Adam’s Project Management & Construction Limited (APM) was founded in 2001 by Managing Director Imtiyaz Adam. The Trinidadian company aims to be one of the leading Project Management & Construction Companies in the Caribbean, by treating quality and safety with equal value, both for their clients and their employees. A company that looks after these two things will have a positive experience from both sides of the fence – a fence that Imtiyaz has been on both sides of himself, having worked as a civil engineer in the Caribbean for over two decades before founding his company.
APM is a versatile company, taking on challenges across Trinidad and Tobago in a broad spectrum of fields. Their construction portfolio covers projects in health, industrial, educational and hospitality venues, as well as office space and residential builds. They have even worked on sports and recreation projects, all the way through to religious and cultural sites. As the company say themselves, “With over a decade of experience, our proficiency extends to virtually every commercial construction market.”
Trinidad and Tobago are small but ever-active islands, with plenty of competition jostling for position in the heavy industries – especially when it comes to the pursuit of progress through new construction projects. APM are confident in their position, however; “With an emphasis on teamwork, planning and innovative services, we focus on adding value to the bottom line of every project. Strong leadership, forward-thinking management and application of the latest technologies have propelled us into our hard-won position as one of the nation’s preeminent construction services firms.”
Still at the helm of this confident vessel is Mr Adams, who approaches APM’s various briefs and challenges with “a supporting and collaborative style”. This professional yet personal touch allows clients to feel that they are in safe hands, and it’s kept them coming back; 80% of APM’s clients come back to them after the fact with repeat business. This confidence amongst their clientele has allowed the once-small company to rise higher with every job, growing the size of its reputation, team and resources, and therefore also the contracts it can take on. To date, the company’s portfolio of completed work totals over $1 billion worth of investment.
When high-value projects are at stake, it is more important than ever to look before you leap. Whilst also a construction company, much of APM’s most crucial work happens before the plans leave the drawing board: as they explain, “The greatest opportunities to affect project outcomes occur early in the design process. We are dedicated to supporting the client and architect/engineer with the broad expertise of our project planning team during this process, by working together in a collaborative, team-based approach.”
Project planning does not simply mean an assessment of how best a facility’s construction should be carried out – it also means making sure that their client is aware of exactly what they are about to build, and that this is what they want from their investment: “By emphasizing ‘the true cost of ownership’ of a facility over its life, we commit resources and tools that include value analysis, life-cycle costing, owning and operating cost modelling, phase specific constructability and maintainability reviews, and many other services by our resource experts. This provides the project team with the maximum opportunity for informed and deliberate decision-making during the design process.”
This process requires close collaboration with not only the client, but their architect, and any other construction teams, engineers and consultants. They work with these individuals to carry out a stringent and thorough series of checks and studies, including existing conditions surveys; cost modelling; value, operational and life-cycle analysis; scheduling and communication; cash flow and health, safety and environmental plans, to still name but a few areas. This thorough preparation allows a level of surety and cohesion necessary on any collaborative build, but especially one with high investments in the balance. APM are the middle man, but instead of complicating communication, they are the hub that simplifies it, not only passing information between parties, but running that information between all the checks needed to make sure the project is being planned and going ahead as it should.
Whilst APM carries many responsibilities on a build, the most key area for both parties is safety. From electrical works to heavy machinery to heights, there are numerous hazards on a construction site, and keeping personnel safe requires strict and thoughtful safety procedures from the equipment used to the training and attitude of every single member of staff.
“Employees are our most important asset, and their safety is our prime concern.” Of course, reliable safety measures are not only best for APM’s employees but are also smart business: “It’s no coincidence that good safety practices are also good business practices. A strong safety record translates into lower insurance rates, which helps us be more competitive in the marketplace, passing savings onto clients and creating more opportunities for all.”
APM’s safety programme is a detailed one, including within its steps and incentives several safety orientation and training programs, daily and weekly safety meetings and discussions, random safety inspections and even employee safety incentive programs to encourage all employees to work carefully together to achieve the company’s Zero Injuries Goal.
Staff are also carefully training to ensure that they can achieve and maintain the very best quality on every build. “Companywide meetings are an essential part of our quality management and training programs. They include formal training, invited speakers on innovative construction products and methods, staff presentations on current projects which highlight unique installations; or other issues with potential quality impact and how they were successfully managed, and an open forum to promote general quality discussion, questions and feedback…We promote ongoing staff development across a broad range of project management responsibilities, including: project planning, construction quality, risk management, change management, cost effectiveness and safety.”
However, one of APM’s fastest-growing business areas is not in the planning or even the construction of a project at all, but in steel fabrication. Mr. Adam considers steel fabrication and erection to be one of the company’s best and most essential areas, and therefore is eager to invest heavily in its growth. To support rising demand from their clients APM recently constructed a 16,000 square foot building to house this division, decked out with sate of the art equipment and topped off through the purchase of two cranes for the purpose of steel erection.
Expanding in this direction makes APM a double, if not triple threat, covering not only project management and construction, but even providing the materials that form a build’s backbone. Control over this resource may have greater overheads than project planning, but the costs it saves the company, and the extra revenue it brings them from their clients, is an intelligent move. Now that the new facility is in place, we look forward to keeping an eye on AMP, to see what area of the market they grow to corner next.
