CCDC 5A-2025: CM for services

In construction management for services, the owner hires a builder's expertise without hiring a builder. The construction manager advises during design, packages and tenders the trades, and runs the site, but the trade contracts are the owner's, and so is the cost risk. CCDC 5A-2025, released in June 2025, is the first update of this form since 2010. This lesson explains how the 5A model is structured, what the construction manager actually does in each phase, and where the owner's exposure sits.

Learning outcomes

• Describe the CCDC 5A-2025 structure: the owner, the construction manager (CM) as the owner's limited agent, the Consultant, and trade contractors on CCDC 17.
• Explain the CM's services by phase and the 2025 terms Construction Cost, Construction Budget, Construction Cost Estimate, Project Schedule and Construction Schedule.
• Identify who interprets the documents, certifies trade payments, verifies Ready-for-Takeover and is likely the constructor under Ontario's OHSA.
• Assess an owner's cost, schedule and safety exposure under 5A, using a Northgate hypothetical.

The lesson

The 2025 edition

CCDC released the 2025 construction management suite on June 30, 2025: CCDC 5A (for services), CCDC 5B (for services and construction) and CCDC 17 (trade contracts on CM projects). It is the first revision since 2010 and brings the suite into line with CCDC 2-2020, including Ready-for-Takeover and prompt payment. The OAA's January 2026 practice tip encourages a quick transition and expects the 2010 versions to be unavailable by summer 2026. Lesson 3 placed CM among the delivery methods; this lesson and the next go inside the two CM forms.

The structure: CM as limited agent

CCDC describes 5A as a contract between owner and construction manager in which the Work is performed by trade contractors, with the CM acting as "a limited agent of the Owner". The CM gives advice and administers and oversees the owner's trade contracts. It has no contract with the trades and does not answer for their performance, although coordinating them is usually part of its services. The owner signs each trade contract directly, normally on CCDC 17-2025, which lesson 13 covers. The design team stays under its own agreement with the owner. This is the "CM not at risk" model: the CM's money is its fee, not the price of the Work.

What the CM does, phase by phase

The value of a CM is early involvement. During design, the CM's services can include constructability advice, preparing or confirming the Construction Cost Estimate at each design stage, and recommending corrective action when the estimate exceeds the owner's Construction Budget. It then works with the owner and the design team to split the Work into trade packages and tender them, often in sequence so that early packages start while later ones are still being designed. During construction, it administers the trade contracts, schedules and coordinates the trades, and certifies their payments. After construction, it runs close-out and coordinates commissioning, with a third-party commissioning agent if the owner hires one.

The 2025 edition lets the Fee for Services be allocated across pre-construction, construction and post-construction phases, each with its own percentage or amount, under Article A-5 and GC 4.3. Lesson 15 covers phase-based fees. The schedules that describe the services, the reimbursable expenses and the time-based rates now come as separate, editable Word documents (labelled A1, A2, B1, B2 and C in 5A), so owners can tailor the scope without rewriting it through Supplementary Conditions.

The money and schedule words

The 2025 suite separates terms the old forms blurred. Construction Cost is the owner's total cost to build the Project, not counting the CM's fees for pre-construction and construction services. The Construction Budget is the amount the owner expects to spend on Construction Cost. The Construction Cost Estimate is the CM's estimate at each design stage, in classes running from Class D at concept to Class A on complete documents. On time, the Project Schedule is the owner's overall schedule, which can include development and permitting, while the Construction Schedule is the CM's progress schedule, which must fit inside it.

For an owner's representative this split is useful. The Construction Budget is the owner's number and the CM is measured against it; the Project Schedule is the owner's master schedule and the CM's Construction Schedule has to roll up into it.

Who does what

Because the CM stands between the owner, the design team and many trades, roles that a general contractor's contract makes simple need spelling out. Under 5A and CCDC 17, the CM makes interpretations and findings on the trade contracts, except on design matters, which stay with the Consultant. The CM certifies trade payments, so the Consultant sees less of the financial progress than on a CCDC 2 job. The Consultant may still certify substantial performance, possibly for many separate trade contracts. Ready-for-Takeover under 5A GC 9.1 is verified, not certified, by the Consultant. Figure 4 in the worked example sets these out against Northgate's actual CCDC 2-2020 arrangement.

Site safety is the role that most often goes wrong. Ontario's constructor guideline says that an owner who hires several contractors without one taking control of the project will likely be the constructor under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Under 5A the owner holds every trade contract, so the OAA warns the owner is likely the constructor unless the role is delegated to the CM by Supplementary Condition, with matching changes to the trade contracts, and the CM actually takes control of the site.

Payment, takeover and risk terms

The 2025 edition brings 5A into line with prompt payment: monthly applications that meet proper invoice requirements, and payment within 28 calendar days of receipt (5A GC 4.2), replacing the old 20 days. Progressive holdback release now extends to the CM's own services. Contract Time runs from commencement of the Services to Ready-for-Takeover. The owner can occupy part of the Project early under GC 9.2, with the consent of the affected trade contractors or the CM and any required approvals, and that part is then treated as having reached Ready-for-Takeover.

Three risk terms changed. The owner may now suspend or terminate without cause (GC 6.1), which lesson 14 covers, and the CM may terminate if the owner becomes insolvent or the Project is suspended for more than 30 days through no fault of the CM. The CM's liability (GC 10.2) is capped at the greater of the Fee for Services and $2 million, up to $20 million, with a mutual waiver of consequential damages that does not protect fraud, criminal acts or wilful misconduct. And cash allowances were removed.

Northgate worked example

Northgate Distribution Centre (fictional) is a 12,000 m² tilt-up warehouse with a 900 m² office mezzanine, 14 docks and 2 drive-ins in Vaughan, for Northgate Logistics Inc. (fictional). In reality it is design-bid-build on CCDC 2-2020 with Halvorsen Builders Ltd. (fictional) as general contractor at $34,950,000, and Ridgeline Architects Inc. (fictional) as prime consultant under OAA 600. See the Northgate fact sheet.

What if Northgate had been procured with a 5A construction manager?

Suppose, as a hypothetical, the owner had engaged a construction manager (the CM) during design under CCDC 5A-2025, instead of tendering to general contractors. Ridgeline stays as Consultant, but its OAA 600 scope would need to reflect sequential tendering and its narrower role in payment certification. The owner's illustrative Construction Budget is $34,950,000 of Construction Cost, with the CM's fees outside it. Figure 3 tracks the CM's Construction Cost Estimate against that budget as the design develops.

View the data

Stage	Estimate	Budget	Variance
Class D, concept	$36,400,000	$34,950,000	+$1,450,000
Class C, schematic design	$35,300,000	$34,950,000	+$350,000
Class B, design development	$35,050,000	$34,950,000	+$100,000
Class A, complete documents	$34,700,000	$34,950,000	−$250,000

At Class D the estimate is $1.45M over. The CM recommends corrective action: for example, simplifying the mezzanine finishes and re-sequencing the tilt-up panel casting. Ridgeline and the owner decide which to accept, and the next estimate shows the effect. This is the main thing an owner buys with a CM: cost feedback while the design can still change.

The owner's new exposure

The price comes in trade by trade. The CM splits the Work into nine trade packages, as lesson 13 shows, from sitework and foundations through tilt-up, steel, roofing and MEP to dock equipment and office interiors, and tenders them as the design allows. Northgate Logistics signs each CCDC 17. If the panel erector is late and the roofer claims for delay, the roofer's claim is against the owner, because the owner holds both contracts. Each trade contract carries its own 10% holdback and its own lien period. And unless the Supplementary Conditions make the CM the constructor and the CM takes control of the site, the owner is likely the constructor.

On the schedule side, the fit is good. The owner's Microsoft Project master schedule becomes the Project Schedule, and the CM's progress schedule (in Oracle Primavera P6, say) becomes the Construction Schedule that rolls up into it. The owner's representative should require the trade packages, tender dates and award dates as activities in the Construction Schedule, because under 5A a late tender is an owner delay.

Owner's move

• Decide the constructor before tender. If the CM is to be constructor, say so in the Supplementary Conditions and in every CCDC 17, and make sure the CM really controls the site.
• Own the Construction Budget. Set it, approve each estimate class against it, and record decisions on corrective action.
• Put procurement in the schedule. Trade packages, tender closings and awards belong on the critical path.
• Align the consultant agreement. Sequential tendering and the CM's role in certification change the Consultant's scope.
• Budget for owner contracts. More contracts mean more holdbacks, lien periods, insurance certificates and claims to manage.

Common mistakes

1. Thinking the CM carries cost risk. Under 5A it does not; the trade prices are the owner's.
2. Leaving the constructor role unassigned. The owner will likely be treated as the constructor.
3. Treating the Construction Cost Estimate as a price. It is advice; only tendered trade contracts fix cost.
4. Hiring the CM after design is complete. The pre-construction services are where most of the value lies.
5. Reusing 2010-edition Supplementary Conditions. Payment, takeover, termination and liability all changed in 2025.

Quick quiz

1. Under CCDC 5A-2025, who is party to each trade contract with the trade contractor?

   1. The construction manager
   2. The owner
   3. The Consultant
   4. The lender

2. What is the Construction Budget in the 2025 CM forms?

   1. The CM's fee
   2. The amount the owner expects to spend on Construction Cost
   3. The lowest trade bid
   4. A guaranteed maximum price

3. Under 5A and CCDC 17, who generally certifies trade contractors' payments?

   1. The Consultant
   2. The owner's lender
   3. The construction manager
   4. The municipality

4. Within how many days must the owner pay a 5A-2025 payment application?

   1. 20 calendar days
   2. 28 calendar days of receipt
   3. 35 days
   4. 45 days after certification

5. How is the CM's liability capped under 5A-2025?

   1. Unlimited
   2. The Fee for Services only
   3. The greater of the Fee for Services and $2 million, up to $20 million
   4. The Construction Budget

Show answers and explanations

1. B. The owner signs each trade contract, usually CCDC 17; the CM administers them as limited agent.
2. B. The Construction Budget is the owner's expected spend on Construction Cost, which excludes the CM's fees.
3. C. The OAA notes the CM certifies trade payments under 5A and CCDC 17.
4. B. The 2025 edition requires payment within 28 calendar days of receiving a proper application, replacing 20 days.
5. C. GC 10.2 caps liability at the greater of the Fee for Services and $2 million, to a maximum of $20 million.

Key terms

Construction manager (CM) for services

A firm paid a fee to advise, procure and manage construction as the owner's limited agent, without holding the trade contracts.

Trade contractor

A contractor engaged directly by the owner for one package of the Work, typically on CCDC 17.

Construction Cost

The owner's total cost to build the Project, excluding the CM's fees for pre-construction and construction services.

Construction Budget

The amount the owner expects to spend on Construction Cost.

Construction Cost Estimate

The CM's estimate at each design stage, from Class D at concept to Class A on complete documents.

Project Schedule and Construction Schedule

The owner's overall schedule, and the CM's progress schedule that must fit within it.

Constructor

Under Ontario's OHSA, the person who undertakes a project for an owner, or the owner itself if it does not hand over control; it carries the main site safety duties.

References

1. CCDC, CCDC 5A – 2025 Construction Management Contract – for Services (document page).
2. Ontario Association of Architects, Practice Tip PT.23.2: CCDC construction management contracts (version 2.0, January 2026).
3. Gowling WLG, Updates to the 2025 CCDC construction management contracts: what you need to know (July 2025).
4. Clark Wilson LLP, Key updates to the 2025 CCDC 5A, 5B and 17 (August 2025).
5. BLG, 2025 CCDC construction contract updates (July 2025).
6. Pallett Valo LLP, 2025 CCDC contract updates: what construction professionals need to know (January 2026).
7. Miller Thomson LLP, Important updates to the CCDC 5A, 5B, 17 and 30 contracts (September 2025).
8. Government of Ontario, Constructor guideline (updated August 2026).

Verified on November 6, 2026.

Next lesson in this trackCCDC 5B-2025: CM for services and construction