners and subtrades share risk and work as a cross-discipline team to avoid many common pitfalls related to miscommunication and misaligned incentives. Panelists included contractors who have worked within these models, project owners who have specified this model and consultants who explain this unusual way of doing things to all parties. The panel referred to waste water project in Halifax that was delivered this way to everyone’s satisfaction. Keys to success include choosing the right team members to lead the effort, getting buy-in from all participants and communication, communication, communication.
There was a great deal more on offer at the two-day Symposium but this should suffice for a sense of the content. A worthwhile day of learning and thinking about business approaches for any builder.