Democo wants to make all construction projects more efficient through the meticulous monitoring of sites and smooth flow of site teams
A missing skirting board, a crack in the plasterboard or a socket without power. Large-scale construction projects in our country are usually completed with a list of work points yet to be completed. But … we recently completed a large residential project in Laeken and, for the first time in Belgium, it was delivered 100% in order. This means the client and architect had zero comments. “We owe this to meticulous follow-up on site and a thorough, smooth flow of tasks within our site teams,” it says. “Using this approach, we want to remove the construction stress from Belgians. Today, construction is still too often a source of worry, but it should be a celebration.”
In recent years, the Democo family business, which has 30-odd large construction sites across the country, has been a perfectionist when it comes to the construction process. It got so bad that its employees were even given pedometers. This was not to keep an eye on them, but to carry out a comprehensive check on where construction workers, technicians and project managers are unnecessarily losing time. For example, getting extra material from a truck, looking for tools, asking questions in the site shed, etc.
“All that walking back and forth does not improve the construction process. We analysed the entire process. And we’ve been able to make small efficiency adjustments to our sites for several years now. For example, tiles are now always delivered to the place where the tiler has to work and not tens of metres away. Small things like this can really make a big difference. We also work with smaller teams who make good agreements on a daily basis so that no one has to wait to complete their work. A smooth flow of tasks, or the LEAN principle, just as car manufacturers have been doing for years already.” – Frederik Bijnens, Democo managing director
Zero work points
The new way of working has ensured that the number of work points picked up during provisional delivery has now decreased over a number of years to 2.58 work points per 100 square metres. This is already better than average for projects with a size of easily 2,500 square metres and more. And now, in Laeken, we were able to deliver the very first large residential project with exactly 0 work points: Les Pierreries. A Belgian first.
“Les Pierreries is a building consisting of 82 apartments, divided into seven blocks. All the apartments have the same finish. They are intended for social housing from the public real estate company De Lakense Haard. This allowed us to fully utilise our new construction method, and we even completed the site before the end of the contractual term. The icing on the cake: zero comments from the client, architect and our own quality team. Les Pierreries has proven that zero work points during delivery is feasible.” – Frederik Bijnens, Democo managing director
“As a public real estate company, it is important for us to be able to offer sufficient quality and modern homes. The Brussels population is increasing, as is the need for social housing. If homes such as these can be delivered flawlessly and on time, then that’s a big plus, of course. Both for us and the public purse, as well as for those families looking forward to a new home that meets their needs.” — Liesbet Temmerman, chairman of De Lakense Haard
Target for all sites
Here at Democo, our objective is to continue to refine our method on all major sites and project types over the coming months. The ultimate goal is to deliver as many residential projects as possible with an impeccable report. We have been on the right track for the past two years. For example, Democo already delivered a new military aircraft hangar in Melsbroek with 0.38 work points per 100 square metres. And all the Hippodrome sites in Laeken, Hamme Markt and NAC Beveren were also below the coefficient of 1.
“Nearly everyone I speak to who has been involved with building says the construction process has always been a source of headaches. There is always something to be improved or completed, and this leads to an associated loss of time and probably money. And we should try to prevent that. Building your own home, office or warehouse is usually one of the most important investments in a person’s private life or professional career. Construction should therefore be something to be celebrated. We’re working on that.” – Frederik Bijnens, Democo managing director
