1

QUALITY ASSURANCE FOR CONTRACTED MAINTENANCE IN

ONTARIO, CANADA

Prepared for MQA Peer Exchange, Madison Wisconsin - Oct. 11/04

2

Overview

1. Ontario Provincial Statistics2. Definition of ‘Maintenance’ in Ontario3. Maintenance Contract Types4. Maintenance Standards5. Quality Assurance6. Sanctions7. Challenges 8. Questions/Contact Information

3

Ontario - Provincial Statistics 1 Million sq km (412,000 sq miles) and 10 million people Climate varies north to south, with south similar to

Niagara Falls or Buffalo NY The Ministry of Transportation (MTO) is responsible for

16,500 centreline-kms (10,250 miles) and 2500 bridges 2 tunnels 29 remote airports 8 ferry services

Contracted Maintenance Expenditures are about $200M CAD

All MTO’s expenditures are only 1.5% of provincial government budget.

4

5

‘MAINTENANCE’ IN ONTARIO

Routine Maintenance Pothole repair Shoulder grading Repair guide rail and fences Sweeping and debris removal Traffic signal and illumination-

scheduled maintenance and repair

Tunnel Maintenance Bridge cleaning, scheduled

maintenance (lift bridges) and minor repair

Sign replacement Grass cutting and weed

control

Winter Maintenance Plowing, liquids, sanding and

saltingPatrolling Visual Inspection At Least Daily in WinterEmergency Response to collisions, spills

NOT INCLUDEDResurfacingRebuilding

6

MAINTENANCE CONTRACT TYPES

Area Maintenance Contracts (60% of Hwys.) Management and work by Contractor Vast Majority of work is Lump Sum Contracts contain a count of inventory, and a

3-year history of work performed 7-9 Year durations Proposal quality factor applied to price

Managed Outsourcing Contracts (40% of Hwys.) Managed by MTO Staff, all work by

Contractors Usually at a bid price per day with risk

sharing on annual quantity Mostly Functional Contracts Mostly 5 Year durations

7

MAINTENANCE STANDARDS

The Maintenance Quality Standards (MQS) set out maintenance requirementsMany are time-based, such as x days to fix a given-size pothole or to repair collision damage to guide railMandatory patrolling frequencies are key to detection of defectsAt a minimum, maintenance contract requirements meet the MQS

8

QUALITY ASSURANCE

Front line field staff include Superintendents who have several Coordinators, about one per 300 2-lane km, totalling 167 provinciallyKey program development in concert with the Maintenance Superintendents CommitteeMonitoring Manual sets out key requirements for each contract requirementContractors also propose quality control procedures that are marked as part of proposal scoring.

9

10

SANCTIONS

Non-performance for key items identified in contract leads to the issuance of a “Demerit Point” Thresholds of Demerit Points per year and overall can lead to loss of the contractProcess has been extremely effective, contractors take demerits much more seriously than the associated financial penalties.

11

CHALLENGES

Ability (and need?) to express and summarize performance quantitatively

Time-based standards

Change in a large and proud organization, particularly with contracts working well

12

13

FURTHER INFORMATION AVAILABLE AND SHARING

WELCOMED

Sonya Skinner, P.Eng. Head, Maintenance Contracts Ministry of Transportation of Ontario 905 704 2975 sonya.skinner@mto.gov.on.ca