it ‘a waste of time,’ or a ‘waste of money.’ That’s definitely not the case here.” “When new technology is brought to Mark, Brad or I, we honestly dive right in,” he continues. “We want us to stay up-to-date, and we want our entire team to buy in.” That team buy-in is important, Craig believes, because it represents a significant point of difference for Chapman Mechanical. He says there are a few mechanical contractors around the Okanagan that have third parties working on 3D or BIM modeling and prefabrication – “but almost none of them have employees that are trained in house.” “A lot of them sub it out,” Craig explains – and that can result in a lot of complications, as the subcontractor might not be an expert in mechanical systems, and the mechanical contractor’s team won’t have a strong understanding of what they’re eventually looking at. Chapman Mechanical, on the other hand, has an expert team that’s “involved from the ground up.” “At the beginning of a project, when we’re doing the 3D modelling, it’s me, it’s our 3D modeller, and it’s our field foreman. We’re sitting in a room, we’re going over the mechanical system, and we’re designing it around what we know is going to work for serviceability, construction and cost effectiveness, not necessarily what someone else is telling us is going to work.” “Our modeller had 25 years’ experience in the industry before he got into 3D modelling,” Craig adds. “As far as we’re concerned, Ryan is the best in the industry. You won’t find someone better than him at designing systems and understanding the way mechanical systems work. He has a mechanical aptitude that you don’t get with a typical designer.” APRIL 2022
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