Capital Park, a Campbell Construction build
VICTORIA – Campbell Construction has built literally hundreds of projects in Greater Victoria and across Vancouver Island for the past 60 years, and they’re still finding new ways to build the future.
The construction management, excavation and general contractor has prided itself in the long-term relationships it has built with clients, and a staff that features some team members who have been with them for decades.
“Over the last number of decades we’ve built a lot of relationships with various developers and we’ve kept those relationships, some of which we’ve had for over 50 years,” says Wayne Farey, the company’s President, who has himself been with the firm for 45 years.
“I think developers have stayed with us for so long because for them, it’s about getting the job done on time performance wise, and within budget.
“It’s about being organized on the job sites, and that’s why we have so much repeat business as far as track records go. And quality, as our buildings are built well, so we don’t get a lot of call-backs. They’re very well built and we make sure they are so we don’t’ have to come back to fix or make repairs.”
Campbell Construction has done a large number of projects with some of the bigger developers in town. In the 1980’s and 1990’s it was mostly government work like schools and buildings at the University of Victoria.
“That changed course in the 1990’s when governments weren’t building much, so we moved into building high rises and rental buildings. All of the projects we’ve done have been successful. We did Capital Park behind the legislative buildings, and there have literally been so many others you can’t really count them.”
One Bear Mountain at Bear Mountain
They’ve completed numerous buildings at Shawnigan Lake School, and St. Michaels University School, both private schools, for close to 20 years. They’ve also undertaken specialty projects like Power To Be, a year and a half long venture at Prospect Lake site, and they’re about to start a new building with Easter Seals at their Shawnigan camp.
“We pick some of those projects that give back and help out those who are less fortunate than ourselves,” Wayne notes.
While Campbell Construction does build a few single family homes, most of their projects include 4-6 story wood-frame, or concrete up to 20 stories. They’re just starting a 24-story, 480 unit building, as well as two other wood-framed rental buildings and a rental condominium unit, which is already sold out.
The Tapestry building, built by Campbell Construction
“We haven’t built a lot of rental projects in Victoria for decades, but because of recent demand from the governments pushing, it’s taken off recently,” he says. “That will change at some point, but we’ll see where this takes us.”
The firm is currently finishing off the 210-unit Bear One condominium project at Bear Mountain, along with the Nest and Haven projects downtown.
“We’re finishing up projects, and getting ready for some new ones,” says Wayne, whose father, Ken Farey and Bill Campbell started the company in 1964.
Their roots go even further. Luney Bros. Ltd., originally called Luney Construction, began in 1906. Bill had worked for Luney for 23 years, and Archie and their friend Ken Farey had been working with Luney Bros. & Hamilton for nine years when in 1964, Bill started W. Campbell Construction Ltd. after being urged to do so by Archie and Ken.
Bill retired in 1976, when Ken, Archie and Basil Wells formed Campbell Construction Ltd.
Wayne started his apprenticeship in August, 1979, and worked his way up through the company. After he earned his red seal ticket, he became a hands-on, onsite lead hand, then foreman, and by the time he was 24 he began running jobs as a superintendent.
Wayne Farey, President of Campbell Construction Ltd.
“When I was 31 years old, my dad brought me into the office as he started to back off, and I took the outside operations over,” he says, looking back. “I started getting involved with inside and outside operations and here I am today. I bought in 15 years ago, and have been running operations now for almost 30 years.”
“We have a lot of good people within Campbell Construction that are able to keep it going. The company is strong and in good shape and we have a lot of good people working for us,” says Wayne, adding they currently have around 140 employees, with staff levels rising to almost 400 when there are several major projects underway at once. “I can foresee it going strong for decades to come.
“We do our own excavation work and carpentry, forming, some framing, and we even have our own millwork shop,” he says, noting the company is known as a one-stop construction firm due to these self-performance categories that Campbell Construction does in-house.
Wayne recalls that growth in the early 2000’s was so strong that Campbell Construction became the largest contractor on Vancouver Island.
“The island is fairly limited with the number of trades and people available, so we just never moved off the island or spread our wings elsewhere because we’ve had so many clients and repeat business in Greater Victoria and as far up the island as Nanaimo. We’ve just been focused here, and we’ve never had to move off the island.”
If there is one thing that Wayne has noticed over the years, it’s the change in productivity.
“It takes a lot more people to do what we used to do with a lot less,” he says. “A lot of the expertise in the industry has disappeared. The people I started working with are long gone, either retired or no longer with us, so there’s been a lack of passed-down experience. We’re seeing it out there and it’s hurting the industry.
“There are some really good people out there, but it would be nice to see even more people take a good look at the great possibilities for solid careers in this industry. That’s how I did it, and how a lot of people in Campbell have done it,” he notes.
Wayne is energized and maintains a positive outlook for Campbell Construction in the years to come.
“I look forward to the next decade of successful construction and developing new phases within the company,” Wayne says. “I’m trying to develop new phases in the business, and I’m not backing off, but succession planning is important. We want to keep the family business going as a family business as long as we possibly can.”
