Capital Asset Management Framework

CAMF

The Government of British Columbia implemented the Capital Asset Management Framework (CAMF) in 2002 as a guide for the planning, implementation, operation and disposal of capital assets in the BC public sector. The Framework is supported by the British Columbia Construction Association (BCCA) for the principles on which it is built:

  • strong accountability in a flexible and streamlined process
  • competition
  • transparency

CAMF emphasizes service delivery in the public interest with the best value for money, consistent with sound fiscal and risk management. However, because CAMF is a guideline rather than binding policy and because there is little accountability applied to the Framework itself, there are many cases where the principles of CAMF are not being applied. In response, the BCCA has taken several positions which aim to enhance public capital asset management by more rigorously applying the principles on which CAMF was established.

BC Government Capital Asset Management Framework (CAMF) Additional Resources

BCCA fully supports the use of established solicitation and best practices documents for the public and private sectors.
This includes the use of nationally recognized documents provided by the Canadian Construction Documents Committee (CCDC). CCDC contracts and documents are consensus-based and widely used across Canada by the public and private sectors. CCDC documents are available through numerous outlets in BC. Further information on the use of specific contracts is available in A Summary Guide to BC Construction Standards and Guidelines.

BCCA also worked with the Provincial Government to develop BC specific supplementary conditions to CCDC standard contracts. These are:
Supplementary Conditions for the Construction Management Contract for Services (for use with CCDC-5A, 2010)
Supplementary General conditions for the Stipulated Price Contract Between Owner and Trade Contractor for Construction Management Projects (for use with CCDC-17, 2010).
The BC Provincial Construction Insurance Program also provides owner-controlled course of construction and wrap-up liability insurance coverage for public sector construction projects. This website provides owner and contractor insured supplementary conditions specific to insurance, contract security and indemnification clauses for use with various CCDC documents.

A Partnership Approach to Public Policy Procurement in BC

On January 14, 2013, the British Columbia Construction Association (BCCA) officially published a fourteen-page review of industry concerns, providing practical recommendations to improve the planning, implementation, and operation of assets in BC’s public sector.

Fair and Transparent: Implementing the CAMF for Construction Procurement stresses the need for partnership and outlines the struggle to successfully establish reasonable for government, Crown corporations and publicly-funded agencies’ use in capital asset planning.

The BCCA’s recommendations for public procurement policy include:

  • facilitating a variety of procurement approaches, instead of favouring a single approach
  • ensuring qualification criteria are actually relevant to the bidder’s ability to deliver the service
  • requiring disclosure of public procurement results
  • requiring audits with published results
  • ensuring activities such as Shared Service and Partnerships BC do not compete with the private sector
  • creating formal mechanisms for ongoing collaboration between industry and government in regard to procurement practices