COLWOOD – H.I. Mechanical is celebrating a meteoric first year in the business.
Two months shy of their first anniversary, their team of veterans and promising prospects has far exceeded their growth expectations.
H.I. Mechanical offers the full scope of mechanical services, including plumbing, gas fitting, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration, and heat pump services, which are all completed in house by their experienced staff.
Co-owners Tristan Hall and Craig Inglis started the company in August 2017, after working together for 10 years.
“Our work relationship soon turned into a friendship, and we realized we shared a lot of the same ideas on how a mechanical company should work and how to create a good work environment,” says Hall.
Hall is a Red Seal Journeyman plumber, Red Seal Journeyman Refrigeration and A/C mechanic, and a Class B gas fitter. He started in the mechanical industry in his final year of high school and has been growing in his skills ever since.
He worked his way up to a project management position at his previous job, where he gained insight into the technicalities of business operations and handling large projects.
Inglis’s background is in trades through his family, and he was a chef for a number of years before starting a plumbing apprenticeship. He is now a Red Seal Journeyman plumber and Class B Gas fitter.
Both owners have a combined 20 plus years of experience working in the trades and have built strong relationships with others in the industry.
When H.I. Mechanical officially launched, Hall and Inglis were the sole employees, with one company truck.
“We decided to step out and have a go at running our own operation, with plans to hopefully hire in spring of 2018,” says Hall. “Now there are nine of us and four vehicles.”
Hall believes that H.I. Mechanical’s commitment to creating a positive work environment and dedication to keeping clients happy has been the key to their success.
“Both Craig and I are big sports guys,” says Hall. “We spent a lot of our lives playing and being captains on sports teams throughout the city. Craig actually travelled to England for a while to play rugby.”
Their approach to business is based on their experiences with sports teams.
“We structure our company with three main go-to guys beyond ourselves, kind of like our first liners,” says Hall. “All our employees are treated equally and given opportunities to grow, and we hire with a focus on personality. We ask if a new hire is going to fit with our team, because one guy can really make or break the team.”
H.I. Mechanical is already reaping the benefits of this culture, as their employees are able to work and learn in a happy, fun environment.
“We’re all instrumental to the success of our company,” says Hall.
Hall and Inglis function as team captains, working with their clients and co-workers to ensure a personalized, quality service.
“We are full mechanical contractors, so when we bid on a commercial project, we submit a price for the entire mechanical scope,” says Hall.
Their key employees have a diverse range of skills to meet a variety of workplace needs.
Joe Latka, Tyler Adams, and Bryce Adams bring decades of plumbing, refrigeration, sheet metal, and gas fitting experience to the team, forming an in-depth, multi-trade team.
Along with several apprentices, the team at H.I. Mechanical is able to provide one stop service with a personalized touch to everyone from commercial contractors to home owners.
“Craig and I are always out on the tools, and we ensure quality by being hands-on owners,” says Hall.
Hall and Inglis plan on continuing to grow, but their hands-on approach means that they intend to limit the team size to under 15.
“We need to keep that personal touch,” says Hall. “Craig and I come from a background where we worked for a very large company. It’s hard to keep up with things when you have a big staff.
“Because we’re hands-on business owners, we always want to be able to ensure the quality of the work we do, so we’re planning on limiting our staff size,” he says.
Currently, the team at H.I. is working on the Meridian Row Townhomes project with SEBA Construction, and is about to start work on the West Commons Townhome Collection in Royal Bay with GableCraft Homes.
“All of our work for these projects will be in house, except for fire sprinklers, where we work with subcontractors,” says Hall.
In addition to large projects like these two, H.I. Mechanical does a lot of work with high-end custom homes.
“We provide clients with products ranging from heat pumps and simple bathroom faucets change outs,” says Hall. “We can come in and help clients maximize their custom house project with a single mechanical contractor.”
www.himechanical.ca
