Finally, A "Best Practice" for Selecting Engineers

What is the best way to procure engineering services for an infrastructure project? Leaders in the public sector, such as provincial governments, municipalities and public utilities now have the answer. The National Guide to Sustainable Municipal Infrastructure (InfraGuide) has just released a Best Practice for Selecting a Professional Consultant. This Best Practice promotes the principles of Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS) rather than price-based selection as the best method for selecting professional engineers and other consultants.

“With the InfraGuide “Best Practice,” infrastructure agencies now have
the right tool to select engineers.”

Designed by the Public Sector
for the Public Sector

Focus on Long-term Value
and Savings for Taxpayers

InfraGuide is a collaboration of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Infrastructure Canada, the National Research Council and the Canadian Public Works Association to help municipalities make informed decisions and promote sustainable infrastructure investment. InfraGuide is both a national network of experts and a collection of published best practice documents for use by municipal decision makers and technical personnel in the public and private sectors.

Decisions made during project planning and design have ramifications over the entire service life of a project. An appropriate investment in professional services at the onset of a project, which represents only 1-2% of the lifecycle cost, can potentially reduce capital, maintenance and operating costs while improving reliability and extending service life.

For more information on the “Best Practice” for Selecting a Professional Consultant, contact the Association of Canadian Engineering Companies (ACEC) at 1-800-565-0569 or visit www.acec.ca

For more information on the series of InfraGuide “Best Practices,” visit the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) website at www.fcm.ca.