HJ Foundation by North American Constructors Journal

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HJ Foundation Company:

Innovative Industry

Heavyweight HJ Foundation Company, headquartered in Miami, is one of North Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s premier deep foundation contractors and has changed the face of South Florida. Written by Kevin Doyle Produced by Stephen Marino

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stablished in 1988 by co-founders Ed Hickey and Bob Johnson, HJ Foundation Company headquartered in Miami, FL has developed into one of North America’s premier deep foundation contractors and, along the way, changed the face of South Florida. Today HJ Foundation is part of the vast family of companies owned by London-based Keller Foundations, a $2 billion specialized foundation firm with operations on six continents. HJF employs 400+; works on approximately 100 projects a year; and generates >$100 million annual revenue. It provides custom solutions to the commercial, industrial and manufacturing, infrastructure, residential and power sectors as well as tanks for oil, gas and chemical storage. “We started in South Florida and 80 to 90 percent of the tall buildings in that market have our foundations. We have been a key partner in changing the face of that market in a cost effective way,” explains company Vice President Andres M. Baquerizo, who has been with HJF since 2001. Baquerizo says the company set out to corner that market from the outset. “The company became connected to all the major players and all the general contractors back then. We have always had the philosophy to do

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the right thing. We get things done in a challenging industry. You need to be truthful all the time and we are always honest and truthful with our client about what is going on,” he says. “We always do the right thing and stand by our projects. We provide guaranteed price, guaranteed schedule and guaranteed results. We fix our mistakes on our own dime and lose money without delaying the project

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Baquerizo is the Vice President and Director of Engineering for HJ Foundation as well as the CFA Global Product Leader for Keller. The company is unabashed about its goal to be the go-to company in the market. “We decided we wanted to provide

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We’re recognized by our clients

as a partner because we see long-term solutions; we don’t do short-term decisions.

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and we review every design from start to finish to benefit the client,” he adds.

- Vice President Andres Baquerizo www.hjfoundation.com

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cost effective solutions and with honesty. We don’t chase individual projects – we chase a long-term relationship with our clients and because of it we do a lot of work together. Some projects will be great, others not so great financially (for HJ) speaking. But all of them will be safe and quality driven,” Baquerizo promises. The company belongs to an array of industry associations such as DFI, ASCE, GEO Structures, CASF and CEA and others.

Day to Day Operations The company’s culture is driven is by a

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set of 26 core principles called The HJ Way. “We’re proactive – we assume positive intent, speak straight and try to learn all the people and the processes, from our clients and our suppliers to the guys who are going to be working side by side for each company we work with. Even if the waterproofer is not my supplier, I need to know how he works so I can align with him to ensure he can be successful on the job. We think and act like an owner of the project,” Baquerizo explains. “All of our agreements with clients and suppliers are based on the principle we all have to be successful. We look at

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the job to help the owners get out of the ground, as fast as possible, going vertical and getting a building on top of it. We want to help owners that are building and investing their business in our cities to keep doing so. We have the tough conversations with the client early on to discuss different angles where things can go wrong, why and how to prevent them. We make sure everyone knows exactly what is going to happen,” he continues. Baquerizo favors a hands-on approach, visiting clients at job sites to discuss the best possible solution to each project. Earlier this year he was awarded the ASCE Roebling Award as Best Construction Engineer for 2019.

“I like to think there is no box, instead of in or out of the box because that way you’re not leaving any ideas outside,” he says. “As Director of Engineering, I have two styles. One taught to me by my dad is that “Engineering is the art of applying math to logic” to make construction fast and safe. The second is that there will always be a set of challenges and he who finds the best solutions will accept the greatest challenges. Our clients recognize us as a partner because we see long-term solutions; we don’t do short-term decisions. “A lot of companies talk about A teams, B teams, and C teams – we take the time to assign the right guys on

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HJ Foundation Company | 8 the right job where they are all A teams based on the work we are doing,” he adds. Thanks to the diversity of projects in its market, HJ Foundation withstood the collapse of the construction market at the height of the Great Recession in 2009. Among the challenges facing the industry as it recovered was implementing a new wave of computer-reliant technology. “After the recession, the industry lost some of the more experienced people and therefore what the computer spit out became gospel. The feel for the construction, the feel for the structure, the feeling that what we were doing should work that the old school

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contractors had started to fade. We have so many tools at our disposal and most of the industry were not taking the time to learn the capabilities of the specific equipment on each market,” Baquerizo recalls. The company also adapted to the challenges presented by Miami’s Zoning Code 21, which “entails a holistic approach to land use and urban planning.” The code resulted in HJ Foundation becoming a leader in underground parking construction. In the past seven years, the company has delivered more than a million square feet of underground parking to the market. “We introduced soil mixing cement to

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Research and development is a key element to the company’s success, providing a competitive edge. “We are always re-investing into research and development to update,

upgrade and get better equipment, in addition to our continuous improvement and 5S programs. We design and build equipment that is different and better than anything that exists in the markets,” Baquerizo notes. A decade in the making, the company’s development of a cutting edge Tangential Bearing Element (TBE) system is unlike anything the industry has ever seen. As company Director of Engineering, Baquerizo’s team worked hand in hand with the R&D group and the leading local consultants. The TBE is a round element inserted tangent into each other that can support more loads than traditional foundation theory suggests.

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We realize there are families

who have saved their whole lives and entrusted all of their assets into a building/school/bridge supported by our foundations. In addition, we know we have to provide safe and quality work, properly rewarded, for our. We’re creating

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provide a safe working environment minimizing water intrusion and excavate like “carve into it” resulting in almost just rainwater management and eliminating large dewatering efforts. The code created a need we were able to fulfill. South Florida soil is very permeable. The limestone has hundreds/thousands of small holes filled with silt, so water is always permeating from the aquifers and ocean. Trying to depress the ocean is not an option,” Baquerizo explains.

a culture of happy people that can thrive within our company.

- Vice President Andres Baquerizo www.hjfoundation.com

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HJ Foundation Company | 11 “We do not accept the status quo and 10 years ago we started to challenge the theories of piles. Older solutions were developed at a point based on the capabilities of the equipment that was available. We began new research and testing new systems and processes. Now we can do things with three to four times more efficiency save 30 percent cost and 20 to 30 percent time per projects using TBE,” Baquerizo explains. HJ has performed the Statnamic TBE load test record, supporting 4,500 tons.

Premier Projects Echo Brickell: The 57-story building on a 16,000sf footprint is supported on the TBE system developed by Baquerizo’s Engineering team and the local leading geotechnical and structural engineers. With the original deep shafts system that would result in over budget and behind schedule, the City of Miami authorized testing of the TBE System. HJ Foundation’s revolutionary innovation performed better than drilled shafts had in Miami limestone and the company installed more than 150 36-inch diameter TBEs to depths 120 feet below grade, completing the project ahead of schedule and without injuries. The building includes restaurants, retail space, an infinity pool, luxury condominiums, and a penthouse suite. Aston Martin Building: The 68-story,

818-foot tall building developed by the legendary British carmaker overlooking Biscayne Bay is the tallest all-residential tower south of New York City. The building required 14,000 cubic yards – 1,400 full drum loads – of cement for the mat foundation support. “We provide guaranteed price, guaranteed schedule and guaranteed results,” Baquerizo says, noting the company has completed more than 2,500 projects in all.

Safety Initiatives The company’s all-encompassing safety plan developed by Safety Director Neil Nieburg and VP of Operations Jose Martinez has resulted in 10 consecutive years of no lost-time accidents. The protocol is reflected in the acronym Maintain All safety standards; All accidents are preventable and we should think how to prevent them; and No repeat incidents. “We walk the talk. Every employee at every level is trained for safety and even after planning all the activities they can stop work if they believe there is danger, or the potential for danger on the job site. We address it and talk about it. We do toolbox talks and stretching every morning. You have to highlight the near misses where things could have happened but didn’t and learn from the experience to prevent

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HJ Foundation Company |12 future cases. People come first; the business is second,” Baquerizo stresses, adding the company makes it a point to praise employees for reporting near misses and being safe. “We listen to the field guys and we all talk to keep the job site safe every time you make a change within the scope of the job,” he adds.

Staff Training and Retention Knowing there is no substitute for homegrown experience, the company works hard to retain its best people. “Field experience is a must at all levels. All of our Superintendents have been with the company at least 15 years with some more than 30. We train our guys to stay. When you’re walking around a site, you need to be able to spot things that are right and wrong or should not be there. Those things are saving lives, time and money,” Baquerizo notes.

their long-term goals, we mentor them how to manage their finances and, if their calling is not within our company, we guide them to find a new job. We want to make sure people are happy within our culture, which is everything to us.”

The company’s PILE Program – Prepared Individuals to Lead with Excellence – seeks out college graduates interested in construction regardless of their degree, introduces them to all facets of the industry and rotates them through the various departments.

The company seems set for the foreseeable future. It is the market leader by a wide margin and has been named one of the 10 Best Places to Work for three years running. Baquerizo is part of the team working on developing a succession plan.

“We make sure our employees are experts, but they also need to be happy,” Baquerizo says. “We assign them mentors, we help them develop

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Looking Ahead

“Our president will chart the company’s future with our input as co-strategists. Once that direction has been taken, the team becomes a complete believer and supporter of the vision and be all

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in,” he asserts.