The Construction Source Australia

Welcome to the latest issue of Construction Source Australia, the magazine that highlights the best of the best in building and building products across the country. This time out, our spotlight has found Thompson Building Group, a company that works across Queensland, with significant experience in multi-complex projects, boundaryto-boundary build sites and timber-frame construction. According to marketing manager Renita Gordon, they are among the country’s leading “small lot experts.” In our profile, we cover that expertise and why it is increasingly valuable in today’s building world. We also cover some of their recent projects, including the Carseldine Village on Brisbane’s north side, where they have successfully created one of the first awarded Green Star estates in Queensland. Another envelope-pushing builder featured in these pages is Pichelmann Custom Building – they are a residential builder working in the Canberra region with a number of recent awards to their name. We spoke to partner Eugene Haigh about some of those award-winning projects. We also talked about how much the company has grown in recent years and what’s powered that growth. Also featured within is the Milleen Group, based in Warners Bay, New South Wales. They are a group of companies specializing in civil concrete construction, piling and foundation improvement, and specialist plant and equipment hire. In recent years, like the above companies, they have also grown a lot and accumulated a long list of industry awards. We discussed that growth and recognition with Andrew Stones, the group’s general manager. We also discussed their recent work in the renewable energy sector, which is a sector they expect to be quite active in for many years to come. Andrew explained to us the reasons for their optimism and laid out his exciting vision for their future. We have other stories too, on more innovative and barraising developers, builders, and subcontractors from across Australia. For more of those stories, just keep reading. All the best, The Editorial Team We will keep adding business units that enhance our offering and separate us from our competition. “ ” Editor From The Dear Reader,

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The Construction Source Australia With a readership exceeding 136,000 senior executives, The Construction Source Australia takes immense pride in providing an enticing platform to amplify your message to the most pivotal audience – your valued customers. Whether your aim is to promote an exciting new condo development, attract crucial financial investments for upcoming projects, or establish a commanding brand presence, we’re here to assist you every step of the way. To explore opportunities for featuring your company or showcasing your latest project in The Construction Source Australia, please reach out to our Group Publisher. Jermaine Poulsen e:info@theconstructionsource.com.au The Construction Source Australia Suite 11.01, Level 11, 175 Castlereagh Street, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia info@theconstructionsource.com.au ABN: 42 976 059 923 Executive Publisher Jermaine Poulsen COO Alexandra Box Editor in Chief Zach Janes Director of Operations Jacqueline Van Belois Business Development Managers Douglas Thomson Production Manager Brennan Midghall Digital Strategist Pranim Thapa Administration Manager Belyn Quijance-Dorero

OCTOBER 2024 Industry INNOVATIONS Product of the Month The Kights Scanner THOMPSON BUILDING GROUP Thompson Sustainable Homes pushes the boundaries PICHELMANN CUSTOM BUILDING Pichelmann Custom Building involves clients every step of the way D PEARCE CONSTRUCTION D Pearce Construction builds relationships before they build homes ARKI BUILDING SURVEYORS PTY LTD. Arki Building Surveyors maintains traditional business values XTERNALWORX Xternal Worx goes the extra mile for clients MILLEEN CONSTRUCTION Milleen Group builds confidence through longevity EAST ELEVATION CONSTRUCTION PTY East Elevation Construction is built on relationships IN THIS ISSUE OCTOBER 2024 MILLEEN CONSTRUCTION XTERNAL WORX

OCTOBER 2024 Aluminum expected to accelerate worldwide adoption of electric and self-driving vehicles Material takes on an ever-widening role in tomorrow’s vehicles For more than a decade, concerns about fuel efficiency have been encouraging OEMS to replace steel with aluminum on vehicle bodies, doors, trunks, hoods, bumpers, crash boxes, brakes, cables and wheels. With the advent of electric and autonomous vehicles, OEMs worldwide are discovering new uses for aluminum. The need for battery casings and heat exchangers in electric vehicles, combined with autonomous vehicles’ demands for high visibility and structural integrity, is expected to exponentially increase the use of sheet aluminum in tomorrow’s cars, trucks and buses. Supporting the transition to battery-powered vehicles Four major design challenges confront OEMs in their transition to electric vehicles. Extending vehicle range Improving battery and passenger safety Increasing passenger comfort Optimizing cooling systems for lithium-ion batteries The substitution of sheet aluminum for steel helps resolve OEM concerns. Industry INNOVATIONS

The Construction Source Australia The lighter the vehicle, the longer its range. According to Ducker Worldwide, aluminum is expected to contribute more than half of the anticipated vehicle mass reduction demanded by electric vehicles (EVs) to extend range. Ducker reports that in North America alone, aluminum content in EVs will increase to nearly 565 pounds (256 kilgrams) per vehicle by 2028. The larger the vehicle, the heavier the battery and casing required to optimize the EV’s range. It is the larger EVs, i.e., sedans, SUVs, taxis, trucks and buses, that will realize the greatest benefits from a steel-to-aluminum conversion. In the U.S., a vehicle’s gross weight determines which class of commercial driver’s license (CDL) will be required. Without lightweighting, some EVs could demand a higher-class license or additional endorsements due to the added weight of the battery. In older European cities like Brussels or London, some bridges and tunnels only allow vehicles up to 3.5 tons in weight, a target that is very difficult to meet for larger EVs without lightweighting. For heavier material transport EVs such as trucks, weight reduction enables an increased payload, providing a significant monetary benefit. Generally, the larger the vehicle, the higher the payback. Particularly relevant for larger human transport EVs such as buses and taxis, the weight reduction made possible through aluminum provides the added benefit of reduced CO2 emissions and improved air quality, of value not only to vehicle operators, but to the communities they serve. The thermal and anti-corrosion properties of aluminum make it ideal for battery frames. Sea-water resistant, highly formable, highly surfaced aluminum alloys provide the strength necessary to pass side-impact crashworthiness testing, protecting passengers and the battery should impact occur. Casing floor plates made out of aluminum are not only strong, but also capable of resisting corrosion related to weather exposure. These characteristics enable aluminum battery casings to resist weather-related deterioration and impact from road debris, minimizing the risk of related fires and further securing passenger safety. Optimizing battery and human safety Extending range Dispersing heat The batteries used in EVs produce energy while charging and decharging, requiring the use of heat exchangers to dissipate heat. But the types of heat exchangers used in vehicle air conditioning systems are inadequate to meet this new challenge. Aluminum clad brazing (which connects multiple layers of aluminum together to disperse heat) requires heating in a controlled atmosphere (e.g., a vacuum) to achieve optimum joining. Aluminum heat exchangers designed specifically to meet the challenges presented by electric vehicles can use as many as five types of aluminum sandwiched together, with the layers providing gradient properties to optimize cooling. These specialized processes and materials address OEM concerns, ensuring adequate dissipation of the heat generated by battery-powered vehicles. An experienced aluminum processing partner can help OEMs specify the right process and alloys to meet specific vehicle temperature thresholds, ideally working side by side with OEM engineers early in the design process to maximize the performance of electric vehicles. IT IS THE LARGER EVS, I.E, SEDANS, SUVS, TAXIS, TRUCKS AND BUSES, THAT WILL REALIZE THE GREATEST BENEFITS FROM A STEEL -TO-ALUMINUM CONVERSION .

OCTOBER 2024 The luxury sedan market will likely be the first to transition to self-driving electric vehicles. Passenger comfort and safety, and an expansive view of the surrounding environment, are expected to be top priorities for this market. The hefty B pillars used in conventional vehicles to meet structural requirements for crashworthiness are undesirable in a self-driving scenario. To enable large windows and an unobstructed view without sacrificing passenger safety, lightweight aluminum will be the strong material of choice. Supporting the eventual transition to autonomous vehicles In addition to the design challenges presented by EVs, society’s demand for sustainable solutions will likely continue to be a driver in the transition to aluminum-lightweighted vehicles. A Forschungsgesellschaft Kraftfahrwesen mbH Aachen (fka) study, using a Volkswagen Golf as its reference vehicle, determined that an electric aluminum-based vehicle could meet the same safety standards as its steelbased equivalent, while emitting 1.5 tons less greenhouse gases over its lifecycle, taking into consideration production, a total driving distance of more than 93,000 miles (150,000 kilometers) and eventual recycling. Ongoing environmental concerns Conclusion Aluminum alloys are ideally suited to the design challenges presented by electric and autonomous vehicles. By aligning with aluminum partners deeply experienced in developing processes and alloys to meet demanding performance requirements, transportation vehicle OEMs are accelerating the pace of EV and self-driving vehicle adoption throughout North America. .

The Construction Source Australia

OCTOBER 2024 Business World Australia

The Construction Source Australia Business Worl d Australia

SINCE 1957 Thompson Sustainable Homes pushes the boundaries

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Thompson Sustainable Homes are the small lot experts. Working across Queensland, they have developed significant experience in multicomplex projects, boundary-to-boundary build sites and timber-frame construction. For almost 70 years, they have been pushing the boundaries when it comes to sustainability, efficiency, and affordability, and they have justly earned a reputation as the leading new home builder for first home buyers, couples, families, downsizers and investors. The company’s shareholders, have a history in building going back generations. Ronald Thompson started working in Toowoomba, Queensland, where he worked in a timber mill before going into construction. His children ended up following him into the family business, as did their children, and “the fourth generation is coming through now,” says Renita Gordon, marketing manager. Today, Thompson Building Group has four divisions. Thompson Sustainable Homes QLD is their flagship building company. As the world changed with COVID-19 and housing prices began to rise, they further established Sustainable Tiny Homes to meet the needs of the market by providing smaller footprint housing outcomes to suit the everyday backyard. Lastly, as the company grew, the need to separate their special projects from their core terrace product became evident. That’s why in 2020 they established their Azura division, which primarily services luxury custom builds, but also manages the company’s traditional style homes, Class 2 projects, including knockdown rebuilds, infills, duplexes, and multiunit developments. THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA

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The flagship brand, Thompson Sustainable Homes, remains a leader in the construction of terrace homes in Queensland. Their experience in the sector is vast, and includes: large scale development estates (often known as Greenfield), Department of Housing projects, and small lot infill projects for private developers. Over the years, they have delivered projects both large and small. On the Sunshine Coast – where they were one of the first builders building them – they have built terrace homes on lots as little as 54 square metres. Terrace homes are homes that are built to both boundaries of a lot, and they typically run in a number of three-to-10 neighbouring terrace homes. They are ideal in infill areas, as well as for estates – according to Renita, newly-built estates are now where they do most of their work. “Typically, a greenfield estate will contact us and say ‘As part of our development in this estate we want to work with you to design a number of terrace homes on specific lots that have been approved in the Plan of Development.’ They would provide a tranche of three-to-12 lots. From there they actually design out a streetscape based on the lot sizes and frontages of that tranche, and then go to market with home and land packages.” “This type of development covers 60 per cent of our work,” says Renita. “The other 40 per cent is small lot subdivisions with independent developers that have land they are wishing to prepare development approvals on, or have DAs in place ready to go. Should the council code permit, we’ll build a profile of a terrace home package in that estate. Then we design it to suit the lot sizes, then go to market with packages based on that THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA

development. It’s quite a different method.” They also work in reverse, where a developer may have land but they are unsure how to get a desirable grid pattern to accommodate terraces – and that’s were Thompson Building Group jumps in. Thompson’s experience and their innovative way of constructing the terrace homes sets them apart from their competitors. “We work insideout,” says Renita. “Because they are double built to boundary, that means the homes are all individually titled. There’s no body corporate in this process. You purchase it like a normal home on your own lot freehold. The difference is there’s only a 50-to-100 millimetre gap between yourself and your neighbour. There is no common wall.” The point of difference from a traditional build is that the work is completed in small spaces. “Small lots mean more affordability,” she says. “The land size is competitively priced. The build cost however is typically higher because we’re working in these tighter spaces with smaller homes, so in general you’re paying more for the build per square metre but less for the land so as an overall package it’s less expensive than a traditional house and land package, however, gaining more home than land in most cases.” This is a very affordable option for first time buyers and downsizers, but the education process for public outreach is long, says Renita. “You have a sense in Australia that we have all this space, which we do, but we also have an affordability crisis on our hands.” When explaining and educating people on terrace homes, Renita finds a very large portion of OCTOBER 2024

consumers are initially against them because of how compact they are on the small lots. “The truth of the matter is its all well and good they’re smaller. People want more house than land these days because we’re just too busy to maintain big blocks of land like we used to. No one wants to sit on their mower or work in the garden all weekend. They want to be at the beach, with their family and having fun,” says Renita. She believes that it’s a win-win with a terrace home because the buyer gets more house, less land, less maintenance and less dollars spent. Overall, it’s a good opportunity to enter the market. Plus, they are contributing to sustainability in the environment. There are a lot of factors with terrace homes that support sustainability, besides the smaller footprint. “There’s a huge amount of sustainable planning required because it’s more condensed living without the urban sprawl” says Renita. She uses the city of Sydney as an example. “Their urban sprawl is considerable but they try to maintain minimum 600 square metre lots. Where we are, we can start from a 4-metre lot frontage. When you look at sustainability, we’re attempting to reduce urban sprawl.” Thompson builds with timber framing which is a renewable resource. “We have the land in our area to grow renewable pine forests, so we’re working with pine. We also know where those timber frames are coming from, and mostly they’re locally sourced,” says Renita. Even their paint and non-toxic carpet glue are THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA

sourced for sustainability along with quality. They use a mold-free type of paint which is important in their region, which has high humidity. As with the timber framing, Thompson also works with local suppliers as much as possible to reduce their footprint and mileage which can put costs up. Brick work is another material Thompson shies away from. “We use brick only where it is required, so, if possible, no brick at all, which provides more room within the dwelling,” says Renita. “It takes up less wall space. We work in partnership with James Hardie who is the largest supplier of cladding in Australia. We order what we need and minimise waste. Our production team is tasked with ordering what we need so minimal overruns of waste. “ We work with a local waste bin supplier who has a full production site of waste recycling so we know they are sorting through our waste so they can recycle what they can. We’ve been working with them for over a decade and their contribution to overall recycling is amazing.” Long term relationships are part of Thompson’s corporate culture as well. “Our 25-plus subcontractors are part of the fabric of Thompson,” says Renita. “Our carpenters started their careers with us as apprentices and we have worked with and alongside them to open their own business as carpentry sub-contractors. Now they are part of the fabric of our team. This ensures we have a field staff we can deploy any time rather than looking to replenish sub-contractors. They are part of our core business.” This philosophy results in a very low turnover in staff and one big family, she says. “It’s quite a big statement, but you’ve got to remember we’ve got two main shareholders in the company who are in their mid-40s. Their core support team has been here for a long time. We have staff that have been here over 25 years. I have been with the company for 7 and I’m one of the newer ones.” “It’s important we have a family culture,” says Renita. “We do team building exercises during work, and we enjoy relaxed time together. We do outside of work catchups because for us it’s important to shift the focus from work sometimes and enjoy our day.” “We have a fun, passionate group of people who all go above and beyond. I think we know as a collective that the construction, sales, marketing and on-site teams work as best as we can together. There are differences, but we all work to be on the same page when we can,” she says. Their strong team mentality has shown consistent results when it comes to industry commendations. Over the years Thompson has worked on a number of projects that have commanded interest externally. Their most recent accolade came from the 2023 HIA awards, where the won Best Display Home Over $550,000 on the Sunshine Coast. They also recently received the 2023 HIA Award for Best Small Lot Home at both regional and state levels. OCTOBER 2024

Recently, Thompson Building Group was very proud to work with Economic Development Queensland (EDQ) on Carseldine Village, a new and innovative residential community on Brisbane’s northside. According to Renita, the partnership with EDQ was a very positive and productive one, with both sides working hard to ensure the project was the best it could be. “Aside from our clients, Thompson’s relationship with developers and government departments is our highest priority,” she says. “We put a lot of time and effort into ensuring that mutually desired outcomes are achievable.” At Carseldine Village, one of the most important objectives for all stakeholders was sustainability. The goal there was to create one of the first awarded Green Star estates in Queensland. In that estate, they were building double-built-to-boundary terrace homes that had A new era THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA

a minimum energy rating of 7 stars out of 10. However, that wasn’t much of a challenge for Thompson Sustainable Homes, as Renita says the company has long been building to that standard as a rule: “The national code for construction in Australia was just revisited,” she explains. “In general, those items we were including in our homes back in 2019-20 were implemented in 2023. We’ve built a 10-star net zero home in the past in conjunction with the Queensland government. That house was way ahead of its time. Zero emissions and net zero. We’ve been ahead of the game and the rest of Australia is catching up now.” The homes in Carseldine Village also had to be Liveable Housing Australia (LHA) compliant. Liveable housing compliancy is all about preparing homes for the aging and non-abled population. That could mean designing the framework to accommodate future handrails, making sure doorways are wide enough for walkers, and designing transitions to entries so there are no stairs to enter the home. Measures like those are now required at state and national level as well – though once again, Thompson Sustainable Homes has been building with accessibility in mind for years now. That forward-thinking and industry leadership has put Thompson Sustainable Homes in a strong position to grow. To that end, they recently started a separate division for special projects. That division manages everything outside of terrace homes and are the special projects group in construction for traditional housing, Class 2 building, duplexes, and multi-residential. OCTOBER 2024

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From small projects to entire homes, or anything in between, we’ve got you covered. Find your local Haymes Paint Shop and supplier today! haymespaintshop.com.au When it comes to their terrace homes offering, Thompson Sustainable Homes is also taking the next steps. According to Renita, with terrace homes rising in popularity and government regulations relaxing, they are now entering into a “new era of planning developments with our development partners.” “Terrace homes are now becoming more allowable in certain local government authorities,” she says. “We’re the ones developers and Council’s reach out to for a discussion on the opportunities, challenges and the positives that goes into small lot building.” “It’s about being the leaders, being at the forefront of the trends and requirements at the estate and local level for planning, then selling home and land packages based on product, market trends and acceptance to market,” says Renita, noting there’s generally a waitlist for terrace home and land packages across the southeast because of their affordability. OCTOBER 2024

For more about Thompson Building Group, their divisions, their past projects, and their commitment to sustainability, visit their website at thompsonsustainablehomes.com.au THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA

Pichelmann Custom Building involves clients every step of the way

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Pichelmann Custom Building began in 2005 as a residential building business in the Canberra region. For over 10 years, they successfully delivered a long list of high quality high-end homes, many of them award-winning, all of them for satisfied clients. In 2015, the company took a big step forward when founders Parry and Meike Pichelmann started talking with Tom Argaet and Eugene Haigh, who soon after came on board as business partners. In the years since, the four partners have taken the business to another level and together they have realized some of the company’s proudest projects. “Tom and I came up through the business as apprentices and sub contract carpenters so we knew the business well,” says Eugene. “It was natural progression for everyone in 2017, and gave us the ability to grow and expand into a lot of different projects. It’s been a win for everybody.” In 2019, the company started the maintenance and minor works part of the business. That came from having 15 years of clients that were still on very good terms with them, says Eugene. “They were coming back to us for smaller jobs like bathroom renos. We always did them but they were a draw on our attention.” Managing a high-end custom home build and managing a bathroom renovation are two very different beasts, and trying to do both in parallel was “quite a challenge,” says Eugene. To alleviate that challenge, they brought Steve Swift on board as a director gave him control of the maintenance and minor works division. Since then, that business has flourished, growing consistently even throughout the pandemic. THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA

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“It was a risk starting when we did, but it panned out quite well,” says Eugene. “A lot of people were stuck at home unable to travel during COVID and they ended up taking on smaller projects around the home they wouldn’t have otherwise. It gave the business a good footing in that regard.” On the custom-building side there’s no real limit at the upper end of what the company will tackle, says Eugene. “We will take on whatever someone needs us to do. No limitations.” He says the bottom end of home construction can go down around the $800,000 to $1 million mark, at which point the job transitions into the maintenance business. “They do anything from replacing a window up to that $800,000 limit. Between the two there isn’t much we can’t do in the residential building market.” On the custom-building side of things, Pichelmann operates with a level of transparency and inclusion from the clients which they don’t often get from a lot of other builders, says Eugene. “Our invoicing, budgeting and quoting is very open book. The way we do jobs allows for that so our client can be fully involved in the build process. For some of them it’s almost to the point where it’s like having a second project manager. They are fully in control of their project if they want to be.” The other selling point to the custom-building side of things is Pichelmann Custom Building has a reputation for doing things properly, says Eugene. “Again, because of the way we budget, we are able to approach each part of the build and assess that we’re doing it the right way in the best way and with the best advice. If that doesn’t line up with our initial budget then we can have a THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA

conversation with our clients about that.” “It’s not like fixed price contracts where we just have to find a way to get it done and still to turn a dollar at the end of the week,” he says. “It allows us to build houses properly. People who want to be involved come to us, people who want quality come to us, and people who want a relationship with their builder come to us. People who want to send the builder the plans and say ‘ring me when it’s done’ are not generally our type of client.” The maintenance business’s main point of difference is they seem to be taking on projects typically done by new builders. “Things like bathroom renos or little fixup jobs are where new builders generally start out, and new builders don’t often have the experience to do them well or handle the problem solving needed,” says Eugene. “We are a larger, more experienced builder that is specifically going after those smaller projects and we are better able to tackle those problem projects.” Their experience in the industry generates a lot of referral and repeat work for the company, says Eugene. “People don’t often build multiple houses in that end of the market, but we definitely get repeat work from clients in our other division. The maintenance team has clients they are constantly going back to. That’s because they operate with the same ethos we do. They make sure the relationships are intact, and they make sure our clients are informed about what we’re doing and why. That keeps people involved and in control, which is why they feel they can trust us.” OCTOBER 2024

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When it comes to the workplace, the company tries to create a workplace people want to show up to and be a part of, says Eugene. “We have an everyone’s in it together attitude. We may be a bit past saying we’re one big family – that feels like a stereotype that gets trumped up way too much – but it definitely feels like everyone’s in it for each other.” They also have very good relationships with their sub-trades and suppliers. “There’s a few we’ve been working with for a quite a number of years and we refuse to shop around,” says Eugene. “They’re part of our brand. We know they’re offering what we want to sell. That’s something clients know when they come on board with us. We know what we’re getting from these tradesmen and we know we can deliver.” “It’s the same with our suppliers,” he says. “We trust them deeply. Whenever we have a problem there’s suppliers we can go to for good products, good advice and help.” Their reliance on and trust in their team, sub contractors and suppliers has resulted in an extensive number of awards for Pichelmann Custom Building. Recently, for example, the company had a townhouse renovation in Reid win the ‘Townhouse Renovation’ category at the 2024 MBA ACT Awards. That project was a collaboration between Pichelmann, the Dept. of Design, and Precise Custom Joinery. “We want to send out special thanks to our wonderful and trusting client, who had faith in us to install a vacuum-operated lift in her multi-level townhouse,” says Eugene. THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA

That project posed significant problem-solving challenges that required input from the design, construction, and engineering teams at Sellick Consultants. It included cutting a 1-metre diameter hole in a structural concrete slab to facilitate the lift shaft. The lift will add longevity for a resident who is coming up on retirement, and who was a past client of Pichelmann’s from 2008. Last year was also a really good year for industry recognition, says Eugene. For instance, a project they did in Forrest received multiple awards, including ‘Best Bathroom renovation over $50,000’ from the MBA and HIA, ‘Best Renovation/Construction over $1 million,’ from the HIA, and ‘Best Outdoor Project’ from the HIA. That outdoor project was part of a renovation and extension to an older house in Forrest to make it more liveable for a family of five. “We modernized and streamlined it without taking the character out,” Eugene says. “There was quite an extensive amount of work in build, design and engineering to get everything they wanted in the house.” The pool, tennis court and cabana in the back all formed the outdoor award-winning project. When it comes to their custom-building division, Eugene says they will continue doing what they do best into the future. “We’re careful about not growing for the sake of growing. We try to take on type and number projects that we can do and do well.” “The maintenance side of the business we’d like see continue to grow,” says Eugene. “I think there’s more than enough capability there for that business to service a lot more Canberrans and provide value in that way.” OCTOBER 2024

For more on what Pichelmann Custom Building, their services, their past projects, and their many awards, visit their website at www.pichelmann.com.au THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA

D Pearce Construction builds relationships before they build homes

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D Pearce Constructions is an award-winning, family-owned building company based in Brisbane, backed by over 20 years of experience in the construction industry. Led by founder and owner Duayne Pearce, their specialty is taking high quality renovations and new builds from concept to completion. From the first meeting to handing over the keys, they talk clients through the entire design and building process and give them confidence they are in safe hands every step of the way. “Building should be an enjoyable process and we are passionate about creating positive experiences for our homeowners,” Duayne says. Duayne is now an industry expert when it comes to creating those positive experiences – he even helps other building companies to create the same kind of experiences for their clients. However, he admits he wasn’t always an expert. In fact, he says getting there took a lot of time and effort and a lot of trial and error. Prior to forming his own homebuilding company, Duayne personally worked at a timber yard stacking and storing timber. There weren’t a lot of jobs for a carpenter when he was a teenager so he left school at 15. After two years working in the yard, he was offered a carpenter’s apprenticeship “I worked under two different companies,” he recalls. “I got experience in both sides of the industry, doing custom homes first, then moving to volume-type, lower budget jobs.” After his apprenticeship, Duayne worked with his father’s painting company, eventually being picked up by a contractor. “I’m a very driven person. I always do the best at what I do,” he THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA

says. He started doing contracting work for a developer and then built that up to a point where the developer couldn’t keep Duayne and another carpenter busy enough. “At that point I went further afield searching for builders I could sub-contract with. My company ended up being Queensland’s largest subcontract carpentry business while I was in my 20s. At our peak we had 40 carpenters working for us, turning over millions of dollars,” he says. Duayne’s goal to be a builder never changed, so as soon as he had enough experience, he got his builders license at age 29 and started out working with the developers he had already been working with. “In a few years we were building multimillion-dollar homes, but behind the scenes was terrible,” he says. “We were great builders but we didn’t know how to run a building business. We kept going on this roller coaster ride because I didn’t understand contracts, client management and all the other aspects of a building company.” “Between 2010 and 2014 we were one of Brisbane’s most awarded builders with 10 of our homes in the top 100 homes in Brisbane,” says Duayne. “We won over 20 awards in that period, but the business wasn’t working.” The stress got to a point that he was prepared to shut the business down and walk away from it because of the pressure. “We’d been working with a client for three or four years on our biggest project to date – valued at approximately $3 million – and they gave us the go-ahead for that job. At that point we made a commitment to keep the business going but we OCTOBER 2024

needed to identify all our problems and fix the issues,” says Duayne. “I spent the next three years investing every cent we had into mentoring and coaching, even though we couldn’t afford it at the time. At the same time, my wife started in the business as she was about to come off maternity leave and return to her corporate job.” “We learned very quickly, a lot of people who are trying to help our industry either tried to be builders and failed or had never been builders and didn’t understand the industry,” says Duayne. That sparked a passion for him and for the first time in his life he started to use a computer. His wife would turn on the computer and set up what he needed and he spent his nights creating two seminars, the first one being called ‘build your knowledge before you build your dreams.’ “I felt the answer to our problems was educating our clients,” he explains. The seminars were very successful and turned into a very good marketing tool, but while doing those Duayne realized it wasn’t the clients. “I needed to be a better builder and educate myself,” he says. “I changed it and added another seminar called “Rules of the Game” because I believed that building a house is no different than a game of football. If you send two teams onto a field and one team doesn’t understand the rules or what’s going on that’s going to be a very terrible game and 9 times out of 10 that’s what happens in construction. You have a builder that doesn’t understand how to run a business and the contracts they use and a client who’s done all their research on Google and ultimately knows how to understand the contract and build the Domestic Ducted air Conditioning Specialist & split System Wahoo Air Conditioning Pty Ltd 231 Elizabeth Avenue, Clontarf, QLD , 4019 | Phone: 07 3889 4508 | Website: www.wahooairconditioning.com.au Co-operative Advertising Guide 2024 THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA

house better than the builder does.” From there Duayne and his wife developed software that led into another business called QuoteEaze. This business was established due to builders reaching out after attending Duayne’s seminars and seeing what Duayne was posting on social media. They were interested in the documents that he and his wife had developed in their building business. “I’m on a mission to create a building industry where builders, trades and contractors run sustainable and profitable building businesses,” he says. “The reality is, over 80 percent of businesses in the construction industry are close to insolvency. They don’t understand their numbers; they don’t know if they’re making money or not, they don’t understand their role in the industry, they’re not paying themselves a salary. So many parts are broken. We’ve managed to change all that so we now have a business that runs incredibly well.” Duayne has a podcast called ‘Level up with Duayne Pearce’, it is the number one construction podcast in Australia. “We’re doing a lot in the industry to create change and improvement”, he says. Duayne’s purpose is to create a new building industry where everyone involved thrives. He is also the co-founder of ‘Live, Life, Build’ with his business partner, Amelia Lee (also known as ‘Undercover Architect’). Live, Life, Build is a coaching and mentoring program with an online portal, a systems library and seven mentors in the business. “We not only teach the building side of things but we do a lot of personal development,” says Duayne. “We found you can give people in our industry everything they need to run a good building business but if they’re not doing personal development and working on their mindset, the culture they’re creating in their business and their leadership skills, then everything goes in a vicious circle. They win jobs, get a bit of money, lose a job and lose a bit of money and go back downhill again.” One of the big things he is passionate about is teaching people in the industry that they can’t go it alone. “So many people work with their tools all day, then stay up all night pricing and estimating and running the business because they feel they can’t afford to bring people in to help them,” he says. “Our industry is filled with people racing to the bottom. So many people are focused on having to undercut each other to get work. Winning a job shouldn’t be about how cheap you are. It should be about building a personal connection with your clients. They come to you because you are going to deliver to them, not by how much you’re charging.” “We say that we build relationships before we build homes,” says Duayne about D Pearce Constructions. “Our clients pay us to be involved in all the preliminary stages. I go to all the design meetings. By doing that, I get to put costing input into the job prior to it going to contract. I’m always liaising between the client, architect and homeowner about efficiencies and material choice.” With an upcoming average project cost of $1.8 to $2.3 million, the project is king, says Duayne. “Our whole job is to work as a team. The architect does the design. I figure out costings and if and how it can be built. My job is to inform the team on what they want and the cost and it’s up to the client to tell us what they see value in so we can make adjustments to the project.” “Often we have clients come to us with a design in their head but they don’t understand the cost of things,” he continues. “Lots of people tell us they OCTOBER 2024

want a gold standard kitchen. You educate them on what that’s going to cost and if it takes out too much of their budget, they may choose to go back to a medium level kitchen and spend more money somewhere else in the home.” Duayne also offers this information on social media. He is constantly educating his clients on what it’s like to work with D Pearce Construction. They have had a lot of clients at their initial meeting tell them they’ve been following them on social media for a couple years. “That’s the beauty of having systems and processes in your business. It builds trust and gives clients confidence you’re going to be able to deliver,” says Duayne. “It sets you up as a professional so you get respect and your opinions are valued. That’s why we believe our relationships are so good with our clients. They treat us as professionals.” Duayne has also built excellent relationships with his staff of fourteen. “Our team is most important to us. We’re big on finding out our team’s goals in life so we can reward them and help them reach their goals. We give them an opportunity to grow within our business. This contributes to staff retention because they can see we’re committed to improving them as well as our business. To get the team on the same page and working together on a daily basis is something you have to constantly improve and work on.” Building relationships with subcontractors and suppliers is just as important to Duayne, and historically they have been just as successful, with several of their trades having been with them for 18 years. At the same time, they are also open to THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA

working with new contractors. “We’ve found the more we improve our business, the more we look for new contractors. Our business is only as good as what we accept. If we accept trades and contractors that aren‘t improving their business, it makes it hard for us to show up as professionals if we’re dragging them along all the time. If one of our trades isn’t keeping up with the direction in which we are taking our business, we look for trades that are getting training and coaching and running a professional business. If they’re running a professional business then it makes our business look better,” he says. This attention to collaboration and maintaining quality tradespersons has resulted in a very successful award-winning project in 2024. The Moffat Beach House is a reimagined beach shack on a highly constrained, subtropical coastal site. Subtle nods to the beachside vernacular appear throughout the house—from the front porch to the expansive windows of the upper level. As the first house of its kind to be constructed in Queensland, the project is commended for its use of cross-laminated timber, which required expert coordination to express the timber material and achieve a comfortable, quality environment for its occupants. The build recently won an award at the Australian Architect institute Awards for ‘Residential Architecture – Houses (New).’ The home is also in the running for another award – ‘Best Construction with Timber.’ Platinum Plastering is the trusted partner for architects, builders and developers in the Greater Brisbane region. We take a personal approach to each project and place an emphasis on a collaborative, solutions based process to add value and reliability for our clients. Our scope of works includes: • Metal partitions • Suspended ceilings • Insulation • Internal linings • Fire protective linings • Ornamental cornices and ceiling panels www.platinumplastering.com.au m: 0419 755 833 - Aidan e: admin@platinumplastering.com.au OCTOBER 2024

Moving forward, Duayne Pearce’s vision for his eponymous company is to keep growing. In order to achieve that growth, they intend to keep innovating and getting better. For example, they are always striving to build higher-performing and healthier homes. “We’re very aware of the material we’re building our homes with,” says Duayne. “We’re training and educating ourselves on what we can do better to deal with things like mold and condensation. We’re trying to use 100 per cent recyclable and source sustainable materials.” “I feel that part of the industry is important,” he says. “As builders we have a huge responsibility to reduce waste that goes to landfill. We play a huge part in reducing the use of energy for the planet and the destruction of forests. Our company takes that seriously. We are constantly looking for new ways and alternative products we The best possible product THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA

can offer to our clients to allow us to build homes that aren’t using a lot of chemicals, and we’re giving our clients a healthy environment to live in.” D Pearce Construction also intends to continue refining their systems and processes – which are cutting edge as they are, but Duayne wants to make sure that stays the case. “Our construction business is very successful. It runs itself. We have an incredible team booked with 2.5 years of work ahead of us. That’s all due to developing systems and processes the industry hasn’t seen before. A lot of that is breaking the old-fashioned way the industry operates, bringing in systems and processes that deal with managing client and team expectations, and understanding your team goals and ambitions so you can work with them and give them bonuses and make them feel they are part of something,” he says. “Building-wise we are collaborating to offer new products coming into the industry so we can offer our clients the best possible product we can. We will continue to educate ourselves and our team on building healthier high-performance homes.” When it comes to the other business, Duayne is excited about Quoteeaze and about Live, Life Build. “It’s exciting to see so many young builders, contractors and supervisors spending time and money educating themselves,” says Duayne. “They want to hit the ground running, building good homes and offering good service to their clients. They want to run sustainable, successful and profitable building businesses.” Duayne feels this is an exciting time in the construction industry. “We have such an availability of educational resources. Clients are going to be getting a lot better product, healthier homes, and there will be a lot less insolvencies and bankruptcies in the industry because people understand they can get help.” OCTOBER 2024

For more on what D Pearce Constructions can do for you, and for more on their many award winning builds, visit their website https://dpearceconstructions.com.au THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA

Arki Building Surveyors maintains traditional business values

OCTOBER 2024

Arki Building Surveyors is independently owned building surveying and inspection firm located in Docklands, Melbourne. The company was established in 2009 by directors Romeo Georgiev and Duro Vranjes, who bring more than 40 years of combined industry experience to their roles. Under their leadership, Arki has expanded and diversified over the past 15 years, and their team has become known for their ability to offer expert assistance to all clients in all building regulatory matters. “We take pride in our work and strive to communicate as best as possible with our clients, measuring our success by way of client satisfaction – knowing full well that regulatory knowledge, communication skills and timeliness is the key to enabling a client having a successful project,” Romeo says. Today, Arki Building Surveyors serves an important role in Victoria’s building industry. Their services include Building Permits (all Classes) Residential, Commercial, and Industrial; Mandatory Building Inspections (all Classes); Issuing of Certificates of Final Inspection and Occupancy Permits; Essential Safety Measures (ESM) Audits; and Certification of Illegal Building Works. Most of their work is in the Melbourne area but they also provide state-wide permits and inspections. Their business is 75 per cent residential and 25 per cent commercial retail sector. According to Romeo, their work in both sectors is largely generated by word of mouth and referrals: “We’ve been quite lucky,” says Romeo. “Most of our work is from repeat clients because we provide good service. The business is self-evolving. If you provide good service and are accountable to your clients, the work follows.” THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA

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