Summary
Sam talks to Vern from XL Structural Steel to find out just how big of a building they could build for you. The uses for such buildings and more.
Links
https://www.xlstructural.co.nz/
Photos
Show Transcript
This transcript was generated by an AI and may not be 100% accurate. If you have questions about any of the information found here, please reach out to us.
Sam [00:00:21]:
Okay, welcome along to another episode in the Field Days 23 interview series. I am at XL Structural Steel, and the reason I’m at XL Structural Steel is I posted something on Facebook this morning saying we’re coming to Field Days, and they said, Come and have a talk to us. So here I am. Who wants to talk?
Ursula [00:00:41]:
I’m ursula. I’m marketing manager. And we’ve got vern here.
Sam [00:00:44]:
We got Vern.
Vern [00:00:46]:
Yes, I’m Vern from XL. I’m a project consultant here.
Speaker E [00:00:50]:
Excellent.
Sam [00:00:51]:
First off, I want to ask, where are you guys based?
Sam [00:00:52]:
I see you’ve got a whole bunch of projects here, some in the south, some in the North Island. So I thought I’d better ask, where are you based?
Vern [00:00:58]:
Yeah, so Design office is based in Timuru, but we do fabrication of our buildings in both the Waikato and in Timuru and offices also in Auckland as well.
Sam [00:01:11]:
Awesome. I like hearing fabrications happening in the Waikato.
Sam [00:01:14]:
Okay. So obviously you guys build structural Steel buildings. There’s some good examples here of big warehouses, fastening abrasive. Behind me in that one, there’s an aircraft hangar. What’s the largest building you’ve made?
Vern [00:01:29]:
So currently we’re doing a building of just over 8000 m².
Sam [00:01:33]:
So just a small one?
Vern [00:01:35]:
So fit a few rugby features into that.
Sam [00:01:39]:
That’s crazy. And what sort of business would that be for?
Vern [00:01:42]:
So that one’s for a grain storage. That’s a large grain storage facility. But we’re also doing, obviously, industrial buildings for factories as well as pretty typical.
Sam [00:01:58]:
That’s cool.
Sam [00:01:59]:
Obviously, steel is better than wood, I guess, or a traditional building.
Sam [00:02:05]:
What other benefits are there? I guess faster construction time.
Vern [00:02:10]:
So we get the large clear spans structural steel, it gives you a bigger clear span area. So we’re doing clear spans from 20 meters right through to 40, 50 meters. Clear spans.
Sam [00:02:23]:
Oh, wow. That’s crazy. As, what other exciting facts can you tell me about structural steel?
Vern [00:02:29]:
Not sure how to answer that, but yeah, that’s okay.
Speaker G [00:02:34]:
You got any questions, Chris?
Chris [00:02:36]:
You guys have been here at Field Days for a few years now, and it’s worth coming back. So how much of the business is brought in just from being here at Field Days, do you reckon?
Vern [00:02:48]:
Yeah, so we do get a number of people calling in, and typically the people that come in are at the early planning stage of a process. So we have information on hand which takes them to early planning articles like, what is the cost per square meter of a building and how close to a boundary should I be going? And all those early planning questions. So that’s where Excel can help and get involved at the early stage to make sure you’re heading in the right direction for your next project.
Sam [00:03:21]:
With the increased costs of products in the world in general and say, let’s say timber and steel, is there huge price fluctuations currently?
Vern [00:03:30]:
So we have, in the last couple of years, seen cost increases, and that’s down to your raw materials, your shipping and your labor costs. So there’s quite a number of factors that have increased that we have seen a lot of costs stabilize in the recent 612 months, but it is something to still be aware of.
Speaker F [00:03:53]:
That’s cool.
Chris [00:03:55]:
Do you do design and build? I might have missed something there.
Vern [00:03:58]:
Yes, so we do do the design and build. So that’s, I guess where Excel Core is in the design. So we’ll come into a project as the lead consultant. And so there’s a number of factors in the design for an industrial build. Not just like a house, you get your local architect to do it and away you go. There’s structural, there’s architectural, there’s fire, there’s civil design, there’s geo. There’s a whole bunch that has to be pulled together and so that’s when dealing with council, we can pull that together and be that lead consultant.
Sam [00:04:35]:
It’s all package, whole package for you.
Speaker G [00:04:38]:
Which when you want a giant building with massive spans and a lot of space, that’s what you’re going for.
Chris [00:04:43]:
And do you just do New Zealand or you do Oz as well or what’s the story there?
Vern [00:04:49]:
So just New Zealand wide. This stage. So right through from northland to Southland. We’re doing projects right across the country, but just New Zealand.
Sam [00:05:00]:
Sounds like you’re about to branch out into buildings in Australia, Chris.
Chris [00:05:03]:
No, I’ve been doing a lot of work with Australian construction stuff recently, so that’s why I asked.
Sam [00:05:08]:
Fair enough. Anything you want to throw in there, Ursala?
Ursula [00:05:11]:
I’m good, thanks.
Speaker G [00:05:12]:
Good.
Sam [00:05:14]:
I’ve got a question to ask you, Verne. Do you listen to podcast?
Vern [00:05:17]:
Not typically.
Vern [00:05:18]:
Okay, that may be changing.
Sam [00:05:21]:
Well, you probably don’t have a favorite podcast that you listen to.
Speaker E [00:05:23]:
No.
Vern [00:05:23]:
But it looks like it’s going to be Chris and Sam moving forward.
Sam [00:05:26]:
That’s what we like to hear. What about you Ursula, podcast person?
Ursula [00:05:29]:
A little bit, yeah.
Sam [00:05:30]:
Give us one of the podcasts that you listen to.
Ursula [00:05:33]:
Gray matters, Petra Bagust
Speaker F [00:05:35]:
Yes.
Sam [00:05:36]:
Local podcast there. Good topic.
Ursula [00:05:39]:
Matter going forward.
Sam [00:05:40]:
Chris and Sam, we love it when people say that.
Sam [00:05:44]:
So thank you so much guys, from Excel Structural Steel.
Speaker G [00:05:47]:
Yeah, that’s awesome. Thanks.
Sam [00:05:49]:
Thanks a lot.
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