The Construction Business
Hi Mass.
Hi Steve.
So how's it going today? Have you got a few job sites on the go?
Yes, at the moment we have two jobs going: one in West Vancouver and one in Burnaby.
These are what? Single-family homes?
Single-family homes. Both of them - custom.
Ok. What state of construction are they at right now, what stage are they at?
The one home in Burnaby is at painting stage. We finished drywall; we're painting and some interior finishing. And the one in West Vancouver is just pre-insulation. Final systems being finished up.
What sort of trades do you have on the sites?
In Burnaby we have the painters, the finishers and the floor layers. And in West Vancouver we're just finishing up the electrical at the moment. Oh yeah. So you just have the electrician working on his own?
The electrician, actually a few people exterior working on some retaining walls and some of the siding issues.
By the way, how was your weekend?
Weekend was very good, thank you.
Really, what did you do on the weekend?
It was really sunny. I spent time with the family. We went to a couple hockey games and some skating.
Hockey games, like, as in the pros?
The kids played.
So how are the kids doing in hockey?
They are doing really well. Nicholas is doing well. He just doesn't care to play but he's doing well, a good skater, he's a very good skater. Well, that's the key for sure. So now do you find here in Vancouver that the seasons affect the work at all? Seasons of the year.
There's not a dramatic impact on it. Obviously starting the end of spring is a good time, starting later in the year impacts you. It slows you down a bit, but doesn't completely stop you. Later in the year you mean like getting into the winter?
Yes. If you were to start a job, as I often did, in the beginning of December, it slows you down a bit because the first little while you're running into a lot of the weather problems which you need the better weather to make it easier. Tell me, how big a deal is it trying to get permits from the different municipalities?
Depending on where we are, the worst one is District of North Vancouver. West Van is probably up there. West Van is quite difficult. They always say they're 4 to 5 weeks, and they always run into 9 to 12 weeks. So that becomes a bit of a problem. Burnaby is probably half way. Vancouver is the best at it; they're really organized on how to give you permits. Really. I wonder why? You'd think it's the same process everywhere. Maybe sheer volume. Vancouver puts a lot of building permits through so they're set up a bit better to handle it. Whereas somewhere like West Vancouver limit so the inspectors are doing their own plan checking. In Vancouver they actually have somebody plan-checking, somebody separate making appointments. It's all completely separated to give us a bit more time to do the items. Tell me, with all the different trades you deal with, is language ever an issue? Do you ever find trades who have trouble with English?
Yes, the communication gap is sometimes a problem. More so maybe between the client and some of the trades at times. I guess myself dealing with them I've learned to discuss issues with them and it's not difficult to get your point across. Do you find that you have trades of all different origins working on your sites?
A good part; pretty well everywhere. You find the same trades are doing the same types of jobs.
How do you mean?
As in Italian rockwork and tile. And Croatian painters and laying carpets. Polish hardwood and flooring guys. It's common. Isn't that interesting? They tend to specialize in different trades.
Very much so.
Very much so.
And typically I guess your day begins at 7:30 or 8:00 on the site? Some of the trades are there pretty early?
Depends on the time of the year. Wintertime, 8:00 it's still dark, so we get a bit of a later start in the winter, but generally through the year about 7:00 on site. 7:30, people are working at 7:30 until about 4:30 or 5:00.
And I guess all the trades pretty well get along with each other, help each other, and cover for each other. Is there good cooperation that way?
There's really good cooperation. A lot of the guys over the years, I've dealt with the same guys so they learn to take care of each other's problems for the most part. The occasional glitch in that system but for the most part it's pretty good. Well that's very interesting, and do the customers tend to come to the building site while you're building? Pretty well all of them. The one house in Burnaby they're there everyday, even 2 times a day - it's dependent on their schedule. West Vancouver, he comes out 2 or 3 times a week.
What about, now what was I going to say? What about the inspectors? Is that a bit of a problem? The inspectors, how good are they?
The problem we have with inspectors is they're very subjective. They can be too opinionated so they can twist items the way they want. There's a clear-cut definition but they seem to sway into whatever they feel like saying and deciding. So we have some problems although my relationship is pretty good with the inspectors. So, we learn to understand what the inspector wants and sort of accommodate.
It's very important then to get to know the inspector and understand where he's coming from? Very much so.
We are actually dealing with new projects, which we will be dealing with out of town, our general idea is before even starting getting to know the inspector and know what they're going to look for. So it's really important. Would you say that getting to know the inspector is more important than necessarily getting to know the people at City Hall?
Yes. A lot more important. The inspector has the final say in all of it. They will be on site. Anybody at City Hall will be passing your plans. Thereafter on site it's the inspector coming out to approve or not approve what you're doing. So, have you got any plans for holidays in the immediate future? Skiing?
Nothing planned. Ski weekend hopefully, a day or so, in the next month.
How's the golf? Have you been playing any at all?
No golf yet. We'll start into April when it gets a bit better. Good. Okay. Thank you very much Mass.
You're very welcome.
