BERKAN CONSTRUCTION
EMBRACING TECHNOLOGY FOR BETTER CONSTRUCTION URECON / LOGSTOR
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INTERVIEW: BERKAN CONSTRUCTION
EMBRACING TECHNOLOGY
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FOR BETTER
CONSTRUCTION Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Adam McDermott, Director at Berkan Construction Services, about residential projects, sustainable solutions, and the capability of technology to improve communication in the construction industry. Sixteen years ago, a British engineer named Adam McDermott moved to the Caribbean to work on the construction of the Hilton Hotel in Barbados. While there, he met a fellow Construction ex-pat, Swedish national Tomas Niklasson. “We met whilst working on the Hilton; when that contract was completed, we both moved onto contracts in other parts of the world, but we always kept in touch,” says Mr. McDermott, Director at Berkan Construction Services. “However in 2014, we both returned to Barbados, which created the perfect opportunity for us to set up our own construction company and combine our expertise.” Today, Berkan Construction Services is a thriving Barbadian construction business with an experienced team of local employees, specializing in general contracting, construction management, project management, and customized furniture, fixtures, and fittings. “Currently, we have been concentrating on
the property market – particularly the luxury residential market,” explains Mr. McDermott. “Although Tomas and I also have experience in medical builds, warehousing, commercial, retail, bars, restaurants, as well as some green energy projects.“ He continued: “We truly believe in getting it right first time. So we focus on getting the details right, and ensure that we translate the architect’s drawings into reality. In the high end property market you aren’t just building homes, you’re build-
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INTERVIEW: BERKAN CONSTRUCTION
“WE’VE REALLY TRIED TO GET OUR LOCAL GUYS TO IMPROVE ON THEIR FINISHES AND TO GIVE US EXACTLY WHAT WE WANT. THEY NOW KNOW OUR STANDARDS AND WE’VE ACHIEVED SOME REALLY GOOD THINGS WITH THEM.”
ing dreams, and it’s important to remember that. We work closely with the clients and their teams, ensuring they are happy at every stage. The finishes are also incredibly important, as it is what the client will see and touch every day. We’ve really worked with our local teams to improve on their finishing standards, in order to give us exactly what we need. They now know our specifications and I think it’s what sets us apart from our competitors.” In the last five and a half years Berkan has built 15 new-build projects, which is approximately 25 houses, along with two large refurb projects, one of which was around eight thousand square feet. “Our current project is a four-bedroom house with a two-bedroom cottage in the Royal Westmoreland luxury resort,” says Mr. McDermott. “It has a large infinity edge swimming pool
and it’s a little different from what we usually do, as it has a lot of contemporary finishes. We’ve also have three other upcoming projects which we are due to start soon. Most of our work comes from referrals of previous clients. Which I think says a lot about how happy our clients are with the standard of work, but also how we work with them.”
on the size and the shape of the house, you can be limited to how much you can actually put on the roof, and sometimes we’ve had to add an extra electrical or gas heating systems as a backup. “We have also recently started using composite roofing shingles made from recycled plastics, as opposed to timber roofing
SUSTAINABLE SYSTEMS Through these projects, Berkan Construction Services are keen to embrace sustainable technologies and materials. “All of the projects in Barbados have used solar hot water heating systems,” says Mr. McDermott. “How much hot water the tanks and the panels need obviously depends on the size of the property, which can lead to some challenges, as they are not always the most aesthetically pleasing. Depending URECON / LOGSTOR
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INTERVIEW: BERKAN CONSTRUCTION
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shingles,” says Mr. McDermott. “We are one of the first certified installers on the island, and we try and push that kind of product where we can. The longevity of these materials is better as it doesn’t rot or deteriorate, and you get a longer lifespan out of it. From a community support perspective we are conscious of one man’s waste is another man’s treasure, so when we go into a building and tear down ceilings and walls, we donate any good lumber to charities and schools so they can raise money or use them for their projects.” 6 | URECON / LOGSTOR
INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY Key to Berkan’s success is their embrace of technologies which facilitate more effective communication – within the company, their suppliers, and with clients. “We employ a surveying program, which means everything can be measured accurately and colour coded, so we can see exactly what we’ve measured when we price our projects,” says Mr. McDermott. “Once we have priced a project, we can then quickly go to sub-contractors and make agreements with them, and we can negotiate that
cost. The subcontractor can also receive a print-out of all that and get a fair representation of what they are actually pricing. They can check the measurements on site and feel confident that they can move forward with us a lot quicker.” “This software helps projects to move as smoothly as they possibly can,” says Mr. McDermott. “Everyone has confidence that we’re all aiming for the same thing and moving toward the same goals. Anything we’re not too sure of we can always go back and double-check, which is much
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INTERVIEW: BERKAN CONSTRUCTION
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easier than trying to do things long-hand. It allows us to overlay drawings and re-measure, which then allows us to account for change orders and to make sure everything is being tracked. That has really improved our business as a service and makes sure that we are not missing anything on our end, and equally that our clients are all getting fair valuations as well.” REMOTE PROJECT MANAGEMENT Berkan also uses a remote project management system, which has both desktop and mobile capability. “It has automatic time-keeping with geo-location and allows us to schedule all our team’s daily diaries,” explains Mr. McDermott. “Everybody knows what each project manager is doing. We can schedule work, complete daily site diaries, record weather, and handle in real time all the things that you used to have to sit down and try to remember at the end of the day. It keeps us connected and in contact with each other, and, if there is a problem, pictures can be shared immediately. They can also be edited, enabling problematic areas to be highlighted in the field or on the go. It’s allows us to resolve problems a lot quicker.” “Our next step is to add the service onto our website and create a client’s portal with a photo album of progress. This will enable them to be able to check in from anywhere in the world and see their project growing as we are building them,” says Mr. McDermott. “A lot of our clients are overseas, so if they are getting that feedback, they can make sure that things are going the way that they want them to go and request any changes that need to be made. Hopefully we can then make those changes before we get further down the line, which minimizes the work we have to do overall. We believe whole heartedly in using technology that helps us and our clients to have a better,
easier and more convenient experience - a much more modern take on the traditional builder/client relationship.” CARE AND ATTENTION For Mr. McDermott, it all comes back to effective, clear communication – something which is made easier with two directors. “The plan has always been that there is always one of us on the job,” says Mr. McDermott. “We can always make sure that one of us is visiting a job and resolving any problems and sitting down with the clients or the architects - or whoever it may be. So that was one of the reasons that we decided we could offer something extra. Because there’s two of us, we can make sure that we are hands-on with every project and give the clients the care and the attention that they deserve.”
“We’ve managed to complete a lot of luxury residential projects in the last five years, so we’re quite happy to continue with that, but would now like to branch into the commercial sector as well,” says Mr. McDermott. “There’s a lot of optimism in Barbados at the moment. We’re just coming out of a very difficult few years, but we are sensing more activity and interest in a wider range of developments. We’re still a young company and our tender list is growing. Every couple of months we’re being invited to more and more tenders. We believe our signature is integrity, fairness, and quality and we intend to keep developing, adapting, and building confidence from the ground up.” c All Berkan Construction images are provided by Royal Westmoreland.
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Berkan Construction 82, Dowitcher, Barbados T. +1 246-231-2060 berkanconstruction.com
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