COMPANY PROFILE
2013
Civils 2000
The star of the construction industry
CompANY PROFILE
The star of the construction industry Editorial: Roland Douglas Production: Janis Billington Civils 2000 is a Western Cape based construction firm, specialising in a range of activities from road construction to specialised builds such as dams and pipelines. Since its inception in 1992, the company has grown exponentially and Director, Adam Essa, tells IndustrySA that that growth is showing no signs of stopping.
2013 has been an unusual year for the construction industry in South Africa. There have been numerous ups and downs, many challenges, and many opportunities. In the renewable energy sector, there have been significant investments which won’t have escaped the attention of the major construction firms who are all vying for a piece of this lucrative market. There was also success in the road construction sector last month as President Zuma opened the completed R81 road linking the city of Polokwane and the rural town of Giyani in Limpopo, and noted good progress on the R71 between Polokwane and Tzaneen. However, problems in the industry were highlighted by Public Enterprises Minister, Malusi Gigaba, who said at last month’s KPMG Global Construction Dialogue in Johannesburg that the construction industry has major delivery issues.
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“The delays and disruptions, poor site management, time and cost variations, skills and competence issues ... and lack of worker participation are among the challenges faced in the course of executing construction projects, and there is no doubt that substantial improvements in quality and efficiency are needed and are possible,” he said. But despite this, one company is going through a period of sustained growth, so much so that a new structure is being put in place to take the company forward. Civils 2000 is a Western Cape based civil engineering construction company with its head office in Cape Town. Civils 2000 is qualified to construct; roads, bridges, wastewater treatment works, reservoirs, civil engineering site services, pipelines, bridges and do bulk earthworks. Civils 2000 Director, Adam Essa, tells IndustrySA that one market where the company has seen substantial
Civils2000
growth is that of general building and this is an area which the company will be pursuing for future opportunities. “We recently got accredited for general building so we are busy with a few general building projects. This is part of our growth strategy, especially with the new shareholders coming in; we are looking to develop this division further. “We’ve got two projects in which we are building structures in the alternative energy sector. We are also building some warehouses and offices and for some private clients we are offering a turn-key service where we do the civil work and the physical structures. We are finding that there is quite a bit of demand for a turn-key service where both the civil work and structural work is appointed to us,” he says. The company has come a long way since its inception and now that it is a significant employer and a recognised
brand, Essa says that the structure is becoming more corporate. “The company has bought in some new shareholders and we are restructuring because of the growth that we are experiencing.
“We’ve got two projects in which we are building structures in the alternative energy sector” “I’m assisting a lot in change management and developing the structural division. “We should be complete by the end of the financial year, February next year, so we are planning to have everything set up by then.” The business was founded in 1992 by Colin Shapiro
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CompANY PROFILE and Rob Starke and both are still involved. “They’ve grown the business as a family business to the point where more structure was needed. We’ve got around 500 members of staff so there has been a need to start structuring the business and taking it from a family type operation to something more corporate. “Most of the people at Civils2000 have been here since its inception. They’ve gone from labourers to operators to site managers. They are now quite senior in terms of what their responsibilities are. We do focus a lot on upskilling and training from the bottom up,” explains Essa. Over the years the company has been involved in some major projects including; Royal Ascot at Milnerton, Island Club and Waterstone at Century City, the Besaansklip steel pipeline at Saldanha, the Pinnacle Point treatment works at Mossel Bay, major road works in De Rust and, more recently, the Napier Bus Terminal to name but a few. Civils 2000 is highly experienced with government and municipal projects as Essa explains. “There is quite a bit of infrastructural work from government in the local municipalities and provincial
government areas. There are a lot of projects going on, especially infrastructural developments; road works, waterworks, bridges, upgrades of facilities; that is where the growth is coming through at the moment, not necessarily the private sector. “The civil work that we are doing, although not directly for the government, will eventually be used by the government.” Such expertise in all sectors across the industry has attracted the attention of clients from across the border and it seems likely that Civils 2000 will be starting on an African expansion push soon. “We have started to look at countries outside of South Africa. At this point we are investigating work in Ghana and some in Namibia but we are in the initial stages of those investigations,” says Essa. A lot of this growth is of course down to the quality and high standards offered by Civils 2000. The company has a reputation for delivering projects on schedule and within a given budget and this is obviously pleasing for the client. Another key to the growth is attention to detail and close control over costs and where many firms have struggled thanks to increasing input costs; Civils 2000 has kept its ear to
the ground and priced its jobs according to market trends with raw materials. “The price of steel and cement always has an impact, it grows all the time. Prices that we offer as fixed cannot be fixed for too long because of those price fluctuations. We actually allow for those fluctuations in our pricings with clients, we link our prices to the steel price. We have to do this because prices are so volatile. “Cement, steel and bitumen – these are the three items that because of the fluctuations in price we would cover ourselves when pricing for a client,” says Essa. Essa has only been with the company for a short time but it is figures like him, with vast experience and expertise, who will undoubtedly be a big part of the future growth at Civils 2000. “I’ve been in this sector for around 25 years. I’ve been specialising in a broad range of areas in the construction sector and I’ve been exposed as a property developer to all the facets. I’m multidisciplined in terms of the construction industry, civils and tough structure and I’ve had a lot of exposure to design and development and managing
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www.moreasphalt.co.za the entire process from a raw piece of ground up to a finished product, both commercial and residential,” he says. So, when the restructuring of the company is completed in February and with highly knowledgeable leaders taking the business from strength to strength, it seems that Civils 2000 is emerging as a shining star in the difficult environment that is the South African construction industry.
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“We have started to look at countries outside of South Africa. At this point we are investigating work in Ghana and some in Namibia but we are in the initial stages of those investigations” NOV 13 PAGE 5
+27 21 713 0129 www.civils2000.co.za
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