Civil construction in Alberta

STA 0+120Excavation and trench rules

Alberta’s occupational health and safety rules set when an excavation must be sloped, shored or boxed, and when an engineer must design the protection.

• Before a worker works in an excavation more than 1.5 metres deep and closer to the wall than its depth, the employer must protect the worker by cutting back walls, temporary protective structures, or a combination (s. 450(1)); not required for trench entirely in solid rock (s. 450(2))¹
• Alberta cut-back angles (s. 451): hard and compact soil sloped to within 1.5 m of bottom at not less than 30 degrees from vertical; likely to crack or crumble soil at not less than 45 degrees from vertical; soft, sandy or loose soil sloped from the bottom at not less than 45 degrees from vertical¹
• Temporary protective structures in an excavation more than 3 metres deep must be designed, constructed and installed to a professional engineer's specifications (s. 456(1)(b))¹
• Alberta alternative for trenches 1.5 m to 6 m deep: lumber shoring, stringers and bracing complying with Schedule 9 (s. 457(1)(a)); 19 mm plywood substitute allowed only in trenches not more than 2.7 m deep¹
• Spoil pile leading edge at least 1 metre from the excavation edge, slope not more than 45 degrees from horizontal (s. 453); safe entry/exit within 8 m of a worker in a trench more than 1.5 m deep (s. 455)¹
• Before ground is disturbed the employer must contact the owner of buried or concrete-embedded facilities, ask them to identify and mark locations, and not begin until marked (s. 447(1.1)); owner includes a pipeline within 30 m of the work site (s. 447(1))¹
• Mechanical excavation not permitted within 600 mm of a buried pipeline unless directly supervised by the pipeline owner's representative (s. 448(5)); hand-expose zone rules in s. 448(1)¹
• Sections 450-459 do not apply if a professional engineer certifies the ground formation is and will remain stable (s. 449)¹

STA 0+240Locates before you dig

• Utility Safety Partners (Click Before You Dig) - submit locate requests at least 3 to 5 full working days before planned ground disturbance; online 24/7 at utilitysafety.ca or 1-800-242-3447 (Mon-Fri 8:00-4:30 MT); longer lead time recommended May-September²
• OHS Code s. 447(1.1) requires the employer to contact facility owners and have locations identified and marked before ground disturbance (see exc-AB-06); the full-working-day figures are Utility Safety Partners' process requirement, not a statutory day count found in the OHS Code¹

The paint colours are the same across Canada: white for the proposed excavation, pink for survey, then red, yellow, orange, blue, green and purple for the buried services. See call before you dig.

STA 0+360Holdbacks and prompt payment

• Owner must retain 10% of the value of work done and materials furnished for 60 days from the certificate of substantial performance (or completion) (s. 18(1)); 90 days for oil/gas well site improvements (s. 18(1.1)) and concrete-related contracts (s. 18(1.2))³
• Owner must pay a proper invoice no later than 28 days after receiving it (s. 32.2(1)); a notice of dispute must be given no later than 14 days after receipt (s. 32.2(2))³
• Contractor must pay each subcontractor no later than 7 days after receiving payment of a proper invoice (s. 32.3(1)); proper invoices at least every 31 days unless testing/commissioning conditions apply³
• Prompt payment rules apply to all new construction contracts as of August 29, 2022; adjudication through nominating authorities (ARCANA and ADACC); Government of Alberta project contracts fall under the Public Works Act and are exempt from these prompt payment timelines; holdbacks on contracts of at least $10 million and over 12 months are released annually unless the contract allows phased release⁴

STA 0+480Seasonal load restrictions

• Spring road bans on provincial highways are weather dependent, subject to thaw depth readings of at least 25 cm, and begin at the same time as Period 1 weights for heavy haul; provincial road ban line 1-855-ROADBAN (1-855-762-3226); local-road bans set by counties/MDs⁵
• Alberta official Road Ban List (PDF) published by Transportation and Economic Corridors⁶

Plan haul routes and deliveries around the restriction period. See spring road bans.

STA 0+600The market

Capital spending on engineering construction in Alberta was $40.7 billion in 2024⁷, out of $155.8 billion nationally⁷. The province’s allocation under the Canada Community-Building Fund (now the Community stream of the Build Communities Strong Fund) was $266,214,000 in 2023–24⁸.

STA 0+720Tenders, associations and specifications

• Provincial portal: Alberta Purchasing Connection (page link: purchasingconnection.ca; current site purchasing.alberta.ca)⁹
• Federal work in the province: open CanadaBuys construction notices
• Alberta Roadbuilders and Heavy Construction Association (ARHCA): arhca.ab.ca¹⁰
• Latest edition found is Edition 16 (2019), with General Specifications and Specification Amendments for Highway and Bridge Construction (Edition 16); no Edition 17 was found¹¹
• Current 2025 edition¹²
• Current 2025 edition¹²
• 2020 edition (2020-10-01); Development Site Servicing Plan (DSSP) guidelines 2018¹²
• 2021 edition, with Bulletin 2025-01 replacing Marshall Mix 'C' with 12.5 mm Superpave mix (effective 2025-02-25); Temporary Traffic Control Manual updated July 7, 2025¹³
• 2025 Complete Streets Design and Construction Standards published November 2025; update to construction specifications planned for early 2026 (older volumes: Volume 2 Roadways 2015, Volume 5 Landscaping 2017; drainage and water volumes held by EPCOR)¹⁴