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PAGE 4 – NOVEMBER 2018 – The GTA Construction Report
By Chase
Associate Publisher,
GTA Construction Report
It is hard to believe that 2018 is
almost over. Time is one thing I
wish we were able to save up for a
rainy day or just to slow things
down. With November approaching as I
write the column, I shudder to think
of how busy we will be the next
two months. To start, we must pre-
pare for The Buildings Show at the
Metro Toronto Convention Centre
from Nov. 28 to 30. Our next com-
pany call will be a review of the final
touches to get ready. The show al-
lows me to meet with many past
and current clients, reconnecting in
person instead of through the stan-
dard email and phone calls that
have replaced normal business in-
teractions. December for me is a short
month to prepare materials and re-
ceive advertisers’ artwork before
Christmas. It never fails that one or
two advertisers miss the deadline
and promise to deliver materials be-
tween Christmas and the New Year,
so the question will be: Do we wait
an extra week to go to press or not?
The good thing about December
is I have the chance to unplug from
work for almost a whole week to be
ready to hit the ground running in
January. My busy season is during
the months when the construction
industry slows down due to the
weather. More people have time to
respond to calls or emails during
the November to March period,
planning for the year’s first six
months. What are your holiday season
plans? What do you have planned
with your family? What work events
and parties are in the works? Share
how you may be volunteering your
time or industry events/parties you
will be hosting or attending, and I
can provide coverage in the next
issue. Just send me an email at
chase@gtaconstructionreport.com. Chase is the director of marketing and client relations for the
Construction News and Report Group as well as the associate publisher
for the GTA Construction Report, Ontario Construction Report and
the Canadian Design & Construction Report, as well as several US
magazines. These publications reach tens of thousands of readers
across Canada and the United States. You can reach him at
(905) 341-8686 or visit www.gtaconstructionreport.com.




Hamilton, neighbouring communities and
public agencies switch from Biddingo to
eSolutions Group for bids and tenders
GTA Construction Report staff writer
The City of Hamilton and several
other public agencies in the Hamil-
ton and Halton region have
switched their procurement engine
from Biddingo to the Bids&Tenders
system provided by eSolutions-
Group Inc.

The change for Hamilton took
place on Oct. 1.

City council approved the
change in mid-2017 after reviewing
options and evaluating five compet-
ing responses to a Request for Pro-
posals from the city and
surrounding communities.

The eSolutionsGroup proposal
won the competition because of its
features and lower costs, both to
the public agencies and surround-
ing agencies, as well as prospective
bidders. All of the competing systems re-
quire bidders to cover the costs of
submitting their bids, but the
Bids&Tenders system proved to be
the least expensive, and in fact, ac-
cording to city staff, was less costly
than Biddingo.com. Bidders can ei-
ther sign up for an annual service at
$165 per year (where they can ac-
cess all available options from dif-
ferent purchasers) or pay a $45
one-time fee.

Biddingo.com charged $250 per
year. City staff determined that 84
per cent of vendors using Bid-
dingo.com were also registered
with eSolutions, meaning they
would have no trouble migrating to
the new system (and might save
additional money as a result).

The city also saves money on
the back-end, because of its built in
contract management system, sav-
ing an estimated $9,605 in hard
costs. “With the efficiency of this
system and as staff learn to use the
system to its fullest, staff also ex-
pect to achieve some time savings
in reporting in the maintenance of
contracts,” said the memo written
by Rick Male, Hamilton’s director, fi-
nancial services, taxation, and the
city’s corporate controller.

The system also includes re-
sources to manage the city’s Ven-
dor Performance Management
(VPM) processes, allowing procure-
ment staff “to set up an automated
process to capture the required
vendor performance evaluation
forms, as well as any vendor perfor-
mance incident forms issued
through the term of the contract,”
Male wrote.

The 10 agencies participating in
the new system include the City of
Burlington, the Town of Oakville,
the Regional Municipality of Halton,
the Town of Halton Hills, Hamilton
Wentworth District School Board,
Hamilton Catholic District School
Boar and Sheridan College.

Hamilton’s procurement opportu-
nities are listed at
https://www.hamilton.ca/buying- selling-city/bids-tenders.

The GTA Construction Report – NOVEMBER 2018 – PAGE 5