GoContractor’s Toronto Breakfast Briefing – held in Canoe, in the TD Tower on the 29th of November – was kicked off by Clive Thurston who gave a provocative presentation on the current and future of the construction industry. Thurston, president of the Ontario General Contractors Association (OGCA), drew on his decades of experience in construction; as a goal seal certified project manager, certified building code official, arbitrator and mediator; to inform and spark debate among the industry professionals in attendance.
In Thurston’s opinion, the desires of contractor companies and owners are at their root pretty simple. Contractors “just want to build”, while owners want their project delivered on time and under budget. Unfortunately there are several obstacles that stop these interests from aligning and creating a smooth process. In Canada, one of these problems is the cold winter, which as Thurston points out, throws a wrench in the process. However, there are several other obstacles that are more man-made than the natural elements, and these formed the basis of Thurston’s presentation on the future of the construction industry.
Improving Health and Safety
As president of the OGCA, Thurston feels a sense of responsibility for the safety of construction workers in Ontario. Although safety regulation has tightened and technology solutions have been implemented, injuries are actually on the rise again in Ontario, a worrying trend for the future of the construction industry. There are 250,000 young people injured on the job every year in Canada, many of these injuries occurring in the hard-hat industries. Projects run on faster timelines than ever before, with the result being an increase in injuries as safety plays second fiddle to the pace of construction.
According to Thurston, foreign-owned companies who operate in the Canadian market – but don’t follow the country’s strict health and safety rules – are responsible for a high proportion of these injuries. That’s why he spearheaded the implementation of a set of requirements to make companies show they have knowledge of local practices if they are going to operate in Ontario. He is also an advocate for ‘The League of Champions’, an initiative aimed at fostering a safety culture within construction.
Safety is the number one priority for Thurston, who was talking about “safety culture” long before it was a mainstream idea. The industry is over-reliant on compliance systems to cover for inadequate safety standards, according to Thurston. There needs to be a renewed focus on improving safety, through initiatives, technology, and regulation that are aimed at the future of the construction industry. As Thurston said, “Nobody should be dying on our job sites.”
Implementing Technology
Every time a piece of new technology comes along, it’s treated like it can solve everything. We have to move away from that kind of thinking and instead view technology as a tool. They can have great impact on construction processes but best practice is to learn from them and decide which one works best for your business.
According to Thurston, one problem in Canada is that they don’t invest enough in technology. The country ranks 53rd in the world for money spent on R&D so they don’t experience the full benefits of innovative technology. The reluctance to share ideas and invest, combined with inexperienced people managing a project, is holding back the future of the construction industry in Canada. Technological tools have huge potential to improve safety, productivity and efficiency but there needs to be a will to invest in and implement solutions.
The Procurement Problem
Thurston saved most of his passion for the current procurement process, which he was not afraid to be deeply critical of in his provocative presentation. According to Thurston, procurement officers don’t understand how construction works and this is pushing people out of bidding for construction projects, damaging the future of the construction industry. He knows someone in the industry who has built 300 schools, but is leaving that side of the business because he is fed up with the procurement and tendering process. The procurement office is not aware of the reality of construction. There needs to be more input from contractors into the procurement and bidding process.
He was deeply critical of how the lowest bid on a project always wins, which drives up the risk factor for contractors. All contractors think about is what they have to cut to be able to win the job, so there’s not enough focus on the design stage that leads to higher quality. “The design process is only 1% of the life cycle of a building and owners won’t do it,” said Thurston. He described the “pressure cooker” situation that is the tender process, and criticized the lack of transparency, lack of experience and inadequate quality of documents that contractors often encounter in this stressful process.
According to Thurston, lawyers play a bigger role than ever before. There’s at least $1.5 billion of open claims in Ontario because of disagreements between contractors and owners. He pointed out that contractors build in aggravation fees to work with the city of Toronto because of the stress. This was an incisive critique of the procurement and bidding process from Thurston, who drew on his breadth of experience in construction to point out all the ways in which the future of the construction industry can be imporved through better efficiency and productivity.
Improving the Image of Construction
The construction industry has to do a better job promoting itself if it’s to attract young people, according to Thurston. The industry as a whole needs to understand that the public wants information about how construction will affect their lives, not technical information that is of interest to those already in the industry. There is still a perception that construction is a dangerous industry which parents don’t want their kids to go into. Construction companies need to do a better job promoting themselves, and construction in general, to fight back against this perception.
The Future of the Construction Industry
Although Thurston has issues with much of the way the construction industry works, he admits to still loving the industry and is optimistic about the future of the construction industry. He is less concerned with the skills shortage, viewing it as a cyclical event resulting from the current boom in construction in Ontario. There is definitely a shortage of skilled workers in some areas but Thurston wants a study to be done to identify what areas are experiencing shortages, rather than just investing blindly in apprenticeship schemes.
For a someone who’s worked their whole life in construction like Clive Thurston, the question isn’t about whether there is a future for construction, but what it will look like. There will always be a need for new buildings and infrastructure, but there is so much room for the construction process to be improved. Implementing new technology can improve productivity while making construction safer for workers. The industry needs to work together to improve its image so that young people see construction as a viable and desirable career path. There also needs to be a rethink of how the procurement and tendering process works so that the interests of the owner and contractor companies are aligned.
