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Estimating
The Estimating Department is still slow but we have been
pricing a few projects.
The North Bay project is still on track and we have our
structural, mechanical and electrical consultants working
on the design. Lori Ireland from Square Feet Designs is
doing the Architectural layouts and coordination with North
Bay Hydro and the Building Department.
Mike submitted pricing for the Totten Mine Hoist House
and we were told that we had been short listed and were
being considered. The difference between our price and the
other bidder did not make much difference. It was the building
delivery time that was important. All of the bidders had
a building delivery for some time in January of 2008, but
Robertson Building Systems had a delivery time of less than
8 weeks, which is impossible. Inco awarded it to the Robertson
dealer based on that delivery. We are now hearing rumours
that Robertson's delivery time is 20 weeks! Guess some people
will say anything to get a job.
Mike also submitted a price for an Oil Storage Building
to Tenaris Algoma Tubes and is waiting to hear the results.
Tom is pricing a new concrete sign for Tenaris as well.
Mike has a meeting scheduled with a developer from Georgia
in October, but this project is top secret. We are also
working on a budget for a large project in Timmins.
Ken submitted pricing for the Elliot Lake hanger project
and placed 3rd out of 4 bids.
Tom is pricing the ASI Fuel Depot project along with the
ASI Bent foundations which is a very nice sized concrete
job. Tom also submitted pricing for the ASI Lime Plant Welfare
building and it might just shape up into a job for us.
Tom submitted revised pricing to EPTCON for some concrete
work at the Gartshore GS. The project is over budget and
the scope of work is being revised. This job may have to
wait until the spring.
Mike has negotiated a price for the re-roofing of the GoodLife
Fitness Club in the Sault and the materials have been ordered.
They should arrive in about three weeks from Steelway and
they we will commence installation and fighting with the
seagulls once again.
Upcoming projects for this fall and next year will include
the Sea Lamprey building and renovations with a budget of
$7 million, the Algoma Manor addition and renovations for
$15 million, the new High School for about $34 million,
the Separate School board's new High School for about $12
million, AHU's new building (pending funding) for $15 million
and several other large projects that I am not at liberty
to elaborate on.
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New Employees
We would like to welcome Scarlett Marenger to our Accounting
Department. She comes to us with a wealth of construction
knowledge and work experience. We hope she can fit in with
the wild girls down there, she's a wee bit quiet but Shauna
and Fern say that's only because she is the "new kid"
on the block and learning our procedures.
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Wayne is experiencing a few delays due to the excessive
amount of rainfall we have had. It delayed the spray-on
foam insulation by about a week. Timmins Industrial Coatings
did this work. Donnie & Duane S. have been working on
roof and window blocking. To date the window blocking has
been changed three times! Henderson Metal is roughing in
the stainless steel ductwork, McLeod Bros. are still doing
the plumbing rough-ins, Phase Four are doing electrical
rough-ins and Vipond has been on site this month. Ideal
Colour has been working on interior partitions and have
started to install drywall. MJM Roofing has been on site
installing the roofing and hopefully we will be watertight
as far as the roof goes, we will still need windows and
doors. Our crew has also been setting door frames. Gough
Masonry was on site doing block work and has now started
the brick work. Wayne is waiting for Avery's to return to
site and complete their remaining sitework. Blair and Clinton
have met with Wayne on several occasions to review shop
drawing submittals, change orders and scheduling. We have
had to push our completion date back to January of 2008
due to delays in consultant reviews.
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Collegiate Heights Retirement Home Addition
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Ken C. is still pounding away on this project as Ken Stitt
and Tim Buchan struggle to get him more subtrades. Randy,
Ryan, Gerry B, Wayne M., Scott G. and Jerry C have been
working on the foundations. Ken was held up on the elevator
pit as we had to secure an elevator supplier before we could
get the pit requirements. Avery's, Citywide Electric and
DNM Plumbing are the subtrades on site so far. They have
been working on the parking lots, backfilling the interior
of the foundations, installing the underground plumbing
runs and installing the underground electrical. Ken and
Tim have been having a few problems trying to secure subtrades
and suppliers as all of them are quite busy right now. The
completion date for this project will be in the spring of
2008.
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Mike Mathieu is now our working foreman and he is roughing
out the daily reports and Tom K. is putting them on EdgeBuilder.
Andy, JR and Jake, Chris M and Duane are working on the
foundations. We have been delayed due to the late delivery
of the reinforcing steel. The guys have been working on
the Demin tank base, the turbine columns and have poured
the stack foundations. AELP have been waiting for their
Engineering Consultant to provide them with drawings and
they have now started to receive them. We should be increasing
our crew size in early October. I would really like to provide
some pictures, but we are not allowed to have cameras on
site.
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EPTCON MacKay GS Concrete Repairs
Ken McLellan is the Super on this project and his crew consists
of Bob, Nick, Craig and Len. Clinton is the Project Manager
and he is doing an excellent job. They started on site September
17th and had their safety indocs that day. They are working
on jack hammering the spalded concrete out and doing some
dental excavation in preparation for the new concrete. Avery's
is on site working for EPTCON and they are preparing the
site for our concrete work. The crew has to drive back and
forth each day as the Mad Moose is closed for renovations
and there is no other place to stay. Guys make sure you
watch out for those early morning moose!
EPTCON Garden River Foundations
We are scheduled to begin this job during the last week
of September. Avery Construction has to do the excavation
before we can begin the concrete work. This job consists
of two large transformer pads. Ken will be moving his MacKay
crew down to complete these.
 Photos:
Photo
#1 | Photo
#2 | Photo
#3 | Photo
#4
Cooper Crane Building Renovations
Terry G and Calvin have completed this project other than
for a bit of extra work that Coopers have requested.
TSC Store Steel Erection
Jason S is still working away on this job. There is a lot
more trims, soffit and flashings than Dwayne had originally
figured and that is why it is taking longer than we figured.
Scott M, Scott G, Trevor, Justin, Tyler S., Chris P. and
on occasion John M., Terry G. and Calvin make up the large
crew. This project should be almost complete by the time
this goes to print, we hope. The TSC staff is already on
site and setting up the store for the Grand Opening, so
we better get out of there soon or we will be greeting the
customers.
Photos:
Photo
#1 | Photo
#2 | Photo
#3 | Photo
#4
Nexacor HVAC Upgrades
This job is slow going, but Blair will be having a final
inspection very soon.
ASI Women's Welfare Room Renovations
This job has now been turned over to ASI and Tom is completing
the final paperwork.
MTO McKay Road Bridge Rehabilitation
Ray, our resident bridge expert and Super has completed
all of the timber work and has removed the temporary shoring.
Northern Fencing will be working on the guard rails and
they have a small amount of rip rap to install. This job
went very well and should finish ahead of schedule. We were
hoping for some pictures, but Ray did not provide us with
any.
Inco Revert Building, Copper Cliff
We were delayed on starting this job as there were some
soil condition problems. Anmar is now looking into some
piling on one side of the foundation wall. Our crew consisting
of Dwayne, Bob, Nick, Wayne M. and Chris M. headed down
to Inco on September 24th. They were unable to complete
any work as the foundations had to be redesigned due to
soil conditions. They will be heading back down on October
9th. This job has very large battered piers down each side
as there is no concrete floor to help with the horizontal
loads from the building. Hopefully, the piles will have
been driven and we can continue to completion.
Kenworth Truck Centre Building,
Sudbury
Dwayne along with Bob, Nick, Jerry C. Craig T, Joe, &
Chris M completed the foundations on this job in the middle
of September. Anmar can now finish their backfilling operations
and get prepared for the Steelway building to arrive. It
should be delivered some time in early November.
SAH On Call Rooms Renovation
Sid has completed this project and turned it over to the
hospital.
Beacon Marine Addition
The Steelway building will be delivered the week of October
4th and our erection crew will be on site to start.
Howard Avery Construction Building
The Steelway building has been ordered and the drawings
have been finalized. This building is 20,000 square feet
and will be delivered in late October. We will be supplying
and erecting the structure.
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This month we will take a look at the duties of workers
as they appear in the Occupational Health & Safety Act.
Section 28
(1) A worker shall:
(a) work in compliance with the provisions of this Act
and the regulations;
(b) use or wear the equipment, protective devices or clothing
that the worker's employer requires to be used or worn;
(c) report to his or her employer or supervisor to the
absence of or defect in any equipment or protective device
of which the worker is aware and which may endanger himself,
herself or another worker; and
(d)report to his or her employer or supervisor any contravention
of this Act or the regulations or the existence of any hazard
of which he or she knows.
(2) No worker shall:
a) remove or make ineffective any protective device required
by the regulations or by his or her employer, without providing
an adequate temporary protective device and when the needs
for removing or making ineffective the protective device
has ceased, the protective device shall be replaced immediately;
(b) use or operate any equipment machine, device or thing
of work in a manner that may endanger himself, herself or
any other worker; or
(c) engage in any prank, contest, feat of strength, unnecessary
running or rough and boisterous conduct.
Let us focus in on (1) (d) above. "Report
to his or her employer or supervisor any contravention
of this Act or the regulations or the existence of any hazard
of which he or she knows".
You will note it states his or her employer or supervisor.
When a contracting company is a sub contractor on a project
and they are reporting to a constructor supervisor and they
do not have over five employees on the project which would
require the employer to appoint a supervisor for his employees
if there were more than five persons from the employers
firm.
This means the five or less employees have a legal responsibility
to report to their employer any contravention or hazard.
They can also report it to the site supervisor provided
they are available and on site. They always have the right
to report it to their employer and I would strongly suggest
that they do. They should also have a way or means of documenting
the contravention or hazard report.
This must be communicated to all workers, reviewed on a
regular basis and enforced if required; everyone's safety
depends on it.
Ignorance of the laws and regulations is no defense. But
then again being reprimanded in any way, shape or form for
requesting information or for refusing unsafe work or conditions
by anyone (worker, supervisor, project manager, company,
owner, etc.) is also unacceptable, and must not be allowed
to happen.
Never sacrifice safety for any reason or person.
Your 3 Key Rights under the Occupational Health &
Safety Act!
The Right to Participate! - (in anything to do with Occupational
Health & Safety in your workplace.)
The Right to Know! - (about anything which could affect
your Health & Safety)
The Right to Refuse! - (unsafe acts or conditions which
could endanger your Health and/or Safety or that of others.)
On another note, I wish to inform you of the up coming
Timmins Health and Safety Conference at the Days
Inn on Thursday, October 4, 2007.
Hope to see you there.
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"Don't work alone Watch for
others"
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The Sault Ste. Marie Construction Association in conjunction
with the OGCA and Sault College are offering the courses
we mentioned last month with a few starting date changes.
The Construction Site Leadership course will now be starting
on October 11th at a cost of $257.00. The Planning &
Scheduling for Contractors course will start on October
10th at a cost of $450.00. The Leadership Workshop Series
one night courses will have Leadership on October 11th,
Stress Management Tips on November 29th and Conflict Resolution
on December 20th. All three of these courses are $49.00
each.
There will be a Basics of Supervising course being offered
through the Association and CSAO on October 23-25th and
December 4-6th and we will be putting a few of our people
through it.
We had an Edgebuilder Web Seminar in our Training Room
in September and all of our PM's attended. Lisa was the
instructor and it went very well. We hope to have more later
this year.
We held a EUSA (Electrical & Utilities Safety Association)
training session on September 26th, 27th and 28th as this
is now required training for Brookfield Power projects with
EPTCON. Nick, Terry, Craig, Jerry, Bob, Chris, Clinton,
Ken M., Len, Trevor, Dwayne, Jerry, Scott M., Tom and Jay.
The Trainer did not have access to a training room, so we
offered ours. Training was also provided to EPTCON, Avery
Construction, Northern Fencing and S & T Electrical.
Photos:
Photo
#1 | Photo
#2 | Photo
#3
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Conventions & Social Events
Fern and I attended the 69th Annual General Meeting of the
Ontario General Contractors Association in Halifax from
September 25th to 30th. I had two Board meetings and we
attended some very informative seminars. Congratulations
to Dean Drevniok on becoming the new Chairman and thanks
to Matt Ainley for a job well done as Past Chair. We had
a great time and enjoyed several social events including
a tour of Pier 21 and a Parade of Lobster dinner where the
waiters carry the trays of lobsters while being lead by
a Scottish bagpiper. We had a dinner cruise of the Halifax
Harbour on board the Tall Ship Silva where several people
failed to find their sea legs! That was followed by a Pub
Crawl (Fern & I did not participate) and several of
the "Professional Pub Crawlers" were slightly
ill the next morning. We attended a luncheon at the Waterfront
Restaurant and wound things up on Saturday night with the
Chairman's Reception & Dinner Dance. The only day it
rained was on Friday, the day that was scheduled for the
Golf at Glen Arbour, the golfers were quite disappointed.
Special thanks to Mary & Mike Wademan who worked hard
and did an excellent job of organizing this event and bringing
us M & M, the Musical Marvels for our dancing enjoyment.
Special thanks to our sponsors, Aviva Canada, Travelers
Guarantee Company, Marsh Canada, Reed Construction Data,
TCA-General Contractors Section and Petrela Winter &
Associates. Next year promises to be even better and it
will be in the Windy City of Chicago! AND Clive how could
you manage to attack that poor dog and come out on the losing
end.
Photos:
Photo
#1 | Photo
#2 | Photo
#3 | Photo
#4 | Photo
#5
Steelway's annual National Builders Meeting will be held
in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic in 2008. It will be held
from February 23rd to March 1st. This will be a nice break
from our winter wonderland; however we are not sure who
we might be sending.
Congratulations To:
The Sault Steelers on winning their very first Canadian
Major Football League Championship by beating the Edmonton
Stallions by a score of 59 to 10. The Sault should be very
proud of the Steelers accomplishment; this is the first
time that they have won a Canadian Championship. Great job
guys, absolutely FABULOUS!!!!!
The Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corp for being
awarded First Place for it's Explorer's Handbook at the
2007 Marketing Canada Awards. There were 173 submissions
for this award from across Canada.
Mike Moore & Sons Construction Ltd. for being awarded
the OGCA "Distinguished Achievement in Health and Safety"
for achieving a Zero Injury Frequency, 1999-2006: 327,333
derived hours at the Annual General Meeting in Halifax.
Congratulations to all of the other firms for their safety
awards as well. There are some very impressive ones. The
following companies achieved the Lowest Accident Frequencies
in their respective categories. PCL Constructors Canada
for their Category I Award, over 200,001 average annual
derived hours worked, Melloul-Blamey Construction in Category
II, 100,001 to 200,000 annual derived hours and T. A. Andre
and Sons in Category III, 100,000 average derived hours.
Ontario General Contractors Association member firms have
a 30% safer record than the industry average. Another reason
to become a member!
Photos:
Photo
#1
The Sault Ste. Marie's Community Quality Improvements (CQI)
on winning the National Quality Institute's Canada Awards
for Excellence- Silver Level Award for Community Building.
This is the first time in the history of the Canada Awards
for Excellence that the National Quality Institute has recognized
a community's efforts in improving quality of life on a
holistic level. Great Job!
Anthony & Monica D'Arcangelo who exchanged their wedding
vows on Saturday, September 22nd. Fern, Marty and I attended
the reception and had a great time. Vinny was quite a happy
guy and now he only has to get Ricky married off.
The October Birthday Club:
Tammy Caswell October 3rd
Krya Blake (Randy) October 4th
John McCulloch October 13th
Wendy Yeo (Bob) October 16th
Maryanne Gillespie October 30th
Mike Moore & Sons Construction's
Current Donation Status
| 2007
Donation Goal |
100 |
| Donations
to Date |
69 |
OCTOBER CLINIC TIMES
Tuesday, October 9th, 4:00 PM to 7:45 PM
Wednesday, October 10th, 12 noon to 2:30 PM and 4:00 to
7:45 PM
Thursday, October 11th, 9 AM to 11 AM
Tidbits
Halloween is approaching rapidly. If Mother Nature is accommodating
all children should be warm and dry. All parents should
check everything those little gobbles collect in their treat
bags before they "dive" into any treats.
For those of you who have the urge to drive very fast,
take note that the Government has passed Bill 203 which
targets street racers and drinking drivers. But it also
targets drivers who drive 50 km/h or more over the posted
limit. Fines have been increased to $10,000.00 and it allows
Police to immediately suspend the driver's license and impound
the vehicle for 7 days.
The O.P.P. have already impounded 30 vehicles in Southern
Ontario, 3 of them were rented cars, one of them belonged
to a driver who had only owned the vehicle for two days
and one young man was driving his mother's car! Bet she
was really impressed.
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A young man married a beautiful woman who had previously
divorced 10 husbands. On their wedding night, she told her
new husband to "Please be gentle, I'm still a virgin."
"What?" said the puzzled groom. "How can
that be if you've been married ten times?"
Well she said,
Husband # 1 was a Sales Representative; he kept telling
me how great it was going to be.
Husband # 2 was in Software Services; he was never really
sure how it was suppose to function but said he'd look into
it and get back to me.
Husband # 3 was from Field Services; he said that everything
checked out diagnostically but he just couldn't get the
system up.
Husband # 4 was in Telemarketing; even though he knew he
had the order, he didn't know when he would be able to deliver.
Husband # 5 was an Engineer; he understood the basic process
but he wanted three years to research, implement and design
a new state of the art method.
Husband # 6 was from Administration; he thought he knew
how but he wasn't sure whether it was his job or not.
Husband # 7 was in Marketing; although he had a product,
he was never sure how to position it.
Husband # 8 was a Psychiatrist; all he did was talk about
it.
Husband # 9 was a Gynecologist; all he ever did was look
at it.
Husband # 10 was a Stamp Collector; all he ever did was
. . . . . . God, I miss him.
"But now that I've married you, I'm so excited."
"Wonderful" said the husband, "But why?"
She replied "Because you're with the Government and
this time I just know I am going to get screwed."
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So, it is election month and it will be very interesting
to see who gets elected this time round and what promises
were made.
Further to the OGCA's Annual General Meeting in Halifax,
Fern and I got to meet some more of the members and had
some good discussions. Rod Stone attended as well. We had
some good conversations with Matt Ainley of Vanbots Construction,
Tim Smith and Walter Woloshyn of Ellis Don, Jason &
Rose Mary Ball from Ball Construction, Jim & Natalie
Barclay from Barclay Construction, David & Leslie Blake
from MacKay-Cocker Construction, Doug & Pat Chalmers
form Doug Chalmers Construction, Frank & Maureen DeCaria
from Eastern Construction, Peter & Sally Di Gaetano
from Buttcon Limited, Dean & Donna Drevniok from Frecon
Construction, Sandy Graham from Kenalex Construction, Mike
& Colleen Reinders from Maple Reinders Construction
(boy is he tall), Gord & Tracey Robb from Detra Builders,
Greg Stack from Kenaidan Contracting, Jim & Lennie Strachan
from J. D. Strachan Construction, Roy & Wendy Timms
from Timbro Design Build Contractors and of course OGCA's
very own Clive & Anne Thurston, Steve & Wendy Bauld
and Mary & Mike Wademan. They are all great people who
share the same concerns as General Contractors.
We held our 2007 Safety Perception Survey with our employees
at the September All Employees Safety meeting. We had 18
surveys completed and turned in. Fern and I have compiled
the results and they have improved quite a bit over the
2005 results. Congratulations to all of our employees, Supers,
the Safety Committee and Ken James for their dedicated hard
work to making our Safety Program World Class.
I had to include a picture of a steel building being erected
that I happened to notice. You will note in the picture
the yellow X-bracing between the frames. Yes, it is nylon
rope! I seriously doubt that nylon rope would hold the building
up in a strong wind storm. As Dwayne said, he would be awake
all night worrying about whether the building fell over
or not.
Photos:
Photo
#1 | Photo
#2 | Photo
#3
In case anyone missed the news, there was an incident at
the Thunder Bay Landfill site in which a pickup truck backed
into a worker walking nearby causing a leg injury. The MOL
has fined the City of Thunder Bay $50,000.00 for failing,
as an employer, to ensure that equipment was maintained
in good condition by failing to ensure that the backup alarm
on the vehicle was functional contrary to Section 25 of
the OHSA Act. The operator was fined $2,000.00 after pleading
guilty to failing, as a supervisor, to ensure that every
reasonable precaution was taken in the circumstances for
the protection of a worker when he failed to conduct a pre-operations
check on the vehicle prior to driving it, contrary to section
27 (2c) of the Act.
Wow, $50,000.00 for a back-up alarm plus the 25% victim
fine surcharge that is $65,000.00 for about a $25.00 part.
That is why our safety policy insists that you do a Vehicle
Inspection Report every morning before you get into them.
And what's this thing I read about in the newspaper. Stem
cells from male testicles? Researchers hope to one day extract
stem cells from testicles that could be directed to grow
into all kinds of tissues to repair everything from a damaged
heart tissue to brains destroyed by Alzheimer's to insulin-producing
cells to cure diabetes. Ouch!
I read about the dinner and dance fundraiser for the family
of Megan Doble who died in a car accident August 12th and
the Doble Family Trust Fund. Megan must have been a very
special young person and I couldn't help but read the poem
that she had written and I had to put in the newsletter.
MEGAN'S POEM
Our time in this place is short and not certain,
Tomorrow holds no promises or certainties,
All we can do is live in the present,
Cherish the past,
Hold hope in the future,
And cup our hands around our little piece of time.
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