Canadian Standards Association and ACEC Partner to Develop “How To” Course for Procurement Officers

The Canadian Standards Association (CSA), under the auspices of its Infrastructure Solutions Program, recently accepted a proposal from the Association of Canadian Engineering Companies to work collaboratively on the development of a course for procurement officers on how to implement a qualifications-based (QBS) procurement system for selection of professional consultants. The course will be based on the recommendations contained in the InfraGuide Best Practices document on Selecting a Professional Consultant, but will go much further than the InfraGuide document by providing instruction on how to prepare proper requests for proposals, determining quality evaluation criteria and scoring systems, incorporating sustainability and lifecycle costing into the evaluation, and negotiating equitable fees and remuneration. The course will be web-based, and will be available to anyone involved in the procurement of consultants in both the private and public sector, and around the world.

The decision to proceed followed several months of consultations with stakeholders and owner representatives to determine if in fact there was a need and a “market” for such a course offering. Not only was there a need, but the consultations helped inform the content of a course.

“We are very pleased that the CSA has agreed to take on this very important and relevant project,” stated Jeff Morrison, President of the Association of Canadian Engineering Companies. “This course will fill a much needed gap in our attempts to convince owners of the benefits in adopting QBS as the best practice for procuring consulting engineers. As a well-respected, professional, independent body, CSA brings with it a great deal of credibility, which we are confident will bode well for a high quality educational product,” he added.

“We are delighted to be working with ACEC and other key infrastructure stakeholders to deliver this important implementation tool,” said Lance Novak, Vice President of Sales for CSA. We’re looking forward to bringing proven and practical solutions to the infrastructure community.

A Steering Group comprising a cross-section of procurement experts and stakeholders has been assembled, and developmental work will begin shortly. The intent is to have the course content developed by the end of the year, with rollout occurring by the start of 2010.