Moncton council hires independent certifier for downtown events centre

MONCTON – In a special meeting Monday, Moncton’s city council awarded the latest contract for the downtown events centre.

The $170,000 dollar contract was awarded to WTP Property Consultants who will act as an independent certifier for the $91 million building.

The contract will run for 34 months, with the option to extend, if necessary.

“It’s extremely important to manage the costs, to manage a construction project of this size, there are a lot of moving parts,” City Manager Jacques Dube told reporters after the meeting.

“It’s a very important role to ensure the taxpayer’s money here is being well-spent and spent on items that were supposed to be spent on.”

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The position is independent from both the city and the builder, Bird Construction, and their job is to confirm that all services, goods and materials, purchased and installed on site match the agreements, according to Dube.

He added that this is a standard position for a project of this size and WTP Property Consultants have done work on large projects across Canada and around the world.

“One slip-up on a project of that size could cost you easily $500,000,” Dube said, explaining the City is protecting its own interests and so is the builder, by having the independent certifier.