The Barrie Construction Association – Constructing solutions
By Alison Smith
BCA executive director
The BCA board of directors and staff are pleased to present you with our seventh annual BCA Magazine, your only official BCA publication.
I am honoured to serve our membership, the board of directors and the construction industry as the executive director of this association. It is with great pride that I and the BCA staff work diligently to support you on all levels.
BCA members speak loud and clear – what they want is equal opportunity to bid on projects. With this in mind, the BCA joined 11 other construction associations across Ontario to form the BestBidz network of online project distribution. The platform, powered by Infinite Source, offers general and trade contractors an advanced platform for searching project opportunities.
Later this year we will be launching the OnDemand portal, a private, invitational plan room and SCAN247, a complete, crade-to-grave option for not only the buyers of construction, but buyers of goods and services.
This will, in effect, result in more and more owners and buyers utilizing the BCA’s services, and promises to keep your plan room populated with an increasing number of project opportunities.
BestBidz members began the conversion of their Electronic Plans Room (EPR) environments in March of 2014. This new BestBidz Portal has a completely new user interface and includes many advanced features and tools not found in our old environment. The system offers the most advanced procurement environment in the industry with benefits for owners, GC’s, sub-trades and suppliers.
BestBidz has “leap frogged” the existing market by introducing advanced features such as e-tendering, e-bidding, e-bonding, public and private plans rooms all included in a “one-stop-shop.”
A general procurement module has been provided for owners that require the ability to do general procurement as well as construction procurement in the same environment.
Initially, the Barrie Construction Association, London District Construction Association and Grand Valley Construction Association converted and the other members of the BestBidz Consortium will convert throughout the remainder of 2014.
The BestBidz portal will provide an integrated environment for all of the Ontario construction industry. Upon completion, BestBidz and the Ontario construction industry will strengthen the existing national network of other local construction associations from across Canada, utilizing the same software platform and providing access to the largest number of construction bid opportunities and construction suppliers of goods and services in the country.
All BCA members can now access our electronic plansroom. If you don’t currently have access, give the office a call and the staff will set you up with a Bronze level membership, allowing you to have the most up to date plans on display anytime. Silver level membership allows for viewing of the drawings, specs and bidders lists and Gold level membership allows for the downloading of all documents.
I leave you with my personal guarantee that your association is committed to advancing our industry’s local, provincial and national interests on every front.
This magazine includes many interesting and informative articles about your association and its affiliates. The strength of the Barrie Construction Association is the active involvement and diversity of its members. Should you have any ideas for future publications, be sure to drop a line to me at bcaadmin@barrieca.com.
