The Construction Source

and we realized our thinking was very similar when it came to construction,” Craig recalls. “We both had the same ap- proach when it came to cus- tomers – we believed in being very transparent and forthcom- ing. And we both highly valued quality – we believed in doing a good job.” Soon enough, Craig and Kern became partners, and when Kern stepped down Craig be- came President. At that time, around 2014, the company was primarily known as a home- builder. After taking over, Craig branched out into forming a commercial and renovation di- vision while maintaining those same roots of quality and trans- parency in the building process. Today, Kingsmith Builders takes on a diverse range of work in both the commercial and resi- dential sectors. In recent years, their jobs have included offic- es, dental and medical facili- ties, restaurants, an apartment building, and custom homes of varying values. In all sectors, on projects of all sizes, Craig says Kingsmith is set apart by their depth of ca- pabilities, and their adaptability in applying them. He explains that they have an in-house de- sign team (both architectural and interior), in-house estimat- ing, and in-house project man- aging and supervising, and that clients can take advantage of as many, or as few, of those ser- vices as suits them. “We’ll partner with people wher- ever they are at, whatever their needs are,” Craig says. “If some- one wants to build a custom home but doesn’t have land, we’ll work with them on that. We’ll find them a site, we’ll help them broker a deal for it, we’ll help them figure out water and sewer and access – and then we’ll design-build for them.” “If they already have land, we can go right to the design-build process,” he adds. “If they al- ready have land and plans, then we’ll just build. We’ll ten- der it and build it. We’re pretty flexible that way. Being a rela- tively small company gives us the ability to approach projects from a lot of different perspec- tives.” No matter the type or size of project, Kingsmith Builders al- ways takes the same hands-on and personal approach. Craig believes that further sets the company apart. “Our philosophy is that the only way to properly manage any construction project is to be on- site and to be very hands-on,” he says. “We’re not a contractor that sources out the work to all our sub-trades and then never sees the project. We’re on-site every day. All our project man- agers and site supervisors wear tool-belts. They all have actu- al physical tasks they need to complete.” “Outside of our administrative staff, everyone here is involved with the actual physical con- struction of our projects,” he continues. “So we know what we’re doing, we’re always in control, and we can always see what’s going on. We are never taken by surprise, and neither are our clients.” “I think that gives us an advan- tage,” he says. “Our clients can trust that we know what we’re doing, and they can trust that we’re getting it done.” On the topic of earning trust, Craig reiterates that the com- pany still lives up to the values that Kern originally established – “it’s still all about transparen- cy,” he says. “We show our clients our num- bers,” he explains. “We show them what we’re spending, and we let them know what our mark-up is – we explain that’s what we need to be a profitable company, that’s what we need to pay our salaries.” Later in the process, if a change or variation ever needs to be THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE CANADA