School districts lead the way, win industry award for fair and equitable practices

By Melanie Franner

Three school districts within the province of British Columbia have distinguished themselves this year by winning a prestigious award for their fair and transparent, equitable tender practices. This is the seventh year that the Southern InteDistrict 6. Burnaby (Head Of ce) 3958 Myrtle Street Burnaby, BC V5C 4G2 Phone: (604) 435-1313 Fax: (604) 435-7677 Email: bursales@rsl.ca Vancouver 132 West 2nd Avenue Vancouver, BC V5Y 1C2 Phone: (604) 872-7521 Fax: (604) 872-7460 Email: vansales@rsl.ca rior Construction Association (SICA) has given out the Owner/Consultant Award, and the fi rst time in its history that a school district has won it. “This is not only the fi rst time we gave

Left to right: Terry Brown, chairman of the SICA Board (2009-2011); Dan Horochuk, capital projects coordinator for School District 83; and Steve Jackson, director of operations for School

the award to a school district, it’s also Coquitlam 2394 Canoe Ave Coquitlam, BC V3K 6C2 Phone: (604) 944-0441 Fax: (604) 944-0450 Email: coqsales@rsl.ca

Langley #102 – 6375 202nd Street Langley, BC V2Y 1N1 Phone: (604) 539-2290 Fax: (604) 539-2295 Email: lansales@rsl.ca Victoria 524E Culduthel Road Victoria, BC V8Z 1G1 Phone: (250) 475-6055 Fax: (250) 475-1985 Email: vicsales@rsl.ca

Kelowna 1885 Baron Road Kelowna, BC V1X 6W2 Phone: (250) 763-3114 Fax: (250) 861-1546 Email: kelsales@rsl.ca

Distributing Refrigeration, Air-Conditioning, and Heating Parts and Equipment to the HVAC and Refrigeration Trade. the fi rst time we ever gave the award to three recipients,” explains Debbie Hicks, president, SICA. “And all three of the recipients are very deserving.” The awards were handed out during the SICA General Annual Meeting, held on September 16th 2011. SICA developed the award as a way to recognize “fairness and equity in the construction industry”. School districts, on average, can have a $1-million+ in their annual upgrades and renovations budgets – not including the potential of extra projects that can warrant extra millions of dollars.

Dan Horochuk, capital projects coordinator for School District 83, is one of this year’s award recipients. He is set to offi cially retire in April of 2012. “The award caught me by surprise,” he explains. “I feel pretty privileged to have won it. It tells me that we must be doing something right.” Horochuk has tried to be fair and equitable in his business practices throughout his life. His previous experience within the construction industry (prior to the 26 years he has spent with the school district) has provided him with the awareness of how important this is. “The more you get involved in a project, the more you understand how it all works,” he says. “I understand that everyone needs to make a profi t. We just want to make sure that we’re getting fair value for the money.”

The second recipient of this year’s SICA award is John Hickling, director

of maintenance for School District 67. Unfortunately, Hickling retired just prior to the SICA announcement. His replacement, Doug Gorcak, director of facilities, speaks of trying to follow in Hickling’s footsteps. “The award speaks very highly of the school district’s reputation within the construction industry, of being open and transparent in everything we do,” he explains. “I think we have an opportunity to continue to lead the way and to show by example. We now have to continue to live up to the reputation that’s been set.”

Steve Jackson, director of operations, School District 6, was the offi cial recipient of the third SICA Owner/Consultant award this year. He, too, comes from a background that includes work within the private sector. Before joining the school district, he worked for 10 years with his family in a mechanical-contracting business. “It’s certainly a big honour for us to win something like this,” he states. “I think it is a very signifi cant award in that it reminds us all that we need to be conducting our business in an open and transparent way.” Jackson feels that the government has long recognized the need for proper bidding and tendering processes. “From a public owner’s perspective, I think we’re doing a fairly good job across the board,” he says. “Looking into the future, there are a lot of people with proper business practices who are about to retire. The question that comes to mind is how we can maintain and enhance our commitment to fair and equitable practices during this transition.” According to Jackson, the answer lies in a couple different directions. “I think we can achieve this through maintaining relationships with industry associations, like SICA, and through government itself, like implementing specifi c policies that support fair and transparent tendering practices.”

• Participation at SICA events, meetings, PCC and/or Education

Courses/Workshops. • Use of SICA for dissemination of project information. • Placement of plans in SICA planrooms. • Willingness to consider and adopt industry policy. • Use of industry standard documents. • Willingness to consult/discuss with contractor and industry when problems arise. • Commitment to quality of tender documents. • Willingness and speed in providing the Low Bidder/Awarded contractor information. • Owner/consultants fairness in dealing with contractors. • Commitment to Gold Seal – Condition of Contract t

Policy and Owner Project Manager designation. • Commitment to use of Bid Depository. • Membership in SICA.

Of course, associations like SICA are doing their part to help raise awareness of the need for fair and equitable practices within the Canadian construction industry. “When you recognize people who are doing the right thing, you hope that it instills other people to follow suit,” concludes SICA’s Hicks. “To be recognized by industry for their leadership in this area is a real ‘feather in the cap’ for the school districts and the industry as a whole.”

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