Peter Griffin – Green Plumber
Peter Griffin is the managing director of Chadoak Plumbing, which began as a small business with two brothers in their mum’s backyard. Now, the property they are on is worth over $2 million.
Chadoak Plumbing and Drainage is an award-winning plumbing, drainage and live sewer contractor – but it took a lot of hard work to get there, as Peter Griffin recalls.
“My brother Jim and I were apprenticed to my father at the start of our careers. It was all hand digging of sewers because that is when the sewer drains were put in throughout the area. We got the jobs where you could not get machines in. I was fit!” laughs Peter.
In the last year of his apprenticeship, Peter began running the business when his father had a heart attack. His mother would do the bookwork. They were simply equipped with an old truck with a backhoe to do bigger jobs.
As the business grew, they bought a property in Clayton, Melbourne.
“We have always been local,” continues Peter. “I’ve tried to grow the business slowly. You can always go out and buy a lot of machinery but we wait until we have enough money to do that and take on new staff. We put the money we make back into the business.”
“We have always tried to maintain a steady group of apprentices. “ says Peter, who employs eight apprentices of his forty staff. It’s great when apprentices finished their four years: “That’s when you can send them to jobs on their own.”
Working with apprentices
When apprentices finish with Chadoak, not all of them want to stay on. “They finish the four years and want to travel. But then it’s good when they get back to Australia and want to rejoin Chadoak. They can choose lots of other places to work so it’s good they want to come back here.”
“We decided to directly employ apprentices because we want them to be multi skilled. They need to understand the full spectrum of commercial plumbing work. Multi skilling reduces down-time plus it’s more interesting for the staff. They can be trained in CPR, gain their confined space tickets and excavator tickets.”
This flexibility is one of Chadoak’s strengths. One apprentice, John , confirms this :“I like being outdoors. I like having to do different things every day. There is a variety of work at Chadoak; you are not just doing one thing. I like getting my hands dirty and working up a sweat.” And, this isn’t the only reward John sees in his work, “I feel proud of what I have done. That I have achieved something.”
Chadoak has state-of-the art software to file plans and drawings, and to estimate jobs.
And, now Peter’s company has far more than just a backhoe in a old truck: his business is now equipped with extensive equipment – including their own trench diggers, scissor lift, excavators, generators and more.
“I just want to get out and do a job. It can get boring in the office. I want to get out to do site work but a full day of that work would probably kill me now!” laughs Peter.
Chadoak Plumbing is recently the winner of the 2007 Green Plumber Awards as environmental issues begin to take centre stage in many traditional trade areas.
The best part of the job?
You know, I probably would not do anything else in life even though it is hard work.
There are a lot of challenges out there with green plumbing and environmental issues we have to deal with. It offers new challenges for us.
We were keen to try to get involved with anything new. It is the same reason we got involved with the Green Plumbers Association. We bought a franchise for three postcode areas!
The hardest part of the job?
The greatest challenges have been from just meeting demand. That is the biggest thing; trying to keep up with everyone’s expectations.
I suppose our success is based on having a good crew.
Typical workday?
Chadoak works with other contractors to work on major commercial and industrial plumbing: factory sites, multi storey residential and office buildings, storm water and fire installations, writes Linda Nell, from MEGT.
We are always on the look-out for growth. We invested in backflow prevention a long time before the industry saw it as being necessary and now we are established in the field and are seeing the returns.
Advice?
I do notice the difference in education and literacy these days with apprentices, particularly if they leave in form 10 rather than form 12. Our apprentices have to read the manual of procedures and policies and we are finding that some guys can’t read it. People can bluff their way through life without reading. Sometimes that is why we prefer to look at apprentices who left school in Year 12 rather than earlier. Those two years make a big difference.
We have always treated people like family. They are part of the business. You have to treat everyone equally and they do not learn if you do not train them. Apprentices are not your ‘go get things’ team. I tell my staff that if guys have to spend a bit of time with the apprentice you will get more productivity in the long run.
Article by: Linda Nall www.MEGT.com.au