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AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2026

Electrical infrastructure Legal: Building claims Safe access for high-rise maintenance

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ELECTRICAL INFRASTRUCTURE: CANADA'S NEXT GREAT BUILD

Charbel Rouhana is Lauren’s director of engineering.

Supporting projects across British Columbia and Alberta, the company provides services spanning transmission lines, substations, protection and control, overhead and underground distribution, electrical studies, civil engineering and project delivery. The team’s experience ranges from greenfield infrastructure to complex brownfield upgrades, where maintaining system reliability during construction is critical. The work often takes place in challenging environments, where schedules are compressed, outages are carefully co-ordinated and every decision has operational implications. “In utility projects, planning and communication are just as important as technical design,” says Rouhana. “Every project involves multiple stakeholders. Success depends on maintaining alignment from concept through construction.” As investment accelerates, utilities are also looking for partners who can respond quickly as priorities evolve. Rather than operating through layers of bureaucracy,

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Lauren's integrated engineering and project delivery teams work closely with clients throughout the project life cycle. Senior leaders remain actively involved in the dayto-day work, allowing decisions to be made quickly while maintaining accountability for quality, schedule and cost. That responsiveness has become an important competitive advantage. Lauren's approach remains consistent: understand the client's objectives, integrate seamlessly with project teams and deliver solutions that perform in the field. Looking ahead, the pace of investment shows little sign of slowing. Data centres, industrial expansion and Canada's broader energy transition will continue driving demand for modern, resilient electrical infrastructure. Building that future will require engineering partners capable of combining technical excellence with disciplined execution and collaborative delivery. That’s an opportunity Lauren has been preparing for through decades of supporting complex infrastructure projects. August/September 2026

PHOTO: COU RT E SY L AU R E N.

As the population continues to grow, industries electrify and communities demand reliable, resilient power, one thing has become clear: the future of our economy depends on the strength of our electrical infrastructure. Industrial developments, renewable energy projects and expanding communities are placing unprecedented demands on an electrical network that was never designed for today's pace of change. Utilities across Western Canada are investing in infrastructure that will support growth for decades to come. For engineering firms, the challenge extends well beyond designing new infrastructure. It's about helping utilities and owners modernize existing systems while maintaining reliability, minimizing risk and keeping critical projects moving. “Utilities are balancing today's operational demands while preparing for tomorrow's energy landscape,” says Charbel Rouhana (pictured), director of engineering at Lauren, an engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) firm with locations in Calgary, Vancouver, Kelowna, B.C., and Houston, Texas. “That requires practical solutions that are technically sound, constructible and flexible.” Increasingly, that work involves integrating new technologies into existing systems. As renewable generation, industrial electrification and distributed energy resources (DERs) continue to expand, transmission and distribution networks must evolve alongside them. Capacity upgrades, substation modernization, protection and control systems and transmission line improvements have become essential to Western Canada's energy future. Delivering these projects successfully requires more than technical expertise. It demands close collaboration between utilities, owners, regulators, contractors and engineering teams. Lauren has built its electrical utility practice around that collaborative model.

MORE INTEGRATION, LESS FRAGMENTATION. A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO PROJECT DELIVERY

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LEGAL

High-rise Building Claims Why are they increasing and what can engineers do about it? By Rob McLeod

Every year, building envelope, water ingress, sprinkler, HVAC and foundation issues cause millions of dollars in damage. These risks are understood in the profession. Engineers are trained to anticipate failure, design conservatively and account for stress scenarios that may never occur. So, why are well-known and often foreseeable claims increasing in high-rise builds? The answers are often rooted in decisions made well before construction begins. Project owners are managing intensifying market pressures. Materi-

Documentation of scope is a critical form of protection.

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al costs continue to rise as global instability impacts fuel prices and supply chains. Client revenues are tightening. In this environment, it is essential for engineers to work with clients who are open to guidance, willing to invest appropriately and able to recognize the limits of their own experience. On any given project, you are working with many different disciplines and third parties. The relevant experience of these parties has an immeasurable impact on a project’s success and exposure to losses. A generational shift is underway across Canada as experienced veterans retire and younger professionals step into high-stakes decision-making roles. On many projects, enginAugust/September 2026

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igh-rise construction has always demanded precision, co-ordination and foresight. As buildings in Canada continue to climb beyond 15 storeys, the conversation is shifting. What was once primarily a technical challenge is now often an issue of contractual and liability exposures. Claims on high-rise projects are increasing across the industry. This rise is driven not by a single issue, but by a convergence of factors that intensify with height. The systems are more complex, the costs are higher and the margin for error—whether technical or administrative—narrows considerably. “Due to the large scale and complexity of these projects, it’s very common for design professionals to be brought into a claim, whether there is a design error or not,” says Kate Genest, claims manager at Beazley’s Toronto office, which has seen a notable volume of issues surrounding project delays. For engineers, this can be understood as bystander risk. Litigation for these claims can go on for upward of two years. In many ways, the claims haven’t changed. Every winter, pipes freeze.

eering leaders are navigating multi-million-dollar designs for the first time. Technical expertise alone is not enough. Success depends on experience and genuine partnerships. Engineers must understand how to balance risk and reward and be able to recognize when it is best to say no. Client, project and partner evaluations have never been more critical. Even engineers who apply the most diligent evaluations can find themselves engaged in a project that has strayed from their original agreement. In these cases, it comes down to your contract. You must protect your ability to step away when alignment breaks down. A clearly defined scope of services, paired with well-structured contractual language, can provide a crucial safeguard. It gives you both the foundation to advocate for necessary change and, if needed, a path to exit responsibly. You must protect yourself before you sign the contract; the risks are not just theoretical. Documentation of scope, in particular, is a critical form of protection. This portion of a contract can clarify when an engineer’s work has not contributed to a dispute or claim. Over the course of a project, that scope may evolve. It is important to capture these changes in writing. Communicating with clients and project partners in a way that is traceable, searchable and sustainable in the long term creates a reliable record. Construction meeting minutes, emails and even call notes in a file can help to protect you. “Relying on memory of verbal communication is the lowest form of helpful evidence,” notes Genest, who is a former litigation lawyer. “Anything discussed verbally should be documented after the fact.” Of course, this documentation is only helpful if you can find it. Standardizing your firm’s filing system ccemag.com

and naming conventions can empower you to obtain proof when you need it—even years later, when your team members may have changed. Beyond protecting yourself when there have not been any design errors or professional service issues, even engineers make mistakes. How you respond when you discover an error can impact your liability exposure, insurance coverage and defence. When you discover a circumstance that could increase your liability, early engagement with brokers or insurers can make all the difference. In cases where an insured designer discovers an issue but does not bring it to the attention of their broker or insurer, they may have tried to manage it themselves or assumed they would not be impacted due to their scope of work. Insurance providers may offer preclaims assistance, with an option for a policy to trigger before a claim arises. This allows the insurer to provide guidance early on to help engineers navigate—and hopefully avoid—potential claims. What you say and how you say it can be used against you throughout the legal process. Having a claims manager in your corner to talk

In high-rise construction, the margin for error— both technical and administrative— narrows considerably.

through the situation, strategize your approach and help to draft correspondence is invaluable. There is a common misunderstanding that using such services will result in increased premiums, but that’s not the case—in fact, it is often the opposite. Rates only increase if situations turn into claims or legal expenses are incurred. Working with your insurer can help to avoid claims and related costs, protecting your premiums. High-rise design in Canada continues to push boundaries, both architecturally and technically. With that ambition comes a need for equally advanced thinking about risk. The challenges are no longer linear and neither are the consequences. Success is defined not only by what is built, but by how well the process is managed, recorded and protected. You may not control every aspect of complex projects, but you do retain control over how your work is defined and communicated. At rising heights, that control has become one of the most important safeguards available. Rob McLeod is senior vice-president (SVP) of professional and financial services at Axis Insurance. Learn more at www.axisinsurance.ca.

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CONVERSATION

Safe Access for Highrise Maintenance Ensuring physical safety requires expert structural engineering. By Peter Saunders

s cities densify and build upward, planning is key in setting the stage for safe access for the long-term maintenance of increasingly tall towers. Toronto’s 109-storey Pinnacle Skytower, for example, will reach a total height of 352 m when it is completed this year, making it the tallest building anywhere in Canada. Raymond Carle, vice-president (VP) of operations for Excel Projects, has more than 20 years' experience in highrise safety, façade access and glazing-related building systems—and more than 10 years’ consulting for engineering and architecture firms. He has contributed to the safe design and modification of many of Toronto’s most recognizable towers and, thus, a significant reduction in injuries and deaths related to falls. We heard from Carle earlier this year in a CCE Education webinar. You can find his entire presentation here: https://webinars.annexbusinessmedia.com/ webinar/permanent-access-systems-the-backbone-of-high-risemaintenance/ 8

How have permanent access systems evolved for taller buildings? Every access system on a modern building is, fundamentally, a descendant of the pulley, which ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans used long before modern materials existed. The pyramids at Giza were built with knowledge in planning, rigging and mechanical advantage. As structures became taller, access stopped being a construction problem and became a maintenance problem. Think bell towers and cathedrals; these structures didn’t just need to be built, they needed to be serviced, repaired and inspected. That’s where engineering started borrowing heavily from rigging. Today, swing stages are suspended loads with redirection,

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davit arms are cantilevers redirecting a load and monorails are guided rolling loads carried in primarily a shear, but can redirect a load. So, why are there still major safety issues today? Complexity has bred misunderstanding. Modern engineering has hidden load paths, obscured force multipliers and automated systems to the point where fewer people understand the access designs upon which workers’ lives depend. Glass changed everything. Curtain walls removed natural access points. Now buildings had smooth, vertical surfaces that needed to be cleaned, inspected and repaired, with no ledges, no setbacks and no forgiving geometry. This is where permanent access systems stopped being op-

How are standards addressing these issues? Recent updates to Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Group guidance around load testing of permanent access systems will verify installation quality, load transfer and system behaviour. Load testing is no longer optional thinking, but part of responsible system validation. Most permanent access systems don’t fail because of one dramatic overload. They fail slowly, quietly and, most of the time, predictably, because of corrosion in places nobody sees, fatigue from repeated use, loosened or deformed connections, installation details that never matched the drawing or assumptions that were valid on day one, but wrong 10 years later. Testing is the only practical way to confirm anchors were installed correctly, load is being transferred as intended and time, use and the environment have not degraded performance beyond acceptable limits. Inspection tells you what something looks like. Testing tells you what it does. Documentation proves it happened. Permanent access systems demand all three. August/September 2026

PHOTO COU RT E SY E XC E L PROJ EC TS.

tional. Building maintenance units (BMUs), davits—which were invented for ships—and monorails came in not as design features, but as solutions to geometric problems.