BUILDERSBulletin B

February 2015 Volume 26 No. 1

bowens.com.au The Builders Choice

PORT MELBOURNE

FEATUREDTimbertruss Cassette Flooring

EXPERT ADVICE The Unique Features of Recycled Timber

BRANCH NEWS Meet Your Team At Port Melbourne

GreatExpectations

A Word From Jack Bowen on page 2

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BUILDERS BULLETIN2

A New Year, new hope, great expectations for what is ahead of us. A repeat of the way I (we) felt this time twelve months ago. Every New Year we might say “now let’s not have another year like last year” or in a more hopeful vein “wouldn’t it be great if we can repeat all the wonderful things that happened to us last year.”

But the great ‘unknown’ in contemplating what is ahead gives us all sorts of wonderful thoughts…. and whatever our wishes or plans, these can be blown away by events that are outside our control.

When I meet up with my old mates it is all about our personal health, how our family is and what the grandchildren are up to. Most of us being 70 plus now, it is all about hanging in there for the next 20 years! And with new hips, knees and arteries, a number of these guys will (now) make it! Thank God for modern surgery and some brilliant surgeons! I just wish for good health this year to be the norm for all of us… in particular family, friends, Bowens staff and customers.

After only three weeks (as I write) into the new year, many great expectations have already been dashed – the world has been shattered by IS, Boko Haram and other extreme groups who, like Hitler and his henchmen seventy years ago, (and representing less that 0.5 percent of the world population) are bringing such misery to so many.

Closer to home it is terrible to already read of higher road deaths, drownings and other acts of violence that have shattered lives of neighbours and friends.

So… where am I heading with all of this? I suppose it is a case of my (and your) personal ‘wants’ for 2015. Despite what is happening around us right now we all must move and plan ahead with high, if not Great, expectations.

My business expectations of course continue around a great new start for our soon to open Port Melbourne branch. Hopefully most people around the Industry know about Port Melbourne – certainly we have had great support from suppliers, and our team at Port Melbourne has been wonderfully dedicated to the renovation, fit-out and promotion of this thirteenth branch of Bowens. With only a few weeks to opening they are frantically putting the final touches together.

The expectations for the Company’s overall progress this year are naturally high! The mood is good around the housing industry and the wonderful start to the financial year gives us all great hope through to June at least.

‘Mood’ (the way someone feels) is an important part of any successful move into the future. We all want to ‘feel’ good about ourselves, and I’m always aware of the ‘mood’ of our business as well. Business is still all about people – and having great people

around a business like ours, people who set a ‘feel good’ mood are just so important.

And the mood is good at Bowens right now to make 2015 the year we want. The entire management, through to all staff levels are motivated and ready to take advantage of a strong market. My expectation for the rest of the year is that we will have the best year we have ever had!

My wish is of course for greater sales and greater profits for Bowens/Timbertruss. Profitability is the main game because we want to expand Bowens further in 2015 and beyond. We want to put increased profits towards building the business – not just providing a return for myself and my fellow shareholders.

I would hope that the expectations of all our staff include being part of a financially strong and growing enterprise… one that provides job security, opportunities for self-improvement, and a safe and happy environment.

I think I have mentioned previously that we have a family competition each Christmas whereby we ‘prognosticate’ about the year ahead. We all contribute up to 90 ‘prognostications’ which can range from the price of gold at December 1st, 2015 to personal things like John Bowen will be over 85 kilos sometime during 2015 and/or Tiger Woods will win another Major during the year!!

At Christmas 2013 we put together 88 serious (and ridiculous) prognostications for 2014. The winner guessed just 43 correct ‘answers’. Now while most were just silly and fun, the ability to look ahead and accurately predict what will happen is very hard.

I am optimistic enough to always be positive about the future. Deep down I am also a realist and ready to cope with what may not turn out to be the best situation. We had a major health issue within our family early in 2014 – right ‘out of the blue’, and a shock to all of us. All is looking very good now but my ‘great expectations’ for family at the start of 2014 were not completely realised.

(Again) I have Great Expectations for 2015… I hope you do to, and I hope all that you wish for will be realised.

Jack Bowen, Chairman of the Board of Directors

Great Expectations A Word From Jack Bowen

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Featured

Timbertruss Cassette Flooring Market Leader with the prefabricated flooring system.

If you are interested in finding out more, contact any our Timbertruss sales representatives or Steve Harvey on 0412 067 566.

At Timbertruss with our two sites at Geelong and Dandenong we are the biggest truss frame & floor posi prefabrication manufacturer in Victoria. We are experts in offering complete solutions for builders from design in estimating to then detailing manufacturing and delivering to site. We are committed to finding new ways to helping our customers build more efficiently & effective in a safer environment.

One of the systems we have developed over the last 15 months is the Cassette Flooring system. Built with all floor structural elements that would be normally done on site, we install this in a factory controlled environment with the flooring to make the Cassette Flooring system a new and innovative way of prefabrication & speeding up the building process for

the builder on site.

The ProcessOur process is simple. We require as normal all architectural & engineering drawings. We will then go through the design & layout of the cassettes to explain to the builder how we can efficiently make the cassette flooring system work & making effective use of the crane so there is no additional or wasted crane costs passed on to the builder.

Once approved from the builder the cassette flooring is designed with our CAD technology, and then transferred to our cassette floor table computer to show our factory staff where each floor element is installed. With the joists itself the other elements installed are rim beams (to make it square at each end) diagonal bracing strongbacks & any beams that can be installed within the cassette. Once the flooring is glued on the automated machine will then nail the flooring & run the saw around the outer edge to make it a clean/neat finish.

Before delivery we will make the builder and his chippies aware of the position of each cassette through the layout so

he can then install a block at each position. This enables the two to three chippies on site where to place the cassettes when the crane is dropping the cassette in. The order & weights of each cassette is also given to make everyone on site fully prepared making effective use of the crane time on site. Also of note is the lifting points for the cassettes is fully engineered thru Mitek so there are no chances with any lifting issues on site.

The ResultsThe beauty of using Cassette Flooring is the builder benefits in all aspects of the job. Our customers have experienced...

• Savings in multi units eg where 6-8 standard units can be done within one day where normally take up to 2 days per unit so saving of 1 day per unit compared to the standard build. That could be saving of over a week & half.

• Safer working environment for all builders on site

• Less labour intensive

• Less chance of material theft

• Quicker turnaround for progress payments.

• Higher turnaround of projects

• The system is also flexible enough to be used on...

• Multi upper floors

• Sub floors on slopping sites (With posi’s or I joists resulting in less adjustable stumps required.)

a Division of

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We’ve been using the Cassette Flooring system for 6 months now.

The great thing about this system is that it speeds the process up, compared to the time I do it myself. There is no need to get up there with a posi’s so it’s a lot safer. There is also no storage on site. The truck comes so we don’t have to do anything straight off here.

I usually call in a day or two in advance and the cassettes are brought to the site. Each cassette takes 5-6 minutes to set up. By the time you sling it, load it, get it on site and in position, we usually install 47 cassettes on the day, completing 6 house lots in one day.

-Liam Robertson - LR & MJ Constructions

Top left: Subject to access, cranage by either Crane or Crane truck can lift up to 1 tonne (10-12m)

Top middle: Saving in build time, especially multi-unit developments

Top right: Allowance made with space between each panel to prevent creep (distance can be 450 or 600 to minimum requirement for OH&S)

Cassette flooring is a floor system where it's broken up into cassettes or panels, where all bracing, strongbacks are installed with a cassette and then the flooring is fixed, all within a prefabricated factory controlled environment.

BUILDERS BULLETIN6

Brett Spooner - Business Development Manager

Andrew Smith - Operations Manager Andrew has had a very diverse career at Bowens. Over the last seven years Andrew has taken on a mixture of exciting roles, both in Operations and in sales. Andrew’s career at Bowens has included time at four branches and a stint at our Support Office in an important role supporting our continuous improvement programs.

Luke Lugg - Account ManagerIn just three short years, Luke has moved through various roles at Bowens before taking on his exciting new challenge as Account Manager for our new Port Melbourne store. Luke is a great example of a person who started in the yard and has managed to move through exciting roles at a rapid pace.

Greg Brown - Sales Manager At an early age, Greg is already a veteran of Bowens, having spent the last 27 years in various roles across the business. Greg has had a lot of experience dealing with large and smaller builders and has spent the last six years working in our Major Accounts department in our Support Office in Hallam.

Jeff Hurley - Branch Manager Meet Port Melbourne’s first Branch Manager – Jeff Hurley. Jeff joined Bowens nine years ago at our Laverton store as an Account Manager before taking on the role of Sales Manager. Jeff has spent the last two years managing the Laverton branch and is now ready to make the journey over the bridge to his new home in Port Melbourne.

Branch News

With our new store now open, we want to take a moment to introduce you to our experienced lead team at Port Melbourne.

BUILDERS BULLETIN6

All members of the Port Melbourne lead team have moved through many roles during their career with Bowens including time in the yard, on the counter, in phone sales and a variety of transport and operations roles. Some have even been out driving a delivery truck to learn more about what our customers need on site. This is truly the “Bowens Way” of training our team.

Whilst we already have a great team of people lined up and ready to provide great service to you every day, there are many more wonderful opportunities to join the Bowens group. If you are looking for a new career or know of someone who wants to work for a well-established, Australian owned company that promotes and encourages career development, we want to hear from you.

So while you’re taking in the sun in beautiful Port Melbourne, drop in to your now local Bowens store and say hi to the newly formed Port Melbourne team.

We have opportunities in the following roles across multiple branches:

• Account Manager/Sales Representative

• Internal Sales/Internal Sales Team Leader

• Timber Buyer• Hardware Specialist/

Counter Sales

• Yard People/Yard Supervisor

• Despatch/Despatch Supervisor

• Delivery Driver• Support roles

For more information about opportunities at any of our Bowens stores, jump onto our website at bowens.com.au or give our recruitment team a call on 8792 6806.

Brett has spent the last nine years at our Rowville branch. Brett joined the Rowville team as an Account Manager before taking on the Sales Manager role at the store. Brett is a Port Melbourne local and very excited to be joining the Port Melbourne crew.

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Immediately following the State Election last November, Master Builders congratulated incoming Premier Daniel Andrews on his victory, and urged our new representatives in the Labor Government to support initiatives that will drive jobs and investment in the building and construction sector.

We look forward to working together with Mr Andrews and his team to deliver concrete outcomes and reforms that will create new opportunities for our members.

Politics aside, at this writing I feel very encouraged by figures released recently by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, indicating a green light for building and construction jobs in 2015 in the wake of significantly increased building activity in Victoria last year. In November, for example, building approvals climbed to $2.68 billion, up 20 per cent from the same time the previous year. And there are very pleasing signs across our sector, led by a bumper month for home building, after setting a record for the number of new homes approved in a single month.

Furthermore, the latest data shows Victoria having led the way on home loan approvals in November, with 170 more loans being approved for new homes every month in Victoria compared to what we saw in 2013.

With promising signs like these, it’s more imperative than ever to press our representatives in government for explicit changes that help nourish a continued upward trend, such as

RADLEY DE SILVACEO Master Builders Association Of Victoria

encouraging tradespeople to be registered, clamping down on owner-builder and unregistered builder activity and clearing the red tape faced by builders.

Our top priority for the residential building sector is to tackle concerns we have raised previously with proposed legislation that threatens to make the Victorian Building Authority judge, jury and executioner of building practitioners. Consumer protection measures should not unfairly punish the honest and hardworking. Policies adding red tape or costs to the registration process or to domestic building insurance are things we will oppose vehemently.

While it’s good to begin 2015 with positive data for our industry, we cannot afford to be complacent about the issue of housing affordability, either, and this is why Master Builders wants to see our new State Government hold an independent inquiry into this matter, to help us review the way government charges, levies, taxes and policies add unnecessary costs to home building projects.

Master Builders promises to keep our eyes on the horizon and our ears to the ground.

“I feel very encouraged by figures released recently by the Australian

Bureau of Statistics, indicating a green light for building and construction jobs”

BUILDERS BULLETIN8

Expert Advice

I recently supplied a floor and stair material in Recycled Spotted Gum for a close relative who was building his own designed house in country Victoria.

Leading up to the supply, I was very keen to ensure that it was to my brother in law’s expectations. To do this I not only had to be sure those expectations were consistent with the likely features of recycled timber, but also have confidence in the supplier to supply a quality recycled product.

Having said that, my communication with the supplier commenced well in advance of an order being placed. I wanted to be sure he was aware of the importance of a quality product. Even though the material was from very old buildings he placed the material in their kilns to ensure the dryness, particularly the flooring, was appropriate for the job.

Not long after the house was finished all the suppliers and contractors involved with the construction of the dwelling were invited to a function to celebrate the successful completion of the house. I made it my business to talk to the builder and the contractors installing the recycled timber. All were very impressed with the quality. However, the contractor who made the stairs up lamented on the hardness of the wood, having to sharpen his tools every day.

Having championed recycled timber with Bowens over the last 10 years I thought I had got to know the special unique features of this, but after spending a whole weekend in the new dwelling I got to fully appreciate the features that only a recycled product can show. Ironically many of these features would be considered a defect under the grading rules applicable to new timber. I refer in particular to checking (fine to medium cracks).

The other features are bolt holes that are appropriately plugged with timber from the same specie and nail and screw holes filled that in places may need to be done by a skilled floor finisher.

There are also situations where I believe recycled timber being mainly seasoned, is preferable to a new unseasoned product, even if recycled was not even specified. I say this where large sizes are required and seasoned timber is not available in these sections. That is where the thickness is greater than 50 millimetres or where post sizes are required. Undoubtedly a new unstable product would be much cheaper than a comparable recycled product, but sometimes stability should override price considerations. As well as being stronger. Also a recycled product has probably been produced in an era from old growth trees where the wood is more mature than the new products of today.

Using a recycled product (instead of new) means we are preserving our valuable forest resources.

Having done my best to extoll the unique features of recycled timber, it would be remiss of me to not point out a recycled product is always more expensive than comparable new products, such as flooring, decking and cladding.

If you have experienced these types of issues or would like some expert advice, Jeff Harvey can help. Simply call him on 0412 550 740.

The Unique Features of Recycled Timber

Recycled Timber Features Likely to be seen with a recycled timber supply

• Bolt Holes - Sometimes as in floorings, these may be colour matched plugged.

• Nail Holes• Fine to medium cracks• Made from old growth tree’s

Nail holes Fine to medium cracks

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