TAS Commercial Concrete Construction LP

Flexibility in the Field Reaps Solid Results

"From the ground up" has a new meaning at TAS Commercial Concrete Construction LP, a Houston-based subcontractor also serving the Dallas/Fort Worth market.

The firm ranked 7 on Texas Construction's list of the state's top specialty contractors.

Celebrating its quarter of a century in business this year, TAS has extended its legacy as a key concrete supplier by beginning work in the structural concrete field. The new business venture will go after high-rise cast-in-place concrete work.

"It's a natural add on," said Bob Bacon, the company's chief financial officer. "Many of our customers are performing these types of jobs and we get asked frequently if we do structural cast-in-place concrete."

TAS has built a reputation for client service and satisfaction by being a subcontractor that works closely with the general contractor. Before, during and after the concrete is poured and finished, the company exceeds typical relationships with the contractors hiring them, Bacon said.

"The construction process can be complicated and sometimes field conditions can make project design ideas impractical or uneconomical," Bacon said. "So as an added service, we offer a lot of value engineering ideas, consultation from the start that helps the owner save money, do the job faster and better."

TAS offers its clients years of knowledge and worker experience so that the concrete aspect of the building meets and often exceeds standards, regardless of weather or soil conditions, layout issues, material arrival and construction issues.

The company provides complete turnkey services, pour-and-finish services or the basic pumping of the concrete at the site. Its 850 employees include 70 field supervisors, and many of those have 10 to 25 years of experience with the company.

The most common building uses receiving TAS concrete are offices, warehouses, retail developments, hospitals, automotive dealerships and educational and religious institutions. The company's $10 million worth of equipment includes 10 pump trucks and more than 100 backhoes, boxblades, manlifts, laser screeds, excavators and place-and-finish trucks.

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Each year, the company pours more than 20 million sq. ft. of concrete. That volume has secured TAS a place among the top 12 concrete companies in the U.S. since 1995, according to Engineering News-Record, which like Texas Construction, is a publication of the McGraw-Hill Cos. Inc.

Key projects to date include:

• Portofino, an upscale retail project near Houston with tiltwalls of arched openings and colored, stamped and stained concrete to represent an Italian village.
• Beltway 8 Corporate Centre, a 107-acre business park with slab on grade, mezzanine, tiltwalls, paving and sidewalks.
• St. Luke's Community Medical Center, a fast-tracked project in The Woodlands utilizing turnkey, rebar and place- and-finish services.
• 121 LakePoint Crossing, a $4.2 million industrial tiltwall project in Dallas resulting in 640,000 sq. ft. of warehouse space that required work seven days a week over a seven-month period.
• Klein Collins High School in Spring, the largest high school in Texas, which required continuous work with suppliers and vendors to navigate the 49 change orders

Besides close work with its clients, TAS strives to deliver jobs in tight timeframes. Its manpower and equipment combine to provide fast mobilization and >> minimize project delays, scheduling conflicts and financial liability, Bacon said.

TAS prioritizes the safety of its employees, too. In addition to monthly training meetings covering leading safety guidelines, the employees join in daily safety meetings led by field supervisors with helpful information provided by a three-person safety staff. Topics typically include protective outerwear, safe tool use and work traits, handling hazardous material, warding off heat stress and recommended dietary practices.

"We were about the only ones doing that starting back in the mid-1980s; and we still are distinguished on the job because of our record," said Grace Fox, safety director.

From day one, TAS operated with business smarts and field flexibility. Founder and president Mark Scully and his fledgling crew of 20 workers turned the small three-year-old general contracting company into a concrete subcontractor in the Houston market. All signs pointed to a growing market need for the switch. By narrowing its focus, buying new equipment and hiring 24 new employees, TAS was on its way to leadership in the concrete business.

Steady growth resulted from the practice of delivering quality service and building bonds with its new, increasingly loyal customers. Attention to the Dallas market meant acquiring Dallas-based American Concrete in 1995, resulting in rapid growth.

TAS has garnered numerous industry awards through the years, including five APEX recognitions by the Associated General Contractors. The industry's coveted Golden Trowel Award was engraved with the TAS name in 1998 for its work on the Texas A&M University multipurpose facility.