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Professional Services: Finance, Bonding, Insurance, Construction Law, Business Practices

March 3, 2010

Full text of the throne speech

The following is the unedited text of the speech from the throne delivered by Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean on Wednesday.

February 19, 2010

Concrete-testing company chief convicted of concocting phony results

The president of a concrete testing company that worked on such New York City landmarks as the new Yankee Stadium was convicted Wednesday of concocting phony test results, but a jury acquitted a low-level manager and has yet to reach a verdict on the top racketeering charge against the president and company.

February 16, 2010

New Toronto Construction Association chair sees a growing role for lawyers

During the course of a legal career that has spanned two decades, newly elected Toronto Construction Association (TCA) chairman Glenn Ackerley has seen his fair share of change.

February 16, 2010

Conference Board public-private partnerships report is biased, flawed, labour says

A recent study by the Conference Board of Canada on public-private partnerships (P3s) is seriously flawed and biased, according to some critics of this procurement method.

February 5, 2010

‘Mockup’ process streamlines Durham courthouse project in Oshawa, Ontario

About a year prior to the construction start of the Durham Consolidated Courthouse in Oshawa, the building/design team took the unusual step of building a full-scale reproduction of a courtroom in a warehouse offsite. No expense was spared to build a $300,000 mockup that would be the mould for the 33 courtrooms contained in the 455,000-square-foot court complex.

January 28, 2010

Public-private partnerships for infrastructure save time, money: Conference Board report

Public-private partnerships (P3s) for infrastructure projects are delivering savings in costs and time compared to conventional procurement approaches used by Canadian governments.

January 14, 2010

Construction set to begin on solar farm in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Construction will begin this spring on a $100-million solar farm that is expected to be the largest in Canada and one of the largest in North America.

December 30, 2009

Bonds to finance Virgin Islands wastewater plant

The leader of the U.S. Virgin Islands says the government has sold $39 million in revenue bonds to finance a wastewater plant at Cruzan Rum’s distillery.

December 29, 2009

Stimulus funding delay a silver lining

The incoming year should be a better one for the construction industry than 2009, says one of Toronto’s leading construction lawyers.

December 21, 2009

U.S. Democrats muscle through year-end jobs plan

U.S. President Barack Obama’s Democratic allies in the House Dec. 16 muscled through a year-end plan to create jobs, mixing about $50 billion for public works projects with another almost $50 billion for cash-strapped state and local governments.

January 19, 2007

Interior environment requires careful consideration

As the link between adverse health effects and mould exposure grows, liability for insurance and other industry groups – including those in the building sector – are likely to increase.

January 19, 2007

Digital documents raise legitimacy, storage concerns

In some construction industry contracts, a letter is not deemed to be an official communication if it is sent via email.

January 19, 2007

Simple steps to maximizing your surety credit

Surety is a form of credit, much like banking. Having spent the past 20 years in both the surety and banking industries, I have developed an appreciation of the characteristics demonstrated by the most successful contractors. Many of these traits happen to be the key areas surety underwriters focus on, and if put into practice, should result in greater credit being made available.

January 19, 2007

Non-compliance a sticking point in legal battles

In 1981, the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Ontario v. Ron Engineering changed the legal landscape of invitations to tender.

January 19, 2007

Accountability Act casts wide net around work

Depending on how meetings are arranged and their purpose, under changes to Canada’s Federal Accountability Act engineers, construction company employees and members of other professional organizations may find they’re now considered lobbyists — with heavy penalties for failing to identify themselves and their interactions with government.

January 19, 2007

University research takes aim at efficiency

In the overheated Calgary construction market, the last thing one would expect from competing companies is collaboration. In a bid to improve industry efficiency, several construction powerhouses are collaborating for a unique research project.

January 19, 2007

Study raises questions about actual costs

Public-private partnerships in British Columbia have sparked $4.7 billion in construction projects since 2002, but critics say taxpayers may end up paying more than they bargained for in the long run.

January 19, 2007

Keep those old liability policies

Ever dispose of something one day only to find out the very next day that you could have used it? The construction project has been over for a few years or your annual general liability policy has been renewed several times so there is no need to keep the old policy, right? Wrong!