HanmiGlobal strives for top quality construction
HanmiGlobal President Kim Chang-rae speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at his company’s headquarters in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul, May 30. / Courtesy of HanmiGlobal
By Jhoo Dong-chan
HanmiGlobal is introducing more efficient and transparent practices in construction with its differentiated value-driven management services for clients.
HanmiGlobal President Kim Chang-rae said the nation’s top construction management (CM) company plays a third-party role by connecting their clients with construction companies.
“HanmiGlobal’s primary role is to oversee whether a construction project reflects the demands of a client’s values and purpose for the project,” said Kim during an interview with The Korea Times at his company’s headquarters in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul, May 30.
“The CM that HanmiGlobal offers is about active engagement in all processes of construction. The company is not only supervising construction itself but is involved in consulting, planning, design, government approval and even post-construction management to maximize what clients get out of the project.”
The concept of CM was introduced to Korea in 1996 following a series of manmade tragic accidents ― the collapses of Seongsu Bridge in 1994 and Sampoong Department Store in 1995. Both disasters, the result of faulty design and shoddy construction, caused great human suffering and death. The errors riddling both projects could have been avoided with third-party supervision and post-construction management.
In a bid to prevent such manmade disasters from recurring, Kim Jong-hoon established HanmiGlobal in 1996 as the nation’s first CM company. HanmiGlobal has since taken a leading role in the industry, building its global influence.
Baghdad International Airport
As a supervising CM firm, HanmiGlobal has been involved in major Korean construction projects including the luxury Samsung Tower Palace buildings in Gangnam, southern Seoul, Seoul World Cup Stadium in Sangam-dong, western Seoul, and the 123-story Lotte World Tower in Jamsil, southeastern Seoul.
It has also participated in various overseas projects, including the construction of power plants in the Arbil Kurdish Autonomous Region and Baghdad International Airport in Iraq, and is now carrying out the Manila Bay Resort project in the Philippines.
Kim said CM companies are expected to improvise as the regulatory framework varies from country to country and continues to dictate local and regional construction methods and practices.
“The government is emphasizing energy efficiency and eco-friendly construction, imposing an increasing number of related regulatory measures on the industry,” said Kim. “Such trends are found not only in Korea but are universal. Meeting the regulations requires CM firms to have more diversified expertise in construction.”
In order to meet the new demands of environment-friendly construction, HanmiGlobal recently took over Ecosian, an environmental consulting and energy-efficiency company.
Manila Bay Resort
Following in HanmiGlobal’s footsteps, many construction companies have started their own CM services at competitive prices.
Kim said, however, that his company is still selective when bidding for contracts and is not interested in winning as many deals as possible at the lowest price.
“Some say that HanmiGlobal is a little too expensive,” said Kim. “But we believe that the company should offer ultimate value in construction for our clients’ best interests, and that doesn’t come cheap, though in the long run, it is cost efficient. They eventually come back to us for our differentiated service quality.”
For the last several years, HanmiGlobal has looked to overseas markets in its efforts to diversify its revenue sources.
It established a corporate body with the U.K.-based top project management and quantity surveyor Turner And Townsend in 2010. The following year, HanmiGlobal took over the U.S.-based engineering firm Otak to strengthen its urban design and engineering capabilities, and acquired construction design firm I-arc in 2014.
Last year, HanmiGlobal entered the Japanese CM market, establishing its local branch of Otak Japan in October. With its Japanese extension, HanmiGlobal now operates in 11 countries, including the U.S., China and Saudi Arabia.
According to Engineering News Record, a U.S.-based construction magazine, the company ranked 18th among non-U.S. firms in total global construction and project management fees in 2013.
Marking its 20th anniversary this year, HanmiGlobal is offering a free construction consulting program which will see participation from some 20 construction-related experts both inside and outside the company as a form of talent donation.
The company was awarded a prize as the best place to work for four years in a row starting 2003 and selected as one of the nation’s top 10 Best Employers in 2013.