By Toon Dreessen. Originally published on Policy Options

December 7, 2022
The National Capital Commission (NCC) is on the brink of an exciting project that will present an opportunity to conserve and restore an excellent work of modern architecture. The NCC?s move to new headquarters at 80 Elgin St., a prime site in downtown Ottawa, could create a climate-responsive space for staff and the public to experience the transformative power of good architecture. This is a positive move by the NCC. Acquiring the British High Commission building means the NCC will own its own building instead of leasing. This gives it the opportunity to animate the public realm in ways its current leased space does not.
Unfortunately, the NCC?s request for proposal (RFP) process is unlikely to achieve its goals. A flawed procurement model transfers legal, financial and professional risk in unacceptable ways while valuing low effort and minimal services for low fees from a pointlessly small pool of bidders. The NCC has hired a third-party property management firm to manage its RFP. An initial request for expressions of interest in the fall of 2022 created a pool of interested firms. While positive, there was no indication of the scale of the project nor the eventual criteria for the project RFP. On receiving the full RFP, short-listed firms may well find themselves excluded from the project.
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