NEWS FEATURE

Curtis Thomas (front, centre) founded Warrior Plumbing in 2010. WARRIOR PLUMBING WINS BUSINESS AWARD The 2022 Indigenous Business Awards (IBA), presented annually by the BC Achievement Foundation, honoured Warrior Plumbing of North Vancouver with its Business of the Year award in the 11-plus person enterprise category.

The business awards recognize the contributions of extraordinary Indigenous businesses and entrepreneurs across B.C., while also helping to elevate connections between the province’s Indigenous and non-Indigenous economies. A total of eight businesses, entrepreneurs and community-owned enterprises were selected this year.

Founded by Curtis Thomas in 2010, Warrior Plumbing is a fully owned and operated Indigenous mechanical contracting company providing residential builders, developers and homeowner customers across Greater Vancouver with plumbing, gas fitting and HVAC solutions.

Attracting young Indigenous workers to the mechanical contracting profession is key driver for Warrior. The company offers a training program giving new staff an opportunity to gain the education and skills required to obtain their Red Seal certification and a career in the trades.

Warrior is also aligned with various causes the company believes in and prioritizes helping people within the TsleilWaututh First Nation ensuring its members stay safe and comfortable. warriorplumbing.ca GUIDE: MEASURING HEAT PUMP EFFICIENCY The Atmospheric Fund (TAF), a regional climate agency that invests in low-carbon solutions in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), has commissioned A Guide to Measurement and Verification of Heat Pump Retrofits in Multi-Unit Residential Buildings.

Prepared by Rushby Energy Solutions, the guide was developed to help building owners in the the tracking of a heat pump’s performance to ensure the investment in a heat pump system is providing the expected energy savings.

Designed to support TAF’s Retrofit Accelerator program, which aims to increase the pace, scale, and ambition of retrofits in the GTHA and beyond, the guide outlines measurement and verification procedures and recommendations for space heating retrofits in electrically-heated multi-family residential building. However, the group notes that many of the principles can also be applied to heat pump retrofits in gas-heated buildings as well. taf.ca/publications

REPORT HIGHLIGHTS BUSINESS ISSUES FOR TRADE CONTRACTORS Canadian specialty trades contractors report lost profits due to unpaid change orders and rework, while a lack of workers is also affecting their ability to complete projects. These findings are part of new report from Dodge Data & Analytics, “Top Business Issues for Specialty Contractors” sponsored by Procore.

With the goal of helping trade contractors better understand the key trends impacting their businesses, Dodge surveyed 537 trade contractors (mechanical, electrical, plumbing, steel and concrete) from four regions (Canada, U.S., UK and Australia/New Zealand) with a focus on three key business issues: profitability, workforce and technology.

The report highlights issues impacting specialty contractors such as workforce management, technology and profitability to help businesses better understand industry trends.

Key Canadian findings include: • Canadian subcontractors report that 40% of their margin erosion can be tied to rework. • an average of 39% revenue loss is due to change orders that are not invoiced—this is above the global average of 30%. • 42% of Canadian subcontractors report that more than 20% of workers’ time is currently spent on low-productivity tasks. • Canadian contractors expect 38% of their company’s workforce to retire in the next five years and are amongst the ones most severely impacted by labour shortages. • Overall, 39% of respondents say that they still use whiteboards, spreadsheets and other outdated processes, such as tracking down information or documenting information on paper. procore.com/en-ca/ebooks