| 59 T T Virginia Wright Concrete specialists expanding their skills Qualico Construction’s main clients include some of New Zealand’s top construction companies, such as Naylor Love, CMP Construction and Brosnan Construction. Qualico Construction “It’s a pre-cast element and is craned in like precast concrete panels, then finished off by carpenters who do all the connections. The biggest challenge is managing the moisture content of the timber.” CONSTRUCTION Auckland company Qualico Construction was established two years ago by site engineer Bing Loh and site manager Jason Li, two men highly experienced in concrete structures, who had worked for the same subcontracting company 10 years earlier. Between them, concrete subcontractors Bing and Jason are the interface between the main contractor and the team responsible for delivering the structure as per the design. Qualico Construction’s main clients include some of New Zealand’s top construction companies, such as Naylor Love, CMP Construction and Brosnan Construction, who engage them to do the core concrete or CLT structure ready for the next round of subcontractors to do the timber framing, cladding services, fit-out and so on. They recently completed their first high-rise CLT (cross laminated timber) structure for CMP Construction. Bing had previously been engaged by CMP to review the CLT shop drawings, so it was a natural progression for them to award Qualico the job once he and Jason were out on their own. “When I reviewed the building, I got to know the structure of the building well. We’d like to do more work in this area,” says Bing. It’s an area they see as being the potential future of the building industry, given its green star status and relatively low carbon-emission profile relative to concrete. In the meantime, they’ve got plenty of work managing their team of 35, including five leading hands, five site managers, 20 qualified carpenters and five apprentices. Jobs vary from the concrete structure for Pompallier Apartments with two levels of parking/basement below ground beneath five floors of apartments in Ponsonby, to providing the concrete foundations for Naylor Love, who are contracted to build the first special school in central Auckland, with seven buildings and a swimming school. For this project, they have poured around 2000 cubic metres of concrete over the last seven months, with six of the seven buildings completed and an expected handover scheduled for June. The school aims to open next year. Qualico Construction’s next job for CMP Construction is a CLT structure, a green star care facility inside a retirement village, giving Qualico the chance to expand their experience working with timber with the particular challenges it entails. “It’s a pre-cast element and is craned in like pre-cast concrete panels, then finished off by carpenters who do all the connections. “The biggest challenge is managing the moisture content of the timber,” explains Bing. An essential part of working with CLT is avoiding water getting into the timber, keeping it below a certain moisture level throughout the structure’s construction until it’s protected by the roof and cladding, which are carefully designed to fully protect the building’s internal structure. It’s no mean feat in Auckland’s unpredictable weather. When it rains, building stops and the team concentrates on keeping the timber dry by vacuuming any water off the floor and taping over all the exposed joints, and protecting the top of any walls not yet covered, while CMP does the same with any sides that are unprotected. It seems to work as Bing confirms: “We’ve never had any moisture-level problems with the timber.” Bing and Jason keep their clients front of mind as they concentrate on delivering top-quality work. “Thanks to all our clients for trusting Qualico with these opportunities,” says Bing. Whether it’s CLT or concrete, steel or timber framing, or working with pre-cast concrete, they monitor every site daily, liaising closely with the main contractors and staff, and solving the inevitable problems that occur on a construction site with minimal fuss. They are looking forward to taking their business to the next level, doing more highrise and complicated structures to their signature high standard. Proudly supporting Qualico Construction 0800 800 611 | stevenson.co.nz
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