When CCI Plumbing of Lakewood, Colorado, secured a contract to work on a new three-story senior-living facility, it seemed like a good time to consider pressing.It would be a new venture for the seasoned company and staff, and after President Jed Mallard took two of his project managers to Nashua, New Hampshire, for training, they were all sold on Viega products.
They returned home, and CCI invested in multiple sets of Ridgid press tools to use for the project, which includes all the plumbing, water and gas pipe for the 165,000-square-foot building. The facility has multiple commercial kitchens and dining areas, a salon, spa, indoor pool and fitness areas, as well as 141 tenant units, which gave CCI the opportunity to install Viega ProPress, MegaPress, PureFlow Press and ManaBloc products in a variety of sizes.
“We knew that we would be able to save on installation costs but did not really have a good baseline to know exactly what that would look like,” Mallard said.
Mallard has been in the commercial construction and services industry for more than 27 years. He purchased CCI – established in 1989 – in late 2015 and has been building on the company’s legacy. One of his goals is to have a broad array of projects to pursue, and Mallard knew that utilizing pressing technology could help him diversify his offerings.
“I’ve been fortunate to have real-life experiences and exposure to many aspects of our industry,” Mallard said. “I’ve had the good fortune to work alongside and learn from some very talented people. One common theme that has stood out to me through my positions is that there is almost always a better way to do something, and just because something has always been done a certain way doesn’t mean that’s the best way.”
This was top of mind when he considered adopting press technology.CCI Plumbing had previously done some crimp ring work through the years, but Mallard said his field crews didn’t much care for the system – there were too many factors and limitations that could affect installation that could cause leaks. Upon reading some case studies about Viega fittings, he said he and his staff felt like the system had a very low margin of error. He wanted to learn more.
Ferguson helped facilitate the introduction between CCI and Viega, bringing District Manager Roy Sevigny out to give an introduction to Viega products. When Mallard was ready to make the final decision of whether to go with Viega or a competitor, he chose to attend training in Nashua at the Viega facility.
“The training [in Nashua] was great. It was a good mix of introduction, product capability, real-world field knowledge from the presenter Troy [Locke], hands-on experience and real-life scenarios.”
Mallard said he wanted two of his senior project managers to attend the training to help make the decision and to get buy-in from the field. If they weren’t sold on Viega then he wouldn’t make the investment.
“I needed to know that my guys who would be using the tools and installing these products felt that this was a better way to do things as well,” he said. Everyone was in favor.
Mallard said he was also impressed by the support he knew he’d receive from his local representative, Sevigny, and the staff at Ferguson, and knowing that Viega had recently relocated its North American headquarters to the Denver area was also a factor, because he liked that the company was investing in his home state.
He met other contractors at Nashua during training, who had already implemented Viega products, and Mallard said he heard all good things from them. That positive reputation was also a plus.
As Mallard continues to grow his business, he’s excited to have Viega in his arsenal. The door is wide open for possibilities.
“I can see Viega also being huge for the retrofit market, where time is a big factor,” he said. “It can be a big advantage on a project with critical time constraints and factors. We see the Viega products and tools helping to diversify the projects we can take on.”
