Specific, Customized, and Tailored: Canmore Gets Control Through OCIP

Joe Rau is the Asset Management Co-ordinator for the Town of Canmore. His experience working at a major infrastructure engineering consultancy and the City of Edmonton means he knows a thing or two about construction management. For example, Joe knows that risk exposure and liability issues are major considerations for any construction project.

The words ‘specific,’ ‘customized’, and ‘tailored’ come up a lot when Joe talks about AMSC’s Owner Controlled Insurance Program (OCIP) coverage. Not relying on run-of-the-mill coverage from contractors is important because it puts him in the driver’s seat.

“It was more about control and being able to have more oversight. And being able to select what we thought was appropriate coverage limits and types for the specific job, rather than rely on a contractor to provide boilerplate coverage they use job-in and job-out.”

The Town of Canmore has recently taken out OCIP coverage on the Canmore Recreation Centre Lifecycle Maintenance project. It’s a big renovation. As Joe explains, it all started with a conversation with AMSC’s Mark Sosnowski where they got “…an understanding that we could customise and tailor the coverages in a way that was specific to the project. And that would have us covered in the case of a contractor walking off the job and taking the insurance coverage with them.”

Being in control of the insurance for a construction project means working closely with the prime contractor. Joe shares a good tip for other municipalities considering using AMSC OCIP on their next construction project: plan your OCIP coverage in advance of issuing an RFP.

“Have the conversation with the contractor up front that you are going to use OCIP. Just to make sure they understand they may not need to build some of those insurance costs into their quotes.” It helps avoid confusion and having to renegotiate the terms later on, he points out.

Joe says the Town of Canmore is considering using OCIP again because the coverage can be made to be specific to the scope of the project.

“I think we’re able to cover our exposures and liabilities better. I think we will use it again, especially for larger and more complex projects.”

If you would like more information about OCIP for your municipality’s construction projects, please contact clientdevelopment [at] auma.ca (clientdevelopment[at]auma[dot]ca) or call 310.AUMA(2869).