Bayley Construction

Source: Construction Digital

Date :5/8/2008 5:46:33 AM

Family owned since it was founded in 1963, Bayley Construction has learnt that looking after your people can yield some impressive results; 45 years on, familiarity and success are walking hand-in-hand

Written by Ben O’Hanlon and Produced by Tim Holsinger

Based in Seattle, WA, Bayley Construction serves clients across the length of Western America. Its portfolio of work amounts to a combined project value in excess of $3 billion and spans 19 states. This includes the soon to be completed $140 million Anaheim Garden Walk project. The site, which includes entertainment, retail, dining and parking facilities, is located at the Disneyland Resort in California. Aside from entertainment, projects span a wide range of sectors, from retail to education and transit.

Since 1988, ultimate responsibility for these projects has rested with second generation president and CEO Ron Bayley. Ron began his career at the company as a field laborer four years after it was founded and hasn’t looked back since. Warren Johnson, Vice President of Business Development at Bayley, says this family trait has given rise to a bold business approach and subsequent competitive gains: “It’s Ron’s name above the door and a lot of the time decisions are made differently because of that. We are more driven on relationship and doing a good job so that we can have repeat business, than on maximizing profit.”

System Solutions

With a background in construction management, Johnson joined Bayley in 1999 as a project manager. He now oversees the business development and marketing functions for the company’s North West division. The industry has changed a lot over the last decade, he says: “Communications and the speed of communications have improved a lot with technology. We now have to actively take extra time to sit down and think about the detail or risk overlooking something in the early project stages.”

Bayley’s new Building Information Management (BIM) system is an example of how far construction technology has come. This is used to help resolve potential problems at a design stage, therefore saving time and resources later. The software will connect different aspects of a project (from mechanical and structural modeling to electrical systems) to flush out any potential ‘collisions’.

From the client’s side it can also be used to plan and model the building, allowing them to get an impression of the final structure and even to help in the process of selecting interior designs. Post-construction, BIM technology can be used to run a maintenance schedule, flag maintenance issues, and provide a centralized platform for building control. It gives easy access to design plans for subsequent remodeling, renovation or extension of the building.

Movement in the Markets

This is expected to prove a popular service, therefore, with clients who plan to retain control of the asset in the long term after construction. In this respect there might be a reasonable demand from Bayley’s public sector client base, which supplies up to 15 percent of its work.

The remaining 85-90 percent of the company’s projects are completed for the private sector. Johnson says that a mix is important for stability: “The private sector has been going well for the past three to four years so we’ve been doing a lot of negotiated work. If it dries up then we can look more to the public sector to bid on tenders. It’s important to have that option.”

This flexibility could prove valuable in helping weather the current financial climate. Like other industries, construction has been hit hard by the financial downturn. With banks tightening up, private developers are now finding it harder to finance projects and the ripple effect is being felt. Aside from funding issues, there’s less incentive to build; rising living costs for consumers have hit retailers’ profits, for example, reducing the possibilities for development. “The sector is turning from rapid growth to the edge of recession, so everybody’s a little bit more cautious,” says Johnson.

The People Chain

For all the uncertainty, there’s a feeling that Bayley can successfully ride the storm due to its core values – specifically, by looking after its people. Johnson says that being family-owned has helped create a strong bond with the company’s employees: “We’ve got people who have been working here for 20 to 30 years. It’s not just a big corporate entity that’s driven by numbers, there’s a real family feel.”

Many of these employees are recruited from local colleges, often working as interns and later joining permanently after graduation. This provides a steady supply of talented individuals with fresh perspectives who are open to the company’s values and unique philosophies. Once recruited, there’s a commitment to long-term development against these values; about 15 employees are LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified and there are plans to grow that number.

Such a strong employee base helps Bayley to offer excellent service to those further along the chain. “We like to develop repeat business based on performance,” says Johnson. “We understand that you have to change the way you do business to match different customer needs on a project.” There’s also a focus on developing strong relationships with sub-contractors; particularly important as around 70 percent of Bayley’s work is completed externally.

This attitude has put Bayley in a strong competitive position and it’s hoping to build on this in the future by diversifying its portfolio, specifically increasing work in the medical and hospitality fields. There’s already considerable precedent for both. Extension to the University of Washington Medical Centre, for example, involved removing and replacing the existing skin and adding three new floors on top (amounting to 42,000 sq ft), all whilst the centre remained open.

Equally impressive, construction of the Aladdin Casino in Las Vegas, NV included a 40-story, 2,600 room hotel over a 32 acre site. It seems that this unique blend of industry experience, reputation and old-fashioned family values will help secure a competitive position for generations to come.

Click here to view the corporate brochure on Bayley Construction