dura

Australian Construction Focus

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Australian Construction Focus

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ver the last hundred and sixty five years, the Dura family of Holland has been creating a construction empire based on a conservative philosophy and work ethic. Originally established in 1950, Dura Constructions Australia stays true to its conservative roots. In fact, it was due to these guiding principles that the Australian branch of Dura Constructions was able to rise up in the early 1990s to buy out full ownership of its branch from Dura International.

“It’s a quite simple philosophy, based on my experience, that ultimately all of us – me, you, everyone – we work very hard for one purpose . . . we work for our loved ones, our family,” Richard Khor, Director and Proprietor of Dura Constructions Australia, explains. “What we’re trying to encourage . . . it’s difficult in the construction industry, because you have long hours and time constraints, but our basic philosophy is to give a good, effective day’s work and then be able to spend the evenings and weekends

relaxing with our loved ones.”

“As much as possible, our direction is to work five days a week, but on some projects, you have to work six days. We always allocate the staff who wants to work the additional time to do work on an overtime basis.”

With an office staff of approximately ten Contract and Project Managers, Estimators and Accountants and an on-site staff that

“It’s a quite simple philosophy, based on my experience, that ultimately all of us – me, you, everyone – we work very hard for one purpose . . . we work for our loved ones, our family,” -Richard Khor, Director and Proprietor of Dura Constructions Australia

Australian Construction Focus

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Workforce Extensions Mt Waverley values its longstanding relationship with Dura Constructions.

We supply quality staff to both commercial and domestic sites including: Labourers

Trade Assistants

Demolition Workers

Carpenters

All Trades People Make the right call today and contact Les or Klara on:

(03) 9802 1533

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Australian Construction Focus

varies from twenty-five to thirty, Mr Khor’s management approach is one of equality and communication. “Communication is very important in every industry. It is in the way you treat your staff and to be able to have that same level of communication. It’s not, ‘I’m the boss, you’re the worker; I tell you how to do it.’ It’s to have that exchange of ideas, and listen to even the labourer.

Listen. Because they are specialised in their area, they can do things much quicker than people like me, sitting in the office.

They know how it should be done. So if one is prepared to listen, and have the rapport across the board, whether it’s with your staff member/labourer or your subcontractors, then I think already it’s a right move for any company.”

Mr Khor’s approach was nurtured by his own experience within Dura Constructions. Starting out with the company as a Site Engineer, he worked his way up to become a Construction Director and ultimately the company Proprietor. Mr Khor appreciates the importance of every member of his team and indeed, it shows; many of his employees have been with the company for over twenty years.

This same appreciation carries through in the way Dura Constructions works together with architects, contractors and clients in the field. “We try not to have any conflicts with consultants because that can cause problems for builders as well because they then will have unknowingly overstepped the boundaries and upset the architects or consultants. So we work closely with them and convey our technical experience to them . . . [it requires] a lot of communicating and sensitive PR work not to overstep the boundaries.”

As a full-service construction company, Dura Constructions is often called upon to carry out any manner of responsibilities and roles for a project, from entrepreneurial, research, management, financial, operational, to plant and labour.

air, land, and waterway pollutants caused by the construction industry. Additionally, Dura Constructions’ staff work with clients on site to suggest ways of maintaining or enhancing the natural environment of each build site. Frequently, trees and topsoil native to the site can be saved and can actually “Whilst we have the expertise, not all of it is enhance the completed project. called up concurrently,” Mr Khor explains.

“On the technical side, we will provide cli- A common problem in the construction ents with some ideas on the cost-effective process is the contamination of groundwaway of doing the project.” The diverse ter, especially when digging out basements. company may be called upon to undertake Dura Constructions offers a variety of serfeasibility studies for one project or sim- vices to meet this need, including water ply to carry out the actual construction of testing and monitoring, as well as enhanced another, but always, Dura Constructions’ construction designs which it may offer to approach is of an equal commitment to clients. ensuring the customer is pleased with the results, and that each and every job is com- Many of the completed with careful attention to detail and pany’s recent projquality standards. “How you finish the job ects have been part is quite critical . . . not just that you finish, of the Federal Govbut also that you have no defects.” ernment’s stimulus plan - in particular, Another aspect of Dura Constructions a number of schools which is somewhat unique within Austra- which have been relia’s construction industry is its financial purposed into “super stability, which it ensures with strict fiscal schools”. Dura also conservatism. Operating with a positive undertakes a variety cash flow and no debt, Dura Constructions of other projects, ofis confident that it may weather any finan- ten with the Federal cial storms. Because of its strong finances, Government, such Dura has become a builder of choice for as a high-security many contractors and consultants as it is a munitions factory, reliable and respected company. a research lab, and recently, nursing “Also, very important, you have to treat your homes and council subcontractors as you would yourself . . . So works. over the years, once you establish that rap- While Dura Conport and trust, then it makes it easier to get structions traditionthat additional discount from your suppliers ally works on instiand subcontractors.” tutional projects, it also has completed Dura Constructions also has a keen inter- a number of projects est in environmental conservancy. Through such as housing with a systematic approach to recycling and re- no outside financing. source reuse, Dura Constructions is consis- A recent project intently working toward a steady decrease in volved building ap-

proximately twenty housing units in Mount Waverley.

“We’ve got a good team that’s committed to what they’re doing,” says Mr Khor. “So with that commitment of the staff, I believe that the company will go from strength to strength and not be too ambitious, to do what we are capable of doing and not to over-extend.” In this very competitive market, it is easy to get caught up in the excitement of possibility, but Dura Constructions is committed to upholding its original philosophy and work ethic. “We want to grow steadily. We’re not chasing jobs. We want the client to be happy when we finish a job.”

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18 - 20 Graham Road, Clayton South VIC 3169 PO Box 1130 CSMDC Clayton South VIC 3169 Tel: (03) 9549 6998 Fax: (03) 9549 6999 Email: dura@dura.com.au www.dura.com.au