Breaking New Ground—Stories from Defence Construction Breaking_new_ground | Page 137

Ron de Vries joined DCC in 1983 and until his retirement in December 2011 , was involved in the full spectrum of DCC ’ s operations , from contracting and contract management to project management and environmental services . A civil engineer , he held the position of Senior Vice-President , Operations , at Head Office in Ottawa , and was an active member of several industry and government procurement committees .
shows that we were often able to use our relationships with the client and the industry to generate this good faith — it echoes back to those ‘ handshake ’ agreements that would bind people simply out of a commitment to do the right thing . Today , it ’ s a written commitment from each party to do its best and to hold its colleagues to the same high standards .
A key benefit of the partnership agreements , for all parties , is that they reduce the number of claims , leading to cost savings . When changes or challenges in a project arise , the agreement provides a good basis for the team to discuss potential solutions and agree on the best course of action — one that reflects the parties ’ commitment to fairness and integrity .
Enhancing the Corporation As projects and contracts have continued to increase in size and scope over the years , DCC has adapted to meet these new challenges — and those we anticipate on the horizon , as significant equipment programs for the Army , Navy and Air Force come online . DND ’ s infrastructure program delivery for fiscal year 2010 – 11 , for example , was $ 816.3 million . To manage these expenditures effectively , DCC has focused on staff recruitment and retention to ensure that we have the expertise and flexibility required . We have also re-examined the way in which we do business .
Our vision for the future includes a continuing evolution of our service line model , including specialization of services , to ensure that we are providing services that not only demonstrate our efficiency and value to DND and the CF , but also increase that value so that our Client-Partner continues to recognize our expertise . To aid in that process , we are benchmarking our
BREAKING NEW GROUND DEFENCE CONSTRUCTION CANADA
127