A new standard agreement for the procurement of engineering services in Ontario is designed to bring fairness and clarity to the process.
It aims at helping Ontario’s 444 municipalities do this by outlining equitable, consistent terms and conditions for both clients and consulting engineers.
Developed by the Consulting Engineers of Ontario (CEO) and the Municipal Engineers Association (MEA), the new document, among other things, recognizes that engineers should not be held responsible for things they have no control over, said Barry Steinberg, P.Eng, Consulting Engineers of Ontario CEO.
The two organizations – the MEA represents engineers that work for municipalities – came together to update the previous 2006 document to represent today’s business realities.
“This standard agreement will enable municipalities to be more efficient in doing business with consulting engineers. The template will allow smaller municipalities particularly to save on the significant time and cost spent on creating a contract,” said Reg Russwurm P.Eng, MEA president.
The standard agreement is available for download at www.ceo.on.ca and www.municipalengineers.on.ca.