Desbuild Inc

Source: Construction Digital

Date :16/09/2007 16:50:07

World class construction

With much of its work done in foreign countries, Desbuild Inc. is able to win global contracts that other firms could only dream of

Written by Lynn Haber & Produced by Sean Bakke

Since its inception in 1993, Desbuild Inc. has grown from a small construction company working primarily on domestic federal government contracts, to a 100-plus person firm winning U.S. government building projects in excess of $25 million per contract.

The Hyattsville, Maryland-based firm has established itself as a top-tier provider of multidisciplinary construction services to the federal government willing to take on business challenges oversees which other companies shy away from. In fact, 40 percent of its business is currently in countries such as Bahrain, Argentina, India, Jamaica, Mexico, and Nepal, to name a few.

This can-do attitude not only helped launch the firm 14 years ago, but it’s what continues to fuel Desbuild’s success.

To date, Desbuild — a $60-$70 million company — has provided construction services to the U.S. Department of State, Department of the Air Force, Department of the Navy, General Services Administration, National Institutes of Health, National Archives and Records Administration, as well as agencies in various state and local governments.

Founded by four friends in 1993, Desbuild today is owned by Ananth Badrinath and Prakash Hosadurga, who early on bought out the other two partners. Both graduates with degrees in civil engineering, with specialization in construction management from Catholic University of America, WDC, Badrinath and Hosadurga had the vision to start their own company rather than work for someone else.

With the support, encouragement and subcontracts of their employer, Vernon Smith III of Capitol Contractors, also based in Maryland, Desbuild was able to jumpstart their company.

“We were familiar with the opportunity and knew we could run our own business,” says Badrinath.

Between 1993 and 1995, most of Desbuild’s work was subcontracted and construction managed by the firm. The company slowly hired in-house tradesmen such as carpenters mechanics and roofers to handle interior finish work, roofing and waterproofing, for example. Crews for trade specialties such as mechanical, electrical and plumbing were subcontracted.

Company revenue hovered around $4 million during the early years and then in 1997 business started picking up. At that time, Desbuild added design/build services to its portfolio. The broader services offering gave the company more control of projects, the ability to complete projects in a shorter time period as well as increased revenue potential. Desbuild now has more than 30 design/build projects under its belt.

What differentiates Desbuild from its competitors, according to Hosadurga, is the company’s attention to detail and management responsibility for the work it takes.

“Our goal is to provide cost-effective quality service,” he says.

In 1999, 2000, and 2002, Desbuild was awarded the Small Business Association’s Administrator Award for Excellence, recognizing the company’s outstanding performance in satisfying the needs of the Federal procurement system.

For nine years — from 1997 to 2006 — Desbuild was a Small Business Administration (SBA) 8(a) certified minority owned and operated company. The construction firm graduated from the program 18 months ago. According to the SBA, the program is designed to help small disadvantaged businesses compete in the American economy, access the federal procurement market, and be successful for the future.

With company growth increasing by five percent annually to approximately $20,000,000 per year since 1993, Desbuild has been a model student of the SBA 8(a) program.

It was the company’s can-do attitude that helped Desbuild land its first international project in 2000. Both born in India, Badrinath and Hosadurga bid on a U.S. federal government contract based in India. The comfort level of working in their home country, combined with their experience in the U.S., spelled success for Desbuild and opened up a new channel for business for the company.

Many competitors for U.S.-based federal contracts don’t compete for overseas work due to the complexity of the work

“The biggest challenge is materials logistics and meeting time deadlines,” says Badrinath.

The bulk of materials used in international projects are shipped via freight from the U.S. Another challenge is finding the right kind of crew to do the job.

While Desbuild has a crew that works on international contracts it often subcontracts work within the country.

“Language can be a barrier at times and it’s important to make sure the workers understand what they’re being told to do,” he says.

Both education and training are an important part of the company’s philosophy. Fifteen of Desbuild’s 35 project managers have a graduate or post-graduate engineering degree — a rarity for a company of its size, according the company’s director. However, having quality management requires a strong understanding of construction which is required for upper level positions. Many mid-level managers have in excess of 20 years work experience.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers quality assurance certification and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) safety training and certification are mandatory and on-going for Desbuild employees.

The company’s employees also keep up-to-date on the latest building materials and products, as well as information technology that help them do their jobs.

Several years ago, Desbuild hired a full-time IT manager to maintain the computing hardware and software infrastructure. Employees use desktop and laptop computers and traditional construction industry software applications for project management, scheduling, estimating and cost management.

Desbuild has currently a state of the art computer system which caters to accounting and project management. Virtual private networks are in place for remote log-in for project managers and senior executives.

Steering Desbuild’s ship are the company’s two founders. The director of international operations and the company’s domestic general manager report to top management. Field supervisors, who work at the project sites to ensure that work is performed as specified, report to project managers. Project managers, who handle a set of projects simultaneously, depending on the complexity and of scope of individual projects, report to senior project managers.

Desbuild has 35 management employees and 75 staff consisting of field supervisors, workers and crews.

As the company continues to grow, finding experienced and educated managers has become more of a challenge. Whereas in the past it could take a couple of weeks to find the right people for management, positions today can take months to fill.

“There’s a great demand for qualified civil engineers and construction managers and, since about 2000, not enough candidates,” says Hosadurga. There’s also a shortage of job candidates with experience.

For Desbuild, this shortage of engineer’s means that it takes longer to fill key positions and new hires require more training and being brought up through the ranks.

All in all, however, the future appears bright for Desbuild. Competing solely in the unrestricted market since graduating the 8(a) program, the experienced constructed firm faces fewer competitors as it bids on larger federal government contracts and still fewer as it competes on federal contracts for international work.