Business North November 2021

80 | Elite Passive Fire CONTRACTNG Demand soars for Passive Fire business T Sue Russell Jeremy Tiumalu and Juanita Fuatavai operate Auckland business Elite Passive Fire. J eremy Tiumalu and Juanita Fuatavai own and operate Auckland-based Elite Passive Fire, a company providing a raft of services to the construction sector, developers and existing building owners. Life is busy for the couple with just a small but effective team to assist Jeremy out in the field, while Juanita, juggles mothering three small children and taking care of all the impor- tant administrative, project management, hu- man-resources and financial responsibilities. Together, they make a great team, bring- ing years of experience and skills into their business. Jeremy is one of only a few fully industry qualified Passive Fire consultants and installers, while Juanita, has a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Finance and a Master of Business Management. “After Jeremy had been in the industry for about six months, we talked about eventually wanting to start our own company. We built up a good nest-egg over the next three years which helped us set up the company in 2019 and kept us afloat in the early days of the business. We did a lot of the important back- ground work so that when we were ready to operate we had all our systems in place. “ Once the decision was made to focus solely on their own company, work started coming in from all directions. The Passive Fire industry is still in its infancy stages in New Zealand and Juanita says pioneering in this sector when there isn’t a large amount of information read- ily available has been one of the challenges they have faced. “We’re very fortunate in that Jeremy has the credentials and years of experience in the science of Passive Fire protection to help clients understand what it is all about.” Juanita explains. Jeremy was the third person in New Zealand to gain the NZ Certificate in Passive Fire Instal- lation qualification under a new apprentice- ship scheme that was commissioned in 2019. “It is important to both Jeremy and I that all our work is compliant and a high level of installation is maintained. We do our best to ensure our installers are well trained and qualified. Each installer we bring into the busi- ness has either completed the qualification or is currently enrolled. Our company is only as good as its staff, so it is vital that we invest in our installers and encourage them to continue to upskill and keep up to date with industry changes.” Once Elite Passive Fire completed its first projects, the demand for their services grew and a huge proportion has been repeat work from satisfied clients. Juanita explains that retaining existing clients is a lot easier than continuously searching for new ones. “It is crucial for us to ensure our clients have a positive experience from start to end, mean- ing good communication and a high level of compliant solutions are installed.” Elite Passive Fire provides a suite of servic- es, offering an end-to-end Passive Fire consul- tancy, design and installation experience for clients. “We also specialise in remedial work on old buildings which often require passive fire protection in order to gain its Building WOF or are being revitalised into new uses, such as apartment blocks and retail. Retrofitting forms one of our core activities.” Juanita says Jeremy is hugely passionate about safety of buildings and of people and they intend to grow the business organically, to ensure the high standards they have set for themselves and their team continue to be delivered to clients. As a professional Passive Fire business, the company is a member of the Fire Pro- tection Association of NZ, SiteSafe, SiteWise, Pacific Business Trust and Amotai. The Fire Protection Assn have monthly meetings and a register of certified products used for the solutions. Juanita says she’s pleased to see the Association is looking toward a tiered membership structure, separating out those with the skills and qualifications and giving these businesses the status, they deserve. “We engage with our clients in work that is incredibly important, ensuring their buildings and the people living and working inside them are protected.” (09) 444 5300 | admin@citywideelectrical.co.nz | www.citywideelectrical.co.nz Industrial, Commercial, Domestic, Electrical Installation & Maintenance Data & Communications, Switchboard Design & Manufacture PO Box 317082, Hobsonville, 0664 CITYWIDE ELECTRICAL www.blacksteel.co.nz info@blacksteel.co.nz 0800 2 STEEL Residential Structural Steel Fabrication Proudly SFC3 Certified Proudly associated with Elite Passive Fire Ltd ON SITE GETS IT RIGHT Getting it right the first time! With over 25 years in the construction industry, the team at Firestop Centre are your go-to guys for fire protection products. We have 200+ fire-stopping systems and pride ourselves on getting it right the first time. Firestop Centre brings together Passive Fire Protection products from a range of manufacturers and shows in one easy process all the compliant systems that will work for your particular situation. Greg Hand (Director) 027 474 7132 greg@firestopcentre.co.nz Sunny Rajak (Accounts & Operations Manager) 027 407 0059 sunny@firestopcentre.co.nz firestopcentre.co.nz | 09 483 4000 | info@firestopcentre.co.nz