New Brunswick to tender projects with fees of $10,000

The Association of Consulting Engineers – New Brunswick (ACEC-NB) has sent feedback to the province’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure regarding changes it is implementing in hiring consultant design services. The association is suggesting that the threshold for inviting tenders is too low.

The province has indicated that consultants will be pre-qualified based on experience and ability and will be selected for projects on a rotational basis. It also says it will tender design services for all capital improvement projects where the fee is estimated to be greater than $10,000.

ACEC-NB gave the following feedback on January 8:

“ACEC-NB is encouraged by the list of pre-qualified firms, as it will create greater competition and fairness enabling more firms to provide consulting engineering services in the province, we do have some concerns around the threshold amount. The $10,000 threshold of fees is low based on procurement standards as many thresholds within municipal infrastructure often begin at $25,000. It is not very common for infrastructure engagements to be below $10,000, which means more proposal calls, consultant proposal submissions and staff reviews of submissions for smaller type engagements. The $25,000 threshold enables the Department slightly more flexibility in service delivery without the administrative burdens for small, quick consultant engagements.”