Adjudicator Profile

As a project manager, engineer and lawyer, Robert Bales has built and renovated hundreds of residential units and commercial projects.  Under provincial contract provisions modified five years ago, he practises as a construction adjudicator for infrastructure projects, with claims between the province and road builders from $500,000 through $3,500,000 and contract values from $3,000,000 to $15,000,000. With a complex contract (OPSS 100), the adjudicator has a very short time to review tenders, general conditions, drawings and specifications, as well as site circumstances, work records, schedules, and meeting minutes, before holding a hearing, and then making a reasoned, written determination within 15 days.

From his early days as a labourer, lead hand and foreman in the transportation industry, then as an industrial project engineer and as a property developer, Mr. Bales has been on-site on all his projects, ranging from single home and multi-residential projects, through commercial buildings and civil infrastructure projects.  His construction experience, together with his legal background, provides a depth of understanding of construction contracts, owner-subcontractor-contractor disputes, and applicable regulations and procedures including building codes, contracts (CCDC, OPSS, CDBI), planning and design, bidding and tendering, project management, claims for payment, change orders, deficiencies and post-completion management.

Mr. Bales’ claims experience ranges from small residential deficiencies regarding foundation repairs, exterior insulation and siding, framing, windows and doors, heating and ventilation, floor and wall finishes, kitchens and bathrooms; to commercial claims arising from sesmic, geotechnical and soils investigations, concrete, structural design and performance, pile foundations, and the building envelope; to civil claims for delay, scheduling and extension of time, weather, rock excavation, drainage and dewatering, asphalt and environmental issues.

Mr. Bales is Co-Chair, Construction Adjudication Section, ADR Institute of Ontario, member of the ADR Institute of Canada Construction Adjudication Working Group, and Director of the Building Envelope Council Ottawa Region.

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