How Prefabrication is Reshaping Water and Wastewater Construction
After the release of FMI’s Labor Productivity Study focusing on prefabrication, we sat down with Ron Sparks, CEO at Seattle-based Environmental Containment Corporation (ECC) to talk about how prefabrication and precast products are reshaping the water and wastewater industry. With 97% of survey respondents saying they’re turning to prefabrication to save time, understanding how and when to deploy new products and services can help owners and contractors better manage labor.
Question: Your company has been in the precast business for quite some time. How have you seen the demand for your products evolve?
Ron Sparks: Demand for our products has increased, especially during the past couple of years, driven by the ongoing development of the Puget Sound Stormwater Manual, along with technological innovations in the precast space. The Stormwater Manual requires stormwater to be detained underground on a given site with outfall regulated such that it mirrors the land’s pre-development outfall rates.
The development of the Stormwater Manual coincided nicely with the buildout of our integrated vault solution. Through two strategic acquisitions, we built a one-stop source for the design, manufacture and installation of stormwater detention systems. Marks Metal creates the custom forming equipment, National Precast manufactures the precast products and Superior Concrete handles the installation. The vertical integration of our platform allows for faster lead times and more project certainty for customers.
Q: What are the reasons you hear that customers are seeking your products and services?
Ron: Our integrated vault solution allows us to manufacture and install vaults faster than our competition, whether it be cast in place or precast. With the market often facing significant lead times for custom forming equipment and/or precast products, our integrated solution offers much quicker lead times and more timeline certainty. It has been well received by the market.
For example, it often takes 12 to 16 weeks to receive HollowCore from other vendors (from time of order), whereas National Precast has a four-to-six-week lead time. On the vault side, it’s common for precast vault manufacturing to take more than six months (not including the actual installation), whereas we can build and install a HollowCore vault in one to two months.
We are also sought out for our technical ability, speed, turnkey engineered (permit-ready) design and logistical strengths. Additionally, our experienced crews at Superior Concrete ultimately construct the vaults, as opposed to relying on third-party subcontractors, which provides greater consistency in the product and the outcomes.
Q: Tell us a bit more about the various end markets you serve and how common precast is in those markets?
Ron: On the precast side, we serve the greater Puget Sound, Washington, market and are currently branching out into other markets as the regulations dictate (Portland, Oregon, and Nashville, Tennessee, are two examples). Precast is a new market, as traditional stormwater storage was accomplished by building ponds. As storage moves underground, precast has become an appealing option.
Q: How did you and your team make the decision to pursue vertical integration? Was there a specific catalyst?
Ron: The Pacific Northwest stormwater detention market has been underserved for more than 20 years in the supply of Hollowcore Top Slabs, a key component of the build. Lead times would often creep out as far as 16 to 20 weeks, post engineering approval. Hollowcore Top Slab supply and lead times were dictating the entire stormwater detention market and constraining [our] ability to grow sales and margin. By investing in a precast business (National Precast) and adding Hollowcore manufacturing capabilities, ECC reduced the lead times by 50%, increasing sales throughout and adding margin to each project.
Q: What’s the elevator pitch? If an owner or contractor is on the fence about using precast, what would you say to them?
Ron: Precast concrete products are pre-engineered and produced in manufacturing facilities that are quality-certified by both the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) and the National Precast Concrete Association (NPCA).
Precast products are sought out versus cast in place for the following reasons:
- Project speed/faster build times
- Quality of product (i.e., durability, strength and reliability)
- Quality assurance certified plants
- Project management and design services.
Being that most underground utilities are critical path items, our customers’ abilities to order material months before the installation allow for better scheduling, faster installations and improved quality.