Pascale Construction: Built to Last

One of the most trusted names in the construction business in South Australia, Pascale Construction was established in 1982 and is today a leader in the field. It is run by Fred Pascale, Managing Director, and Richard Zanchette, Director, who believe that high quality workmanship and an unwavering focus on the client’s requirements are the reasons for their success. Strict adherence to this management philosophy has resulted in the company’s impressive record of completed projects.

In the words of Fred Pascale, “The bottom line in the construction industry is that the client wants to know who they are dealing with and they want to see you in person and see your actual performance. Your last few projects will be the test of whether they will be willing to deal with you on the next one.”

Growth over the years

The company specialised in masonry and from 1982 onwards had been providing these services to the South Australian market. With the passage of time Pascale Construction built up a team of expert tradesmen with unique skills who were able to deliver detailed workmanship in complex styles. Today the company is a market leader in this field and has won a number of awards in recognition of its skill and craftsmanship.

Fred Pascale describes the early years of the company and its growth, “I wanted to serve the commercial market so in 1992 I started to serve the masonry needs of the commercial building market. I wanted to do it better than anyone else and in a more professional way. I saw that the existing standards could be improved. So we started the business and developed it and I think it went well and our customer base increased dramatically over the years. In 1996 we had about 45 brick layers and labourers working for us in our team and things were going quite well.”

Pascale Construction’s reputation grew over the years as satisfied clients spread the word about the company’s ability to deliver unparalleled building quality on time and within budget. Decades of accumulated experience has given the company the ability to meet the most stringent demands set by its clients. As a result of this, Pascale Construction diversified and started executing higher value projects. It now handles the most complex assignments with ease and exceeds the expectations of its customers time and again.

Commenting on the company’s decision to broaden its portfolio, Fred Pascale says, “We have diversified quite dramatically over the years but initially we had 15 office staff and 20 tradesmen and labourers on site. This grew to about 45 in the mid 80’s to late 80’s when things started to pick up quite a bit. In 1991-92 there was a bit of a recession and when pre-cast came into the scene that also took a lot of the masonry and brickwork out of the projects. A lot of the projects that used to be brickwork and blockwork were designed in pre-cast”.

The company treated the slowdown in the 1990’s as an opportunity and diversified into building projects. Its planning and execution skills were put to good use and with each completed job, its reputation grew and resulted in more orders.

Fred Pascale describes the growth of the company, “Because of the recession in the early 90’s I diversified into commercial construction. From a small enterprise in commercial construction we have now grown to a situation where we have about 35 people employed plus the sub-contractors. Our current turnover is about $35 million. Most of our projects are in the $5 to $15 million bracket with one or two projects in the $10 million range and two or three in the $4 to 7 million range.

At the moment we have got a construction division which concentrates on commercial construction projects. Currently we are finishing up a medical centre. We have also completed the Kensington special school project and another special school at Elizabeth.”

An impressive list of completed projects

One of the most noteworthy accomplishments of Pascale Construction is the completion of the prestigious Gateway to Adelaide project. This assignment required extensive masonry work and a “Master Mason” was placed on site at all times during construction. The company’s reputation was further enhanced as the project necessitated the dismantling of numerous stone and brick walls and their reconstruction at some distance. The company was awarded the RAIA Commendation for Art and Architecture for this project.

Another exceptional achievement of the company is the execution of the iconic St Ignatius Chapel. The oval shaped two storey chapel is clad in red bricks integrated with special stone features.

The company allocates dedicated staff for each project to ensure that focus is maintained and every aspect of the on-going work is monitored closely. Fred Pascale explains, “In all our projects we have a person on the ground full-time. He is on-site and there are usually two persons in the office who are dedicated to that project – a Project Manager and a Contract Administrator.”

The company has won a number of awards in recognition of its work. It was declared the winner of the MBA Building Excellence Award in 2013 for the Magill Road Office Building Stepney. In 2012 Pascale Construction received this same award for the James Brown Memorial Trust Campbelltown.

Pascale Construction has built up its reputation by completing a number of projects in the health, education, commercial, residential and industrial sectors. Over a period of years it has become the construction company of choice in South Australia and its services are in great demand.

The company’s unflinching resolve to maintain the highest quality and its practice of exceeding its own benchmarks has given it an unbeatable edge in the construction industry. Fred Pascale explains the company’s core beliefs, “Over the years there has been an improvement in our quality and in our customer relations. These have been the two biggest improvements and of course that has resulted in turnover increases.”

Use of technology

As the company grew it realised that if it was to maintain the highest level of client service and its capabilities in project execution, it required to use computerisation and the appropriate software to meet its goals. Towards this end it makes extensive use of MasterHUB and BidContender, both of which are software applications that greatly enhance the productivity of Pascale Construction.

In the words of Fred Pascale, “All our site people have laptops on site. We implement systems like MasterHUB, a project control software which is virtually live. As soon as something happens on site, an incident or accident, or whoever turns up on site, as soon as the site manager enters the information everyone within the organisation that has got the system can see it. So that’s a real plus. We have got all the standard procedures on that system and everyone whether you are on-site or in the office or wherever you are-go in there and see and view all the standard forms and all the standard procedures.

We also use BidContender a tendering information software network whereby we can get prices from our sub contractors instead of contacting each of them individually asking them for quotes. BidContender can send up to a 100 subcontractors all the documentation in a matter of minutes and request for a quote.”

Suppliers and sub-contractors

Over the years the company has built up a very strong relationship with its suppliers and sub-contractors. In fact many of them have been with Pascale Construction for 30 years or more. The most important of them are Austral Bricks, Bianco Building Suppliers, Bianco Reinforcing, Newton Building and Landscape Supplies, Holcim Concrete and Onesteel Reinforcing.

On any one project the number of sub-contractors involved can be very high and it is not uncommon for 90 to 100 to be working on a single site at different points of time. Pascale Construction has a policy of using the same three or four from each trade, but adding up the various activities required in a construction project, the total number of sub-contractors to be monitored at any time is formidable.

The company attributes a large portion of its success to the strong relationship that it enjoys with its suppliers and sub-contractors. Fred Pascale explains, “Our suppliers are very important and so are our trade contractors. We have got good long-term relationships with our trade contractors and they are a very significant factor for us. We have a reputation of paying the accounts on time and they seem to participate by looking after us when it is needed.”

Prospects

Pascale Construction has established itself as a company of repute which delivers quality and on-time performance as a matter of course. Its growth over the years and ability to turn adversity into advantage has placed it among the top rung of construction companies in South Australia.

The greatest strength of the company is its forward thinking management which has embraced new technology to expand its business and provide high quality construction to its clients.

Pascale Construction is now concentrating on consolidating its growth and doing high value projects of $10 million or more. The brand that it has built for itself signifies trust and confidence, both with its clients and sub-contractors. It is poised to capitalize on these strengths and take the business to greater heights.