Breaking New Ground—Stories from Defence Construction Breaking_new_ground | Page 81

Contracting out
In 1987, the federal government’s White Paper on
Defence called for renewal of the military, a policy
change that would ultimately lead to another increase in
work for DCC. DCC’s 1988–89 Annual Report noted
that “in keeping with the trend towards greater private
sector involvement, the number of projects designed by
consultants and the extent of consultant supervision
during construction has increased.” The subsequent
Annual Report noted a further increase: “This practice
proves to be advantageous for major projects,
whereas the effectiveness of our own staff cannot be

surpassed for the Department’s regular construction
and maintenance programs.”
The way in which consultants were inventoried and
selected also changed during this period. After years of
maintaining its own inventory of consulting firms, DCC
engineering staff worked in conjunction with PWC to
develop a national consultant inventory and selection
system. Known as SPEC (Selection, Prequalification
and Evaluation of Consultants), the new computerized
system was to be used by both DCC and PWC beginning
April 1, 1989.
BREAKING NEW GROUND
DEFENCE CONSTRUCTION CANADA
SPEC was designed as a qualifications-based system,
in which the experience of registered consultants was
entered into a database. When DND required a
consultant, DCC entered the necessary capabilities
into the system, and the computerized system chose a
consultant that matched them. SPEC also provided an
equitable distribution of work, by using a points system
based on contracts awarded or invitations to compete
for larger projects. If these two criteria still resulted
in the equal ranking of two or more firms, the system
would make a random selection.
Examining within
In 1989, DCC underwent its first Special Examination
by the Office of the Auditor General, which Crown
corporations were initially required to go through at least
once every five years; now every ten years. The auditors
noted four deficiencies, and by 1990, a number of
actions were being taken in response. Additional
performance indicators were being developed, data
would soon be gathered to generate a discussion
regarding changes needed for construction contracts,
a formal internal audit policy was developed for DCC by
PWC, and a consultant was being hired to help develop
a new classification system that would comply with
Equal Wage legislation.
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