b'PRESIDENTS MESSAGEA STORM IS COMINGS ince World War II ended on September 2, 1945, onlywhen the construction process is disrupted. Big costs! In theory, two events have had so profound an impact as towhen it is mandated that a site be temporarily closed that forever change our lives. The first was the lunar landingcould be as simple as aggregating the costs of demobilization on July 20, 1969, which literally proved that anythingand remobilization, assuming of course that the buyer of was possible and became the catalyst for a technologicalconstruction has the wherewithal to bear that cost or that a revolution. That technological revolution paled by comparison tolegislated cost-recovery mechanism exists. Big buts!whats coming, by the way, but thats a story for another day. You would think that a centuries-old industry that accounts for The second was COVID-19. For the record, I dont want to talkupwards of 10 per cent of our global GDP would have standards about the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, Id like to talk aboutfor calculating de and re, but like our complicated case law, the storm that is coming in the wake of the pandemic. Make noeach construction project is unique. Now imagine the impacts mistake, COVID-19 is a real humanitarian crisis, and thousandsof liquidated damages clauses, delayed holdback payouts, of lives have already been lost. Makes us wish we had beenproductivity losses, allegations of insufficient pandemic-related better prepared. And to be fair, SARS gave Canada a rudesafety protocols on sites, trades refusing to work on sites awakening in 2003-4, and as a result, we were better preparedprotected under essential services and/or being forced to work for the coronavirus outbreak as a country than most. We haveon projects that arent considered essential, tardy payment also been blessed, particularly in our city and province, withprocessing-related costs, and a plethora of other issues certain strong leadership. But the fact remains that preparedness to stoke the fires of discontent, and you have a storm that may is vital. take years to subside and result in massive casualties.The focus of this message is also about preparedness, but inIt would be an understatement to say that the construction this instance its about the sh%t storm that begins when theindustry is ill-prepared for what is to come. On average, we are pandemic ends. Lets start with the economic/constructionundercapitalized heading into the sh%t storm. And it may take landscape pre-COVID for context. Ontario is the third-largestyears for clarity concerning who ought to be entitled to what construction market in North America. Canada is spendingand how businesses get paid when entitlements far exceed enormous amounts of money on infrastructure to pay the piperavailable funding. Who among us has the wherewithal to endure for decades of neglect, but the projects too are enormous,five years of dispute resolution when the outcomes are likely and Ontario currently has the largest sub-national debt ofwoefully insufficient from every conceivable perspective? What any jurisdiction in the world at about $350 billion. China justthe industry needs is a task force, and TCA will do everything in completed a 56-storey building in 19 days. We have projectsits power to make that happen. And you, our members, need to that big that are 19 months late. According to McKinsey, webatten down the hatches and prepare for five years of bumpy have some productivity issues. And despite the game-changingroads. In the unlikely event I havent already ruined your day, new Ontario Construction Act, we live in a world where paymentbear in mind we were theoretically on the cusp of a global processing is tardy and contract disputes abound. recession before the outbreak in Wuhan after the longest stretch of positive economic growth in recorded history.Now lets talk about whats coming and the economic consequences of COVID-19. As construction industry employers,Bad news. Im sorry. Thank God we are the most resilient we recognize how difficult it is to balance the competingindustry on the planet. And rest assured, we at TCA will do demands of contract obligations and public safety. Add to thateverything we can to help you navigate the storm.the muddy waters around what is or isnt an essential service and our propensity as an industry to shoulder contract risks thatRespectfully,ought to reside elsewhere, and then pair that with images of the wild west. Why so scary, you ask?The simple answer is this. Coronavirus is, or at least it ought to constitute, force majeure in contract terms. The event givesJohn Mollenhauer rise to an entitlement to recover costs which inevitably occurTCA President & CEO6Quarter 1 2020 BUILDERSDIGEST'