Royal West Homes: Building on Passion
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by Nerissa McNaughton
hen Harnek Matharoo, the owner and founder of Royal West Homes, decided to launch the company in 1999, he brought a wealth of education and experience to the business. A diploma in engineering with a degree in business administration plus 21 years in the construction industry gave him the tools he needed to start a successful company. He also had something that is not taught in university nor purchased through any retailer: passion. “The intention was always to be my own boss,” Matharoo explains with a warm smile. “After working in the public and private sector, I took a three-year break to work on some family obligations and think about the future, then I opened Royal West Homes. With now over 35 years in the construction industry, I am just as comfortable with the technical side of things as I am with arranging millions of dollars for our projects.” With his long-range goal setting and vision of what an outstanding homebuilding company can be, it is no surprise that his clients love the high-quality, modern, trendy houses Royal West Homes provide. “In 15 years we have never missed a possession deadline,” says Matharoo. “When we mail out a letter to the customer saying ‘your house will be ready on this date,’ it will be ready on that date. I still take pride in walking though each house we build to ascertain that it is done to our high standards.” Those high standards start from the earliest stages of each project. Matharoo explains, “My philosophy is to spend more time at the planning stages and address any issues before the construction starts. If you make mistakes during construction, you are not going to make money.
Avoid making mistakes. Do it once and do it right.” This exceptional level of detail continues through each progressive phase. “We are so confident about our work that we encourage all our customers to bring in their own professional home inspectors during the walk-through inspection,” says Matharoo. “We even cover some of the costs of these inspections.” “Our subtrades have to know their work,” he says firmly. “They have to have the experience and the knowledge of their respective trades. We have companies that have worked with us for many years and we have new companies that we give opportunities to, but regardless of being an emerging or established company, the key person must have the knowledge and experience. We work with them and help them grow as we grow.” “Most subtrades don’t want to leave us,” Matharoo continues. “They want to stick with us because we treat them fairly, and we pay on time. In 15 years we have never had a single incident where someone’s payment could not be issued on time. At the same time, we expect our subtrades to do their work on time and on the schedule that we jointly develop. We make sure every contractor fully understands the scope of their work and they provide a price they can live with. If we sense a contractor has underbid by too big of a margin, we will have them take a second or third look at their numbers before awarding them the contract. It helps no one when you are well underway into the project and the contractor finds out they made a mistake and they can’t do the work they promised. I’d rather deal with those issues beforehand.”
Royal West Homes | 15th Anniversary | 1