So who's the contractor on this one?

More than likely.....IDL

"More than likely.....IDL"??
Try Yellowridge

In fairness to the construction companies, the schedule was likely created by someone in Victoria with little concept of construction procedures, or winter.

I suppose any schedule that involved digging into the ground and pouring concrete in wintertime, was not viable from the get go.

The contract goes to the lowest bidder, so the contractor that wins is the one that cuts the most corners, and does not allow extra money for overtime to make up for lost time in the winter.

The real question is why the contractor who should know, has taken this long to advise that they would not be meeting the schedule. Or have they, and it just took months for civil servants to acknowledge that there schedule was flawed.

Perhaps going to a tender process with not only a price but a completion date in the contract, which of course would have penalties for late delivery, would ensure projects get done on time. So a contractor from the greater Vancouver area, would be well advised to either make allowances for winter, or stay in the south.

Yellowridge has done enough projects in the north to understand winter, so why are they so far behind schedule?

IMO, if you are "given" the job to design a project in a community, the first thing that you should do is visit that community and become aware of local conditions and then combine that with what the owner wants to have happen... making sure both images can be realized within the budgets committed.

The second thing you might want to do is put someone in charge of the project that actually knows what they are doing so that the work can flow smoothly from one phase to the other and on to completion in a timely manner...

Either that... or re-invent the wheel... for the umpteenth time.

:-)

V.

Portions of the project were/are over budget (what else is new?) that plus design changes have caused additional delays, or so I heard.
metalman.

With the demise of BC Buildings COrporation it looks like the Attorney General's office has developed expertise in construction.

The winter excuse is one that would only be used by someone from Victoria.

Hopefully they don't run their justice system like that.

"Oops, we let some inmates out early because of the computers were down."

Nice to see they are at least using steel and concrete blocks insead of wood.

The ground work and parking lot relocation was done by Klein contracting. The footings and foundation were done by Wayne Watson construction. I spent a month doing site prep there and witnessed a flock of engineers that flew in from the Lower Rainland to look at progress but couldn't walk anywhere because of the mud and didn't even bother bringing work boots, which were required, instead wore $200 dress shoes. They took a few pictures from afar,left for lunch, then back to Vancouver.

Sounds like a project management or design-build contract or a variation of that to me.

They may have been designing "on the fly" rather than having a set of contract documents with completed working drawings ready from the start to go to a lump sum bid.

I would think that there was a local engineering firm involved for quality compliance inspections (soil compaction, rebar, etc.) as well as progress certifaction for progress payments.

In that case those business suit types were likely here to talk with local engineers about the next phase and simply had some spare time and took a look at the site.

If they were the only ones doing compliance or certification checks then they were simply not doing their work, which I would find highly unusual.

What century are we living in really?

Now there's a good question for a history examination.

I am not quite sure whether it makes sense on a Construction Project Management examination though. Can you enlighten me on that. I must have missed that lesson.

Past experience has proven that it is the "Suits from Rainland" that are causing the delays as they are micro managers from an engineering firm and a management firm. They have poor co-operation with the contractors and do not understand that a contractor needs answers and drawings to work from when changes are made to the design. Both Klein and Watsons finished their part of the job on schedule but if Yellowridge is experiencing the same problems of design changes,and not getting answer to major problemswhen they are need then, you have to feel sorry them.

It seems to me this is sort of a fly-bypnight operation run off the edge of someone's desk. Why do we not have some drawings or promotional images of this project? Did I miss that announcement in the paper? Normally we know who the prime contractor is, the design Architect and Engineers as well as any Project Managment firm.

Is that information out there and I missed it, or were we never told?

Sounds like they learned from the Sandman Hotel School of Project Managment who, in turn, learned from the Four Points Sheraton school of project management.

Hmmmm... Gus... that's not exactly fair... the Four Points changed ownership a couple dozen times before they decided on the color of the interior exit signs... and the Sandman.... well that's an "owner-built" job... started out as a "hobby" job and turned into a "I wanna do something different" job.

I cannot imagine how either of them will do a life cycle cost analysis.... or if they will even bother.

:-)


V.

At the new jail the carpet has to match the drapes. Ha ha, really. Could happen. No joke either!

"Both Klein and Watsons finished their part of the job on schedule" I think that the phase 1 (concrete by WW) was about 3 months late for whatever reason. Maybe one of the "experts" could comment on that.
On top of that delay, Yellowridge was even further delayed by "costsavings" needed for the phase 2 of the project to go ahead. I think that took another few months.
You will see the project will be complete next September.

The winter excuse is crap. The cement was poured for the seniors residence on 20th when it was -20 and it was covered for the full 28 day cure. Pay the workers and shit gets done.

I drove by the site this morning and took a close look to see if I could find a project sign that had such things as project name, architect, contractor, engineers, and possibly a sketch of what the facility would look like. Neither was there any sign which pronounces that this is another government project bringing so and so many dollars to the community.

I find that very strange. Does anyone have any knowledge of why this seems to be such a low profile project? Are jails not allowed to be advertised in that fashion?

A.R.E.S, B.C.B.C, M.O.A.G, the Warden, assistant Warden, Omicron, the Architect, all the engineers, and a few I have probably never heard of, these ministries, project management companies and individuals all stand in the way of blue collars and their bosses getting the job done. Every time there is a change, or a an unforeseen issue, all of these parties must play a part in resolution. If the resolution is going to cost money, you can bet that the process will take even longer.
Cynical? maybe. Realist? for sure!.
metalman.

If that is really the case, they started the project without proper drawings and getting all those decisions out of the way before the shovel hit the dirt.

I have seen it happen so I am not going to say that is ridiculous.