Abstract Manager

The Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO), with Infrastructure Ontario (IO), have worked together on the delivery of multiple Design-Build-Finance (DBF) projects (P3s). which Due to the fact that they do not include a Operate and Maintain phase, and only a 2 year warranty, an Independent Quality Assurance Firm (IQAF) under the scope of work for the Design-Builder has been incorporated into the project agreement to perform Quality Assurance for the MTO. These IQAF companies must therefore be qualified by the MTO under their Contract Administration category, and thus through their professional conduct and MTO relationship are beholden to the MTO to provide that level of Quality Assurance the MTO expects.

Parsons has been involved in two of these most recent projects, one for the Highway 401 Expansion ($650M), where it was the Design Builder who retained the IQAF, and the Highway 3 Expansion project ($140M), where it performed the role of the IQAF. The Highway 3 Expansion project is ongoing and extends 15.6km, widening the roadway to four lanes in Essex County. Highway 3 is a critical highway that provides regional and international connectivity. Work also includes drainage improvements including the extension of six mainline structural culverts, replacement/extension of existing centerline culverts along with the installation of additional culverts for the modifications to the local road network; realignment and intersection modifications at several local roads along Highway 3; and reconstruction/resurfacing of existing lanes on Highway 3.

As the IQAF on this project, and having completed many assignments for the MTO as the traditional Contract Administration and Inspection firm providing Quality Assurance, we have observed advantages and disadvantages of the IQAF model. The primary advantage for these large DBF projects which have very aggressive schedules is that it provides cost certainty to the MTO. Given that the design is often not complete at the start of the project, it is not possible for MTO to know the amount of inspectors that would be needed and therefore transfers that risk to the party best able to manage that which is the Design-Builder. On the other hand, having the IQAF be paid and procured by the Design Builder does pose a perceived conflict of interest. However, working as the IQAF and being responsible to the MTO, we will discuss how we are able to navigate this to provide Quality Assurance as expected by the client.