What happens when the people closest to our work are empowered to shape how it gets done?

Superintendent Paul Distante witnessed firsthand that it can spark change and innovation that moves the entire organization forward. On a Charlotte, North Carolina tenant improvement project for a confidential financial services client, Paul leveraged his four decades of field experience to implement a new core drilling approach that saved time, cost, material resources and made our team and trade partners more effective. Paul’s idea, which he shared through Balfour Beatty's My Contribution employee engagement program, has since been adopted across select special projects in the Charlotte region.

Few people consider what actions must happen to a building’s floors and flooring materials when undergoing renovation work—few people but field leaders like Paul that is. Paul, who is originally from Long Island, New York, spent much of his career performing tenant improvements in Manhattan high rises. When Balfour Beatty began the confidential financial services project, Paul was uniquely poised to contribute.

The project scope required the team to drill nearly 800 core holes for new data, telecommunications and power rooms, furniture and audiovisual (AV) systems. Before the start of core drilling operations, it is standard protocol to remove existing carpeting which is a time and labor-intensive exercise. Once drilling is complete, the carpeting is typically reinstalled or even replaced.

Paul, however, had identified a different way of working before he joined Balfour Beatty, and he was eager to improve.

A Smarter Approach to the Status Quo

Paul proposed leveraging the carpet protector (a cellophane-like material resembling Saran Wrap) to eliminate the need to remove carpeting. With the protector in place, his solution allows the project team to safely and accurately mark drilling locations and scan the floor beneath for obstacles such as rebar, conduits, and plumbing lines—all without damaging the carpet.

Once drilling commences, the project team ensures that water is vacuumed. When drilling is complete and the area dries overnight, the clear carpet protector can be removed, leaving a clean, round hole in the carpeted slab without any damage or concrete residue. As an added benefit, the protector also safeguards the carpet from water and concrete slurry.

It was an “aha” moment for the entire project team, which quickly adopted Paul’s idea and reaped benefits to their workflow efficiency, schedule, cost and even material sustainability. The team estimates that the idea helped save several weeks of flooring labor and valuable carpeting materials.

“Time is a big thing for us, because we run such a tight schedule,” affirms Paul.

To help cascade this innovation across the company, Vice President of Operations Mike Wehner encouraged Paul to enter his idea into My Contribution and also shared it on a national company operations call.

“It is important that our teammates share best practices, as we should always be learning as the construction industry evolves,” says Mike, who leads the company’s special projects market in the Carolinas. “Being able to share that knowledge with a larger group will ensure that we stay competitive and ahead of the curve.”

A Fresh Set of Eyes

Paul’s idea is proof that a fresh set of eyes on familiar work can reap tremendous benefits for our projects and teams. The ideas of field personnel are especially vital to foster a culture of improvement and innovation, because they encounter circumstances and tasks that office personnel are unlikely to experience in their day-to-day roles. Paul’s idea is the perfect case in point.

“One day, I just saw the box that was labeled ‘carpet protector,’” recalls Paul, who has been leveraging this solution for over a decade. “I needed to protect the carpet, and it just seemed obvious to me.”

Additionally, every Balfour Beatty teammate brings unique experiences and perspectives to their role, and no idea is too small to make an impact. The idea that seems self-evident to one may indeed be the breakthrough someone else never saw coming.