CSD and CSD Construction will present their brief to the Commission de l’aménagement du territoire towards the end of the day, during the special consultations and public hearings on Bill 76, An Act mainly to enhance the quality of construction and public safety.
While CSD Construction applauds the Minister of Labour’s initiative, the union feels that the bill does not address the fundamental issue of poor construction planning, which continues to compromise costs, delivery times and quality of construction in Quebec.
“Introducing more inspections is a good thing, but it is too often an afterthought to correct poor initial planning. We need to be involved right from the start and fix site planning issues affecting productivity and quality of work right away. Mistakes made during the planning stage lead to additional costs and avoidable delays,” stated Carl Dufour, CSD Construction’s President.
Planning problems identified a long time ago
CSD Construction has brought forward the problems linked to deficient project planning, such as managing too many worksites, inefficient work sequences and delays in ordering materials, on several occasions including during Bill 51 consultations. “These issues have a direct impact on costs, productivity and even worker retention in the industry,” added Dufour.
The union advocates for better work planning, including a better yearly distribution of working hours, to avoid surcharges and minimize costs for work that needs to be redone. CSD Construction also proposes to improve worksite efficiency by limiting the number of projects launched at any given time.
Bill must extend to all sectors
The union also insists on ongoing training for workers and contractors. A project’s overall quality is contingent on all players involved, and not only contractors, collaborating throughout the process.
“We need to train workers and contractors to better anticipate requirements so they can avoid recurring errors and optimize inspections,” explained Dufour.
CSD Construction is calling for Bill 76, which primarily targets the residential sector, to be expanded to all industry sectors, for maximum impact.
Dufour pointed out that “planning issues affect the entire industry, not just the residential sector. The government must take this reality into account if it really wants to improve our industry’s productivity”.
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