Prompt Payment legislation drives the transformation of the contract administration process
Oshawa, Ontario, CANADA — December 12, 2018 — Builterra (owned by AEC Solutions, Inc.), a civil engineering software provider, is pleased to announce that its contract administration platform has now been adopted by forward-thinking Ontario municipalities including City of Kitchener, City of Vaughan, Region of Waterloo and six others who have begun pilot projects. Furthermore, global and local civil engineering firms GHD, AECOM, WSP, The Municipal Infrastructure Group (TMIG), CIMA+ and R.V. Anderson Ltd. use Builterra for City of Toronto infrastructure projects. With Ontario’s new Prompt Payment legislation set to be fully rolled out by October 2019, Builterra expects to work directly with a number of forward-thinking regions across Ontario, and Canada, over the coming months.
Over $1 billion in progress payment certificates issued via Builterra
“Payment delays to contractors are a pervasive problem in the construction industry and they are the direct result of a disconnected contract administration process on the part of infrastructure project owners,” said Jeff Lyons, Builterra’s VP of Platform Innovation. “It’s difficult to ensure timely payments when data is scattered across multiple platforms and multiple job roles. Builterra centralizes inspection data, expediting payment approvals so contractors get paid on time and project owners avoid penalties.”
Builterra’s clients replace antiquated, disconnected tools like hand-written field notebooks and Microsoft Excel with a software as a service (SaaS) solution that’s accessible via a Web portal and mobile app. The cloud-based platform streamlines and standardizes key contract administration workflows including field inspection and reporting, design take-offs and cost estimating, bid preparation and analysis and progress payment certificates.
“Under the new Prompt Payment Act, the project owner must pay a contractor’s invoice within 28 days, unless the owner has disputed the invoice within 14 days of receipt,” says John Montgomery, LL.B, partner at Johnston Montgomery Barristers & Solicitors in Whitby, ON. “This means owners will have no more than two weeks to review the work being invoiced and prepare detailed deficiency reports and a notice of dispute that sets out all of the reasons for not paying. These regulations will have a huge impact on the construction and civil engineering industry here in Ontario.”
GHD Sees Bottom-Line Results with Builterra
In order to ensure prompt payment for complex projects, having access to accurate and complete inspection data is a must. Civil engineering firm GHD adopted Builterra for a large-scale group of projects for the City of Toronto involving the replacement of several thousand meters of cast iron water-main in various locations around the city.
“With Builterra, there’s a significant time savings, a reduction in the handling of work and the margin of error has been reduced when managing quantities and payments for multi-project contracts,” said Graham Sheffield-Grevstad, Engineer at GHD.
Prompt Payment Readiness for Project Owners Underway
The winter season is the ideal time for teams to implement new technology and best practices. In order to ensure the platform is up and running in time for the October 2019 Prompt Payment deadline, Builterra has created a reverse-implementation schedule for infrastructure project owners and the civil engineering firms who serve them.
“Whether business owners implement a platform like Builterra or focus on another aspect of their operations, it’s imperative that changes are put in place before it’s too late,” said John. “Failing to comply with the new Prompt Payment Act increases the risks for litigation, penalties, job loss and a host of other consequences.”
Prompt Payment legislation is currently being implemented in other provinces and US states, with Saskatchewan introducing legislation last month. For more information on prompt payment legislation and how the Builterra platform can help with compliance, watch the webcast, “How Builterra Streamlines Prompt Payment Compliance”.
ABOUT BUILTERRA Founded in 2014, Builterra is a civil engineering software provider that has built the digital pathway for construction contract administration, from conceptual design to as-constructed data ready for GIS. The Builterra contract administration platform, launched in 2015, remains the only solution of its kind that standardizes, streamlines and connects the entire contract administration workflow including design quantity take-offs, cost estimating, bid preparation, bid analysis, bid processing, field inspection reporting and progress payment certification. Builterra is owned by AEC Solutions, Inc.
PRESS CONTACT Jennifer Iannuzzi, Director of Marketing jiannuzzi@builterra.com 905-251-3224
