Summary#
Montréal city council awarded FER-PAL Construction Ltd. a contract for water-pipe and street rehabilitation in L'Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève, Pierrefonds-Roxboro and Saint-Laurent. The adopted decision authorizes a total of $10,145,803.56, taxes included, including the contract price, contingency and incidentals budgets.
- The work includes about 2.5 kilometres of water-pipe rehabilitation, lead service-line replacements, roadwork and minor sidewalk repairs.
- FER-PAL was the lowest compliant bidder with an experience clause. Three compliant bids were received through a public call for tenders.
- The city must evaluate FER-PAL’s performance under the contract.
- The contract documents allow daily penalties for specified delays and failures, ranging from $500 to $3,500, depending on the breach.
What it means for you#
- People in the three boroughs: Work will take place on various streets, but the street list is not included in the supplied material. The project includes replacing about 16 lead water connections on the public side and about six on the private side, as well as road and sidewalk work.
- Residents and road users near the work: The contract includes deadlines for work on each street, street cleaning and fixing defects. The city may impose penalties for missing those deadlines. The decision does not provide a schedule for particular streets.
- City residents generally: This is a contract for infrastructure work, not a new resident benefit or a change to water-service rules.
Money#
The city authorized $10,145,803.56, taxes included, for the contract and related budgets.
- The contract price is $8,988,084.11, taxes included.
- The authorized contingency budget is $898,808.41, taxes included; the incidentals budget is $258,911.04, taxes included.
- FER-PAL’s bid was 14.74% above the city’s estimate of $7,833,668.55, but 19.96% below the second-lowest compliant bid.
- The materials do not state the contract’s duration or any renewal options.
What is unclear#
- The exact streets and timing of work are not in the supplied material.
- The decision does not detail when or how the contingency and incidentals budgets may be used.
- The decision summary says private-side lead connections will be replaced under bylaw 20-030, but the supplied material does not explain who pays for that work.
- The materials do not give a breakdown of the total cost by type of work.
Case for#
- City staff say trenchless pipe-lining can be faster than excavation, reduce disruption to nearby infrastructure and allow quicker restoration of streets.
- The lowest compliant bid was substantially below the next-lowest compliant bid.
- Coordinating road and sidewalk repairs with water-pipe work may allow several kinds of work to happen on the same street project.
Case against#
- FER-PAL’s bid was 14.74% above the city’s estimate. Staff considered the difference acceptable, but the decision still commits the city to a higher price than estimated.
- Three firms submitted bids out of 10 that obtained the tender documents. The materials do not explain why the others did not bid.
- The decision does not provide a work schedule or explain how residents will be notified about street-by-street disruption.