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Report from Prompt Payment Ontario

Oct. 29, 2015 – On October 27, 2015, Prompt Payment Ontario (PPO) had its consultation with the Ontario Construction Lien Act (CLA) Review. According to Sandra Skivsky representing PPO, “We had a 4 hour meeting with Bruce Reynolds and Sharon Vogel to discuss the key issues they identified in the Information Package, and some identified by PPO, such as the impact on Benefit/Pension Plans. It was an informal and free ranging discussion on how the various elements for Payment Security would work with Prompt Payment principles.”

The Ontario Glass and Metal Association (OGMA) and the Architectural Glass and Metal Contractors Association (AGMCA) joined PPO earlier in the year to represent their interests in incorporating payment terms into law.

Skivsky continued, “The point was made that, first of all it is PPO’s position that without a legislated prompt payment system in Ontario any changes to the Lien Act will not be sufficient to “fix” the issues that are plaguing the construction industry. The problem we are focused on is moving the money through the construction pyramid in a transparent and timely manner with an equitable distribution of risk. We believe that prompt payment legislation will reduce the reliance on the CLA as a remedy for payment issues, something the CLA was not designed to address. Getting paid promptly for work that has been certified as compete is our number one priority.

Secondly, the reason we brought Bill 69 forward as stand-alone Prompt Payment legislation is that PPO does realize that the CLA needs to be revamped, however we also believe that doing that is a far more complex and time consuming initiative. And the Trade Contractors cannot wait years to have their cash flow issues addressed. Therefore we would like to see PP addressed first, perhaps as a part of the CLA, but as a separate section, or in some other manner. The current payment situation in the industry is untenable and has far reaching socio-economic implication downstream of the Trade Contractor and the need for it is immediate.

That said, it is my opinion that meeting went very well with a positive exchange of information. We will be updating the group in more detail in the coming weeks.” If you have any questions or input please contact Frank Fulton who is representing the OGMA and the interests of the industry with PPO at fultech.fc@gmail.com.