The Municipal Engineers Association (MEA) and Association of Consulting Engineering Companies – Ontario (ACEC-Ontario) recently announced the release of the latest revision of the MEA-ACEC-Ontario Standard Agreement for Engineering Services. This updated agreement is the culmination of extensive collaboration between municipal engineers, consulting engineers, legal experts, and insurance professionals.

The MEA-ACEC-Ontario Standard Agreement has long been a valuable resource for municipalities and consulting engineering firms. It provides a balanced and consistent framework that defines roles and responsibilities clearly, helping streamline commercial considerations and negotiations, fosters trust, and establishes fair risk allocation between parties.

“By providing a well-defined structure for engineering services, the agreement reduces misunderstandings and disputes, leading to smoother project execution and more effective collaboration,” stated Dan Cozzi, Executive Director of MEA. “The updated agreement continues to build on the long-standing collaboration in our industry and reflects the evolving landscape of our industry of municipal engineering, ensuring that we can provide effective resilient solutions to Ontario’s infrastructure challenges. We take pride in this partnership and the agreement, it’s one that municipalities and the consulting engineering industry can trust.”

“Consulting engineering firms are dedicated professionals committed to designing and supporting the delivery of critical infrastructure in our communities that impacts Ontarians daily. By leveraging this agreement, municipalities can ensure consistency and enhance collaboration helping achieve better project outcomes. The new revision reflects our ongoing partnership and commitment to fostering best practices and achieving engineering excellence across Ontario,” Andrew Hurd, Executive Director of ACEC-Ontario, highlighted.

As municipalities face increasing pressure to deliver complex projects on time and within budget, fair professional services agreements, balanced contracts, and unambiguous procurement documents play a crucial role in determining project success. The MEA and ACEC-Ontario encourage all municipalities to adopt the updated MEA-ACEC-Ontario Standard Agreement for their engineering projects. By doing so, they can assist in facilitating a smoother project delivery process and help us all rise to meet the challenge of building stronger, more resilient communities across Ontario.

MEA and ACEC-Ontario will host a webinar in early 2025 further introducing the new agreement. This session will provide an overview of the key terms and conditions, along with some background on its development and intended use. Together, we look forward to working collaboratively and seeing the positive impact of the agreement and principles in communities across Ontario. You can find the latest agreement here.

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