HomeMy WebLinkAboutINS-14-055 - Watermain Contractor RepairStaff Rport
I r rc'.� ► t .R Infrastructure Services Department wmkitcheneaa
REPORT TO:
DATE OF MEETING:
SUBMITTED BY:
PREPARED BY:
WARD(S) INVOLVED
DATE OF REPORT:
REPORT NO.:
SUBJECT:
RECOMMENDATION:
Committee of the Whole
May 5, 2014
Pauline Houston, Deputy CAO, Infrastructure Services
741 -2600 X4646
Angela Mick, P.Eng., Utilities Water Engineer, X4408
All
April 28, 2014
INS -14 -055
Watermain Break Repairs — Contractor Payment
That the purchasing policy provision for informal /formal written quotations be waived
and the following contractor payments for emergency watermain break
repairs /restoration be authorized:
J.Weber Contracting Ltd. $21,915.26 + $2,848.99 HST = $24,764.25
Sousa Concrete $98,875 + $12,853.75 HST = $111,728.75
BACKGROUND:
Watermain breaks are considered to be water emergencies under Kitchener's Drinking
Water Quality Management System and must be repaired in a timely manner. During
the winter of 2014, there were twice as many watermain breaks as compared to an
average year. In order to restore water to customers and operate within the hours of
work legislation, outside contractors were brought in to complete some of the repairs.
REPORT:
The Purchasing policy requires that a minimum of three written informal quotes are
obtained between $15,000 and $25,000 and, three written formal quotations be
obtained for purchases between $25,000 and $125,000. Quotes were not obtained
due to the emergency nature of the repairs.
The winter of 2014 was extremely challenging with watermain breaks and snow
removal. Between January and March there double the amount of watermain breaks
than is experienced on an average year (94 watermain breaks, compared to about 47
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on an average year— please see attached graph). An outside contractor was required
to assist with some of the watermain breaks (J.Weber) as well as to assist with the road
restoration (Sousa) resulting from the repairs.
The Hours of Service Ontario Regulation 555/06 (under the Highway Traffic Act) sets
out rules for work and applies to Kitchener Utilities staff because of the equipment they
operate. Some of the rules that staff need to comply with are as follows-
- Cannot work more than 14 consecutive hours
- Require a minimum of 8 consecutive hours off in a 24 hour period
- 70 hours is the maximum that can be worked in a week, if 70 hours is reached.,
36 continuous hours of rest is required
In addition staff were exhausted and sometimes it was impossible to assemble a crew
of 4 who were able and willing to work. In an average winter a watermain break repair
would take approximately 6 -8 hours. Due the depth of the frost, repairs were taking 10-
12 hours.
ALIGNMENT WITH CITY OF KITCHENER STRATEGIC PLAN:
The timely repair to watermain breaks relates to the Foundation Plan — Efficient and
Effective Government — Asset Management, Dependable Services.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
As outlined in the report.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
Not Applicable.
ACKNOWLEDGED BY: Pauline Houston, Deputy CAO, Infrastructure Services
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Watermain Breaks Summary
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