General Contracting
Your drawings are finished and you need one firm price. ECM bids the work, holds the price and the schedule, and puts its own crews and equipment on the concrete, framing and earthwork.
How it works
Finished drawings, one firm price, and ECM's own crews on site.
When the design is done, you need a builder who prices it honestly, holds that price, and finishes on schedule, wherever the site is.
General contracting is the traditional way to build. Your architect or engineer finishes the drawings and specifications, the project goes out to tender, and contractors compete on a fixed price. Most of ECM’s general contracts are won this way, on public tenders posted on SaskTenders and by Saskatchewan’s construction associations, usually after a prequalification round.
Once the contract is signed, ECM holds the price and the schedule. ECM’s own crews and equipment handle the concrete, framing, excavation and earthwork, and most of the finish carpentry: the work that sets the pace for every trade that follows. Electrical, mechanical and other specialist work goes to trade contractors ECM knows and has worked with before.
A superintendent is on site every day. Once a month you meet with ECM to go over the schedule, the work coming up, the progress invoice and any changes, and the project’s records are open to you in Sage whenever you need them.
Projects
Projects ECM built as general contractor
Every project in the portfolio is tagged by how it was delivered. These are the general contracts.
James Smith Daycare & Headstart
A new daycare and Head Start building for James Smith Cree Nation, with an Elder and culture room, a shared kitchen and an outdoor play area.
- Client
- James Smith Cree Nation
Sturgeon Lake Child & Family Services
A learning centre [tk name and status].
Nut Point Service Centre
A new service centre at Nut Point Campground in Lac La Ronge Provincial Park, replacing a building about 50 years old, with conventional, family and accessible washroom and shower spaces.
- Client
- SaskBuilds and Procurement
Scope
What ECM delivers as general contractor
Tender and prequalification
ECM reviews the drawings and specifications, prices the work with its trades and suppliers, and answers the prequalification: people, experience, similar projects, safety, bonding and schedule.
Trades and suppliers
Specialist trades are invited from firms ECM has worked with, then contracted, scheduled and coordinated by ECM, which answers to you for their work.
ECM's own crews
Concrete, framing, excavation and earthwork with ECM's own equipment, and most of the finish carpentry. When the crews are committed elsewhere, ECM brings in a trade it trusts rather than hold up your project.
Site management and safety
A superintendent runs the site every day, under ECM's COR-certified safety program.
Cost, schedule and changes
A monthly owner meeting with the progress invoice, and the project's records shared in Sage. Changes are priced and approved before the work goes ahead.
Close-out
ECM works through the deficiency list with your architect or engineer and hands over the building with its closing documents.
Why it works
A general contractor that does its own work, and goes where the work is.
Many general contractors subcontract almost everything. ECM keeps the early, schedule-setting work in house: its own crews pour the concrete, frame the building and move the earth with ECM’s own equipment. Your project doesn’t wait for a subcontractor’s crew to come free, and the work every other trade builds on stays under ECM’s control.
ECM also goes where a lot of contractors would rather not: northern and remote sites, all year. Recent and current work includes the Nut Point service centre in Lac La Ronge Provincial Park and a $5 million addition and renovation of the health centre at Canoe Lake, underway now.
- ECM's own crews and equipment on concrete, framing, excavation and earthwork.
- Year-round work, including northern and remote sites.
- Bonded, and COR certified through the Saskatchewan Construction Safety Association.
- A superintendent on site every day, and a monthly owner meeting.
Choosing a delivery method
When general contracting makes sense
General contracting suits you if your drawings and specifications are finished and you need one fixed price before work starts, because your council, your board, a funding program or your lender requires it. It is how most public projects in Saskatchewan are procured, and how ECM has built its water treatment plants, schools and park buildings.
If your design isn’t finished yet, or you want ECM involved earlier with the costs in front of you as they come in, construction management is usually the better fit. A construction management job can also become a general contract: once the trades and suppliers are priced, the price can be locked.
How the two delivery methods compare
| Construction Management | General Contracting | |
|---|---|---|
| Design at the start | Not started or under way. ECM prices it as it develops. | Complete. |
| Price | What the project actually costs, plus ECM's fee. Can switch to a fixed price. | Fixed price at award. |
| Your involvement | Every stage, with the costs in front of you as they come in. | A monthly owner meeting. ECM holds the price and the schedule. |
| Good fit if | You want ECM involved early, before or during design. | Your design is finished and you need a fixed price before work starts. |
General Contracting in practice
Candle Lake Service Centre
A new service centre at Minowukaw Campground, the first built to the province's new standard design for park service centres. ECM is general contractor, with an expanded design-assist role on constructability and cost.
View the projectWhat ECM is building
- Glue-laminated timber roof structure
- Glass block curtain wall
- Covered gathering areas and outdoor showers
- Universally accessible layout, including gender-neutral spaces
- Design assist on constructability and cost
Questions
Questions about general contracting
With general contracting, the design is finished before ECM prices it, and ECM bids one fixed price for the whole job. You know the price up front, and ECM carries the risk of building it for that price. With construction management, ECM comes in earlier, often before the design is done, and you pay the actual cost plus ECM's fee, with the costs in front of you as they come in. A construction management job can switch to a fixed price once the trades are priced.
Both. ECM's own crews and equipment do the concrete, framing, excavation and earthwork, and most of the finish carpentry. Electrical, mechanical and other specialist work goes to trade contractors. Whether ECM's crews take a given scope depends on the schedule and what else they are building. If they are committed elsewhere, ECM brings in a trade it trusts rather than hold up your project.
Yes. ECM is bonded, with single-project bonding capacity of up to $[tk]. Bonding, insurance and safety records are provided with every prequalification and bid.
Yes, all year. ECM regularly builds at northern and remote sites, from provincial parks around Lac La Ronge to First Nations communities across the province, and keeps working through the winter. Its crews travel to the work.
Send the documents, the closing date and any bonding or prequalification requirements through the contact page, or call 306-519-7569. ECM also watches SaskTenders and the construction associations' listings for public work.
Have a tender or prequalification coming up?
Send the documents, the closing date and any bonding requirements, or call 306-519-7569.