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Shorts
Pro le
Taking care of business
A combination of technical and business skills at the helm might be the reason for Planit Construction’s winning ways. Build spoke to one of the partners for insights into its success and broader thoughts about the industry today.
Q. When was Planit Construction established and what type of work does it do?
Planit Construction was established in 2007 when two smaller companies merged. There are two main business partners, one with solely a building background and one with an engineering/ management background. The two skill sets work nicely together, and the business has grown steadily over the past 10 years to have 23 employees. Planit specialises in bespoke residential work, mostly higher- end projects, with the majority being complex alterations and additions.
Q. Planit has won several Registered Master Builders awards over the years and been praised for the quality of its work. What’s behind this?
We strive to make every part of the business professional, from the sales and marketing to pricing to building and the contract administration and accounts. Our attention to detail on the job is second to none, and we hold ourselves and our subcontractors and suppliers to the highest standard possible.
Q. What are the advantages of having an apprenticeship programme? How do you retain your experienced sta and the apprentices you have trained?
We nd if we get someone that hasn’t learned any bad habits, it is much easier
to teach them what we expect in terms of quality and site expectations. It doesn’t take long and they are contributing to the projects and the company. It is not possible to retain all apprentices, but we don’t worry about that too much. Each one has their own personal goals and objectives, and we have to respect that. However, we have apprentices that have been with us since the beginning, and we have some that have left for a short time and then returned.
Q. Do you have problems getting enough workers to meet your requirements given the acknowledged shortage of building industry workers?
Employing apprentices is our main way of growing our sta pool. While at present, we could easily employ several more carpenters, they aren’t easy to nd, especially ones with the capability of doing projects with many complexities,
demanding details and often tricky sites. We are also not trying to be the biggest company but the best, so focusing on this is our primary goal and organic growth is quite acceptable to us anyway.
Q. On your website, it talks about your innovative problem solving of challenging construction projects. Could you mention examples of di cult projects and how the di culties were addressed?
We have many examples of jobs with complexities, but a couple would be around the solution to tanking retaining walls when there is no room between the bank and the new retaining wall. In one job, we used a torch-on product and balloon-tanked the site and supported the tanking up the bank before installing precast tilt-up panels against the tanking. The tanking was then attached where accessible, and this has proven successful.
16 — April/May 2018 — Build 165