The British Columbia provincial government tabled a series of significant amendments to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the “Act”) that received royal assent on November 25, 2021 and which were intended to update this legislation to keep pace with technological and structural changes in the ways that public bodies in the province interact with and handle information.
Reasons in West Kelowna (City) v. The Owners, Strata Plan EPS2459 2022 BCSC 1020 were published by the British Columbia Supreme Court today in which the City of Kelowna was successful in obtaining an interlocutory injunction against a strata corporation that had erected gates with no trespass signage on a public walkway next to Lake Okanagan.
One of the frequent issues that comes before courts in the tendering context is whether a tender bid is compliant with the tender documents. There are considerable legal implications arising from a determination that a bid is not compliant.
While in other business contractual relationships an irregularity in the contract documents may be reasonably ignored by the parties, in the tendering context irregularities have greater significance due to the unique legal framework of tendering. In order to uphold the fairness and integrity of the tendering process the law requires that only compliant bids be considered for award. In this article, we discuss the general principles that apply in a compliance assessment.
As published in the NRCA’s Northern Construction Connection June 2022 Newsletter, and VICA’s e-New.
Big changes are on the horizon for trade professionals and the construction industry in British Columbia following the enactment of the Skilled Trades BC Act (the “Act”) on March 10, 2022. The Act will replace the current Industry Training Authority Act. The current legislation is responsible for creating the “Industry Training Authority”, which has been the Crown agency responsible for managing and supporting trade training and apprenticeships in the province since 2003. This Crown agency will be transformed into the “SkilledTradesBC” (the “Corporation”) by the new Act. The Corporation will be responsible for the creation of a compulsory skilled trades certification regime for a number of trade professions.
As published in the NRCA’s Northern Construction Connection May 2022 Newsletter, and VICA’s e-New.
The planning and approval process, manpower, equipment, insurance, materials, and other associated costs related to building make construction projects a costly undertaking. Whether the owners are a public organization, private corporation, or individuals they will have some varying sensitivity to unanticipated changes in cost related to their project. As a result, disputes related to construction costs are a common cause of relationship breakdowns between owners and contractors and can serve as a catalyst for legal action.
As published in the NRCA’s Northern Construction Connection March 2022 Newsletter, and VICA’s e-New.
On November 3, 2021, Bill 26 received third reading by B.C.’s legislature and portions of Bill 26 relating to public hearings and delegating to staff the authority to issue development variance permits came into force on November 25, 2021. By an Order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council dated January 31, 2022, most of the remaining amendments in Bill 26 became law on February 28, 2022.
Typical construction contracts contain various provisions with respect to the contractor providing notice relating to time and/or price, for example, events or circumstances surrounding potential losses or claims for realized losses. The purposes of the provisions are to minimize such losses as much as practicably possible. Notice provisions are applicable to sub-contractors as well, depending on the language included in their respective contracts. Such provisions usually require that the provision of notice is the first necessary step in order to make a claim.
As published in the NRCA’s Northern Construction Connection February 2022 Newsletter, and VICA’s e-New.
The partners of Civic Legal LLP provide their summaries, views and insights of the legal issues that arose in 2021 and their impacts on the construction industry.
As published in the NRCA’s Northern Construction Connection January 2022 Newsletter, and VICA’s e-New.
UPDATE: Since this article was published, the amendments discussed received Royal Assent and are now the law. Please note, that this article focuses on amendments affecting the construction industry. For a more fulsome review of the amendments in Bill 26, please see here.
On November 3, 2021, Bill 26 received third reading by B.C.’s legislature. The Bill seeks to amend the Local Government Act by removing the default public hearing requirement for zoning amendment bylaws that are consistent with an official community plan and enabling local governments to delegate decisions on minor development variance permits. The purpose of the proposed legislative amendments is to give local governments more powers to simplify and accelerate their development approvals processes to increase the housing supply.
As published in the NRCA’s Northern Construction Connection December 2021 Newsletter, and VICA’s e-New.
As of Wednesday, November 17, the Province of British Columbia has moved forward in introducing further legislation regarding Indigenous rights. In an effort to uphold its commitment to reconciliation and its implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (‘UNDRIP’), the Province introduced two bills concerning Indigenous peoples.