Draco Demolition @ 2011 L2B Annual Golf Day

Press release No 37 for Jan de Beer   Dave Soons   06/08/11    653 words

DEMOLITION: EVERYTHING GOES!

The common misconception about demolition amongst the general public is that it is all about imploding of office blocks and other high rise buildings, but there is a lot more involved than just bringing down these structures.

Take Draco Demolition for instance, which has become one of Gauteng’s foremost demolition experts even though they have only been in existence for four years.   This company has specialised demolition teams for demolishing loadbearing walls, concrete demolition and crushing, the steelwork cutting of structures, and the large demolitions.

Draco – which has been a member of the Gauteng Master Builders Association (GMBA) for a little over two years – will tackle anything from small alterations within offices that need floors or internal walls and partitions removed, or ripping everything out of a building and leaving an empty shell for the builder or owner to refurbish – right up to the implosion of high rise buildings.

However, as Teddy Habib, managing member (Michelle Habib is the owner) of Draco Demolition says, the accent these days is on ‘green’ demolitions.  “On large demolitions we first strip all the doors, lights, toilets and other fittings within the building which will be sold in the secondhand market; the concrete is crushed and used as base course for roads or backfill; all the rebar goes to the scrap yard; and any materials such as aluminium sent to the relevant foundries and metal processors,” says Habib.

“There are no green rules or regulations regarding demolition at the moment, but this will come, and by adopting these practices on everything we do, we aim to be fully compliant before this becomes a legal requirement,” he says.

Draco Demolition has established itself as a preferred demolitions contractor to most of the major construction companies, and the majority of its work comes from referrals or repeat business.

One of the areas where the company is strong is in safety.    “On the major jobs we use a leading safety consultant, and we work within both the OHS and the mining safety regulations,” says Habib. “I am pleased to say we have never had a nonconformity or serious accident and we are very protective of our impeccable safety record.”

Two recent demolition projects that Draco is particularly proud of are the controlled demolition of buildings at Atterbury Developments’ Club Phase 3 for WBHO; and for Grinaker LTA at the Nestle Noodle complex in Babelegi.

Tim Grinstead of WBHO was very impressed with the service that Draco provided. “They were very professional throughout the whole contract, from setting up on site, carrying out the demolition and clearing the site afterwards – they were a pleasure to work with.”

“One of the buildings they had to deal with was a 4-storey building that had two atriums, but only 2/3rds of the existing building was required to be demolished, and it needed to fall away from the existing building.  Draco achieved all this with the minimum of fuss, and I have no hesitation in recommending them to anyone.  They can have every confidence in Draco’s professionalism,” he said.

The project for Grinaker LTA at Nestle was a very big contract, involving the complete demolition of a 2-storey office block and four smaller buildings; another two storey office block where it was required to demolish the top storey and leave the bottom half intact; and the stripping of a 40 000m² warehouse (IBR and angles) which involved working at extreme height with lifelines and safety harnesses.

Charl Thompson of Grinaker LTA was very happy with Draco’s performance. “This was a difficult, controlled demolition, but Draco performed in an efficient, professional manner throughout.   I believe the service they provide on all their jobs is better than most others in the demolition industry.”

Draco will continue to grow its good reputation and business by simply “offering value, keeping it promises, respecting and treating its workforce fairly and by ensuring quality and safety in everything it does”

With almost R30-million of demolition work in prospect and with the Gauteng market under control, Draco is positioned to expand nationally and become a major force within the industry.

Contact:

Michelle or Teddy Habib

011 791 6600

info@dracodemolition.co.za

teddy@ dracodemolition.co.za