Guidelines - Niagara Peninsula Standard Contract Document

The Niagara Peninsula Standard Contract Document has been developed in order to try to standardize construction practices relating to road and municipal services contracts. The development of this document has taken into account existing specifications at the Provincial level (OPS) and at the Municipal level.

The Niagara Peninsula Standard Contract Document is intended for use in conjunction with the Ontario Provincial Specifications (OPS). It is also intended that the special needs of individual Owners can be accommodated through the use of supplementary special provisions.

The use of this Standard Contract Document will result in a number of standard clauses covered under Instruction to Bidders, Special Provisions, Supplementary General Conditions and General Conditions not being distributed for each individual tender call. This will result in a much smaller tender document.

For the preparation of a tender package, reference should be made to the Users Guide for the Ontario Provincial Standard Specifications as well as these guidelines and sample tender package in the Niagara Peninsula Standard Contract Documents.

The Niagara Peninsula Standard Contract Document is generally made up of the following:

  • Special Instructions to Bidders
  • Instructions to Bidders
  • Form of Tender including Statements
  • Form of Agreement (sample)
  • Schedule of Drawings
  • Special Provisions - General
  • Special Provisions - Tender Items
  • Special Provisions - Supplementary (if applicable)
  • Special Provisions - Labour Conditions and Fair Wage Schedule (if applicable)
  • Standard Drawings
  • Supplementary General Conditions
  • General Conditions
  • Geotechnical Report (if applicable)

This section of the commentary provides guidance on the use of the document together with comments on the various sections and individual clauses where necessary.

Special Instructions to Bidders

This section is project specific and has to be completed for each tender call. The Owner or the Owner's agent will complete and issue this section with the tender package.

The following is a list of Special Instructions to Bidders with any applicable comments:

Revision DateSpecification NumberDescriptionComments
1997/03/14 1 Named Parties No comment
1997/03/14 2 Tender Procedure Owner must specify the amount of a tender deposit as well as the acceptable form of deposit, i.e., certified cheque, bid bond, etc.
2001/03 3 Estimated Tender Value No comment
1997/03/14 4 Tender Award This section should be completed if approvals from review agencies are still outstanding, i.e., Ministry of Electricity and Energy, Ministry of Transportation, Ministry of Natural Resources, Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, etc.
1997/03/14 5 Maintenance Holdback If a maintenance holdback is required, it must be specified here. The amount is specified under Special Provisions G19. If a maintenance holdback is not required, the Owner should enter "None" in this special instruction.
1997/03/14 6 Liquidated damages No comment
1997/03/14 7 Additional Insured Parties identified here are to be included as additional insured as referenced in Special Provision G1, Execution of Contract.

Instructions to Bidders

This section is a standard section. Any alterations, amendments or additional instructions have to be included in the Special Instructions to Bidders.

Form of Tender

This section detailing the schedule of quantities and various statements is project specific and has to be completed for each tender call. The Owner or the Owner's agent will complete the schedule of quantities and issue this section with the tender package.

Care should be taken when completing the schedule of quantities to ensure that the proper specifications are referenced in the Ontario Provincial Standards (OPS) and Niagara Peninsula Standard Contract Document. Although a large number of specifications are listed in the Special Provisions but only those referenced in the schedule of quantities will be in effect. The schedule of quantities should include for each item a specification number for OPS, a special provision number for the Niagara Peninsula Standard Contract Document or a supplementary special provision introduced by an Owner for a specific item.

Form of Agreement

The Form of Agreement included in the Niagara Peninsula Standard Contract Document is a sample only. Each Owner may introduce their own standard form of agreement which would be prepared and signed at the time of contract award.

Schedule of Drawings

The Owner or the Owner's agent will complete this schedule listing the contract drawings, Ontario Provincial Standard Drawings and Municipal Standard Drawings which are applicable for the specified project.

Special Provisions - General

These Special Provisions are general in nature and apply to the contract as a whole. Special provisions relating directly to tender items are listed elsewhere. All costs associated with these Special Provisions - General are anticipated to be distributed amongst applicable tender items.

This section is a standard section. Any alterations, amendments or additional instructions have to be included as supplementary special provisions.

Special Provisions - Tender Items

These Special Provisions relate to tender items and are to be considered in the tender document when referred to in the specification column of the schedule of quantities.

This section is a standard section. Any alterations, amendments or additional instructions have to be included as supplementary special provisions.

Special Provisions - Supplementary Special Provisions for Contract Items

This section of the document involves any special provisions which are deemed necessary on a specific project by an Owner and which are not included in the Special Provisions identified in the Niagara Peninsula Standard Contract Document.

A supplementary special provision may be in the form of an alteration or amendment to an existing special provision or Ontario Standard Provincial Specification or may be an entirely new special provision.

At the end of each construction year it is intended that the Specification Task Force review the supplementary special provisions used throughout that year to determine if any should be incorporated into the standard document.

Supplementary General Conditions

This section is a standard section. Any alterations, amendments to the General Conditions or Supplementary General Conditions required by an Owner for a specific project will have to be included in the Supplementary Special Provisions.

Geotechnical Report

If a geotechnical report is prepared for a specific project, the entire report should be provided to the Contractor as part of the tender package. Copying only portions of the report for inclusion in the tender package should not be done.

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