JACMI raises the bar in construction management

MANILA, Philippines - As the real estate boom shows no signs of abating, most property owners are increasingly relying on construction managers to oversee their projects – from groundbreaking to turnover.

At the top of this new breed of real estate professionals is Jose Aliling Construction Management Inc. (JACMI), led by its president and COO Jose Ramon Aliling who, at only 34, has already accomplished numerous achievements in this field.

A construction management firm, he says, is a company hired to protect the interest of the project’s owners, dealing with design execution to nitty-gritty details such as supply procurement and inventory.

“Most owners have little or no knowledge at all of the construction stages. Thus, we, as a company, make sure that we insulate them from risks like overpriced and  sub-standard products, faulty designs, and even incompetent workers,” Aliling adds.

Since taking over the business from his father in 2003, JACMI’s portfolio grew from managing five projects at a time to handling 40 simultaneous projects to date, with a combined cost of P82 billion.

These projects range from schools to high-rise offices, churches to commercial complexes, and resorts and hotels including Shangri-La Resort and Spa Boracay, Oakwood Premier, Makati Diamond Residences, Discovery Suites, Ascott Hotel, Twin Oaks Place, and Alphaland Makati Place, among others.

Stamped with rock-solid and unwavering integrity, which Aliling says distinguishes JACMI from its peers, the firm went on to become the only construction management company in the country with a triple ISO certification for management system, environment, and occupational health and safety.

“Integrity is the heart of this profession. We have to deal with the obstacles of systemic corruption, incompetence of engineers, and short cuts in quality control procedures, so our clients feel their investments are safe and secure.”

He likens their job to that of a movie director, executing the script in the form of the architect’s design, to put together a structural showcase funded by the producers or the investors themselves.

“There are two phases in a project – design and construction. The architect takes care of the design, and we take on the actual construction. So we work on the project from its groundbreaking until it is turned over to the owners,” Aliling says.

Aside from his company’s track record, Aliling himself has become an industry trailblazer as not only an engineer of infrastructure but of transformation and empowerment.

At 26, he was the first and youngest civil engineer in the DLSU College of Engineering board of advisers; youngest president of the Construction Project Management Association of the Philippines and youngest director of the Confederation of Filipino Consulting Organizations Inc. at 29.

As early as 2003, he was already involved in managing pro-bono church and socio-civic projects, and has spearheaded and developed the Probinsiyanong Inhinyero program where young and hopeful engineers from schools in the provinces are hired and trained so that they may have the opportunity to be at par with those from premier schools.  Many of these engineers have, in fact, gained employment in senior management positions in top developers such as Ayala Land, SM Land, Filinvest and Empire East.

Aliling was also instrumental  in developing the original construction management manual and customized software for transparency, accountability, continuous improvement of the construction management system.