Bird Mechanical by North American Constructors Journal

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Bird Mechanical Ltd.:

Mechanical Contracting and Retrofit Specialist Bird Mechanical Ltd. has steadily evolved into a General, Mechanical and Design Build contractor that primarily serves the industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI) sectors Written by Kevin Doyle Produced by Stephen Marino

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stablished in 1971 with a focus on the light commercial and residential sectors, Bird Mechanical Ltd. has steadily evolved into a General, Mechanical and Design Build contractor that primarily serves the industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI) sectors. “We’ve grown and evolved in many ways; it’s not the same company it was in the ‘70’s. We are midsized, a hybrid of best of both worlds of a small family business – knowing the employees, knowing the staff, open door communication – and a corporation that is investing in its people, tools and equipment,” says CEO Brandon Bird. He grew up in the company founded by his grandfather and later came back

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Bird Mechanical Ltd. | 4 to it on his own terms in his mid-20s after attending film school. Today the Newmarket, Ontario firm generates approximately $30 million annual sales revenue, employs about 100 and recently established a second location in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The company prefers to work as the General Contractor whenever possible, taking the lead on mechanical contracting and retrofit projects and dealing with owners on a personal basis. “As long as a job heavily mechanical driven – 60 to 70 percent or more – we will take it on as the General Contractor. We don’t like to work for a GC so 93 percent of the work we do is direct to owner because we want

Bird Mechanical Ltd. | 5 a singular point of responsibility. We will take on all the sub-trades and execution of that work. We look out for all the piping installation and we manage everything on top of the mechanical,” says Bird. “It makes sense that we drive the bus when the work is mechanical in nature. It allows us to be more competitive and gives owners the key people at the table to deal with,” he adds.

Macdonald Block Disentanglement Project: The central nervous system of Ontario’s government operations – which accommodates approximately 3,600 people and has government offices and a massive amount of

Queen’s University Boiler Project: Funding of $8.9 million from the Ontario Ministry of Advanced Education and Skill Development was secured for this project, completed in July 2019. The goal is to reach the institution’s carbon neutral goal by 2040 via modernization of heating systems in buildings west of the main campus. Bird Mechanical operated as both General Contractor and Mechanical Contractor, installing 3,000

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Our people have turned down more

money because of the environment and culture we’ve created. Knowing that a support system is there goes a long way and you can’t put a price on it.

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Premiere Projects

rentable space – was built in 1971 but had never had a major renovation. Core systems such as electrical, water, heating and cooling had to be replaced and Bird supplied shoring for the parking garage and three floors. The project includes extensive mechanical and electrical system rework as this project is the early works package for the large renovation of the publicly owned Macdonald Block Complex and will take eight years to complete.

- CEO Brandon Bird www.birdmechanical.comcom com

Bird Mechanical Ltd. | 6 feet of underground piping while providing, excavation, and backfill and restoration services.

upgraded BAS system.

Toronto Old City Hall HVAC Upgrade: The $20 million project was completed in phases over six years while the building remained fully operational. Bird Mechanical’s scope of work involved installing a newly designed heating and cooling system throughout the entire 500,000 square foot complex currently used by the Government of Ontario as a courthouse. This project was scheduled to be completed in a six-year time frame. The work was completed throughout the building while it continued to run as a fully operational courthouse.

Bird says the family culture the company has cultivated sets it apart from its competitors. Its mantra is “One team, one dream!”

The new heating and cooling system was fed from the Enwave Steam and Deep Lake Cooling distribution systems piped through several heat exchangers in the basement and attic of the facility and distributed throughout the building using newly installed piping systems. In order to get these services to each of the floors, old existing duct shafts were modified and used to minimize disturbing the heritage status of the facility’s interior. Each floor had several new air handling units installed to distribute the new heating and cooling throughout the offices and court rooms. These installations included multiple fan coil units (542), unit heaters (75) and VAV’s all of which are now monitored by the

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Day To Day

“Our employees know they can call me or their VP at any time for help. I can get a call at 2 a.m. and I’m going to do

Bird Mechanical Ltd. | 7 what I can to help out that employee. Our people are willing to jump in and help wherever we are needed across departments. We are a company where people want to come to work and drive the goal forward,” Bird emphasizes.

and delivery trucks to transport heavy equipment to job sites. Third-party contractors handle maintenance.

The company is especially proud of its new 40,000-square-foot fabrication shop. Bird Mechanical owns all of their equipment as well as a boom truck

“Not many $30 million a year companies have their own fabrication shop. We rival companies doing hundreds of millions of dollars a year and we’ve really made sure we have the equipment and tools to succeed. We re-invest in our people to allow us to grow and stay competitive. We offer the best of both worlds with a family feel and the flexibility of a smaller company,” Bird explains. Subcontractors that work with the company must adhere to its stringent guidelines and are carefully vetted. “If somebody makes a mistake, the owner only remembers Bird. We are selective on who we work with and only want people with a good past history that have a proven track record,” Bird stresses. “We start them small and see how they perform. If they test out well we will put them on bigger projects. Our name is on the project and doing a good job is the most important thing. If you can’t execute the job there is no limit to how much money you can lose.” The company belongs to the Mechanical Contractors Association of Ontario and the Refrigeration Contractors Association as a way to stay abreast of industry trends. They also belong to MCAA-US.

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Talent Development The company is fully committed to internal development and retention of personnel in a market currently glutted with work. “Money only goes so far. We want to

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Not many $30 million a year

companies have their own fabrication shop. We rival companies doing hundreds of millions of dollars a year and we’ve really made sure we have the equipment and tools to succeed. - CEO Brandon Bird

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“At the end of the year I go to the U.S. for a fabrication conference to learn from our U.S. counterparts. That’s a win all the way around. We’re not competing with them and they open their doors and let us see how they operate,” Bird says. “We do the same. I still get calls about last year’s conference in Buffalo.”

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create a place where people want to come to work. We want the office to be a nice place to work, where employees can grow, feel empowered and challenged. If you can create an environment where people want to come to work, you will compete,” Bird said. To that end the company’s new office was designed with the knowledge that employees spend more time at work than home. Additionally, non-union employees have been provided pension plans and health care coverage is a standard company offering. The field staff undergoes constant training, allowing Bird Mechanical to successfully compete with

larger competitors. “We put our team through training because we like to be the General Contractor as long as it is mechanical contracting driven project. So our team has to know the mechanical side very well but have to have a good understanding of all the other scopes involved. They need to learn the civil side, and have to understand a little bit of electrical,” Bird says. He says once talented employees are identified, keeping them starts with having a conversation. Micro-management is not part of the Bird Mechanical lexicon. “My job is to make sure everyone succeeds, empower them, to

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help them as a support and resource tool so they can grow, excel and rise to the challenges being presented. It’s all about one team, one dream,” Bird explains. “It’s about finding out their goals and knowing where the employee wants to go and, as a manager, looking at what they’re doing for us and how they’re performing and trying to make sure we find out where we can place them and help them grow,” Bird said. He pointed out that the company’s two Vice Presidents worked their way up from estimators and project management to their current positions. “We allow our staff to prosper so they can succeed and we train our own champions. We don’t

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Bird Mechanical Ltd. | 13 want to be the biggest but we do want to be the best.”

well positioned for continued measured growth.

Safety Measures

Like any successful manager, Bird knows implicitly that keeping the work force happy and motivated is crucial to future success.

Safety is an around-the-clock priority for the company. Part of the commitment is talking to employees on a regular basis to see if there are stress inducers outside of work that could impact their focus on the job. The company’s full-time safety staff and third party consultants collaborate to keep the company ahead of the industry curve. “We are in the process of the Certificate of Recognition (COR) Certification program and we’re trying to achieve the ISO Standard for Safety right now. There is nothing more important than making sure everyone is going home the way they came in. We’re also there to lend an ear if there is a personal issue,” Bird emphasizes.

Looking Forward The company achieved a milestone with the 2013 construction of its fabrication shop. Company offices were eventually re-located to space within that facility two years later. The company has also branched out with the 100 percent acquisition of John McKenzie Plumbing and Heating, Ltd. and R.G. MacDuff Contracting, their in house civil contractors. Bird seems

“If you treat people well and stimulate them and create an atmosphere where they want to come to work every day, that’s when you can retain them. Our people have turned down more money because of the environment and culture we’ve created. Knowing that a support system is there goes a long way and you can’t put a price on it,” he concludes.