Third party verification services stress contractors, suppliers ISNetworld and other services win major clients with online compliance management systems Canadian Design and Construction Report staff writer Several Canadian contractors and industry suppliers have expressed concern about the increasing prevalence of third party verification services and their impact on ad- ministrative costs and client relationships. These organizations have expanded from their U.S. home bases, especially within the petrochemical and heavy industry sectors, to Canadian markets. One of the largest, ISNetworld, plans to open a Toronto office in Jan- uary after winning contracts with the Regional Municipality of York and Ontario Power Generation, among others. The verification services consolidate and validate health, safety and regulatory compliance documentation, remov- ing the administrative and verification challenges from owners, concerned about liability issues. In return, con- tractors and suppliers purportedly gain access to business opportunities, ensure their compliance with a myriad of rules and regulations, and have a one-stop system to man- age their compliance requirements. “ISN's online contractor management platform, ISNet- world, is a global resource for connecting organizations with safe and reliable contractors,” says ISN Canada direc- tor Kim Ritchie, based in Calgary. “ISN collects and re- views health and safety, procurement, quality and regulatory information from more than 56,000 subscribing contractors across 75 different countries. Established in 2001, ISN's mission is to improve the efficiency, compli- 4 – Fall 2014 — The Canadian Design and Construction Report ance and safety performance of ISN's hiring clients and contractor customers.” However, Clive Thurston, president of the Ontario Gen- eral Contractors' Association (OGCA), says his office has been receiving complaints about the third party verification services. “We are pushing back hard, and this will be a contentious issue.” One contractor, who has had to work with the third- party services for several years because his multi-million dollar Sarnia business serves the petrochemical industry, described his frustration with their business practices. “In my personal and professional opinion they are the most unprofessional organizations I have ever seen,” the contractor said. (The contractor, and some others inter- viewed for this story, asked not to be identified publicly. “I would be very afraid of retaliation if my name is published,” he said.) “What they do, and how they work, is that they go to the client base, and sell the client a bill of goods. That bill of goods is we will make sure everybody who works for you is safe, and we will ensure that.” “The clients, wanting to get out of responsibility for safety, hand that over to these companies, and once these companies get your names ... they come to you for money. “The dollar value goes up substantially,” the contractor said. “It's a fairly substantial increase each year. You have to pay that or they go back to the client and tell them you are not safe.”