project coordinator

journeyperson carpenter

project manager

superintendent

estimator

Chandos Construction

To sum it up, they are very disorganized as a company. Management wants to grow the company but they are clueless on how to go about doing so. They continuously hire and place unqualified and inexperienced staff to run jobs. Unable to harness talent and senior management lacks discipline and often displays ignorance when it comes to employees performance and growth. You will never build a career at this company. If you're looking for a job,  then this would be an average fit but don't expect too much. There's nothing meaningful to learn at this company, it's all about business and every group operates as their own clueless unit. 
Just a matter of time before clients realize their incompetence and black list them from future bids. Speaking of bidding, their estimators do a fine job at underbidding projects along with constant scope gaps, so imagine being the Manager having to deal with a slim budget and a team of incompetent staff (go figure). Lack of experienced support staff, you're basically a one person show doing everything under the sun meanwhile only the top 5% staff enjoys majority of the company shares. If you're a magician, you're hired but If you're looking to build a career, stay away from this company.

Chandos is a great employer overall. You will not feel like a number here and the company employees are friendly and approachable. They are company owned, so they offer great profit sharing opportunities - starting at one year of employment. Many of the senior managers of the companies who have been with the company for 15+ years are said to be millionaires. The company believes in developing it's employees. The CEO is well respected throughout the construction community and meets with it's staff quarterly(all pm's, pc's, superintendents, foremen, marketing staff, estimators) to brief them on the direction of the company and does a great job at keeping people in the loop. They are constantly looking at new ways to improve. The Edmonton and Calgary office both have a different dynamic in their workplace and both feel different, which is to be expected when not at headquarters. The Calgary office has done a great job at integrating and making a place for themselves in the Calgary community and has grown that branch quickly.

Most of what this company boasts about is a total lie. People at all levels are under supported and then vilified when they bring up issues. Huge safety and quality concerns with employees driving personal vehicles for work purposes, hauling material, trailers etc. (recently one crashed), Superintedents rarely showing up on projects and lying about it etc. Field management rarely return phone calls or emails especially if the conversations will turn difficult. The “EFLT” acts as a complete sham and doesn’t have the spine to uphold their own preachings. The pay is a bit higher than other places but it isn’t worth being treated so poorly. This company could care less that you are away from your family or that you don’t have the support or tools to do your job. Don’t believe anything they say about mentorship, training or advancement. They will lie about the conversation and deny it even happened. met some pretty solid field workers here and that will be one of the only reasons that this company gets more than 1 star. Everything wrong with the construction industry is amplified and propagated by Chandos. To the core. 

Most projects are/were poorly estimated and appeared to be losing money.

Dissatisfaction amongst site management and Office

Upper office management is not in touch with serious issues and concerns with employees and does not appear to care. Either that or the communication level is purposely vague or deceiving.

Systemic issues throughout the Vancouver office of Chandos.

Outright lie to the Clients about issues going on, even though they sell themselves as transparent and honest.

Many systems and protocols, but none are cohesive or work properly. No proper training.

Safety issues are hidden and if brought up, you are accused of not being a "team player" 

Most PMs, PCs are given too many projects and are not able to be effective which causes many issues.

They say they are a "family" business, but a cult is more suitable.

Employees are under valued and under appreciated if not outright disrespected. Which may explain the high turnover rate.

I do not believe this review to be exaggerated or deceiving. I would just not recommend Chandos to anyone at this time. They have a long ways to go when I worked there.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The pay is good. Nothing else is though. This company bids jobs far to low and there for a very lean crew. This makes it very hard on Forman and general Forman. Do not expect help or training to progress a career here either.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
This company hangs Forman up to dry. Giving the responsibility of a GF and not healing along the way. It's a sink or swim atmosphere.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Field works are sweet and fun to work with. Dealing the superintendents I would much rather have teeth pulled without freezing.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
For a Forman and general Forman it is a high stress position. When it really doesn't need to be. Nothing is planned out right and you will be talked do to for throwing out solid ideas to help.

The company is professional and typically does things by the book...mostly but seems to have no control over sub-contractors. They are trying to reinvent the wheel with IPD type jobs. They tout this integrated project delivery as the be all and end all in construction. They offer all kinds of training and seminars that the Chandos "inner party" take very seriously in their echo chamber meetings, but the reality is that ipd is not that different on a practical level. Maybe the difference is in the business aspect but most people on site couldn't care less. Every job I've been on in the past has been better for organization, teamwork, flow of information and management. I gave it a chance for a few months but I was looking for jobs after a few weeks

As soon as you start with Chandos, you can tell it's a quickly growing company. The pace is fast, if you aren't able to think on your feet and put in the work for long term goals it may not be a fit for you.

If you have grit and determination, Chandos has unlimited opportunity to grow. I've moved in my role several times already in under 2 years. I've shifted responsibilities and added new ones that I would like experience in. I've never been with a company that is growing so quickly. The work done and continual improvement in social procurement is admirable and constantly evolving. 

Of course quick growth is going to come with some growing pains. Some processes and procedures still need some tweaking. I'm grateful to be along for the ride and excited to see where we go!!

I have been a chandos employee for just under a year now and i have currently been set aside to sit at home until work ramps up but the communication as to when ill be back to work is totally unprofessional! its been almost 3 weeks since ive had work and whenever i got a call for odd jobs to pick up in the mean time, they would be picked up by someone else! not to mention i would get calls at 9 pm at night and would miss the calls dues to personal reasons but would later return the phone calls as early as 7 am or 15 mins later and never did anyone pick up when i called back and my job would be gone never did i get information on the job that im being asked to go to or never did i ever get left a voicemail

I had many different jobs there we were building a convergys call center. Gyprocing,hanging doors,sheathing,building walls,etc. I learned alot in the 3 months i worked there as they let me work alot on my own with not much supervision. I learned alot about carpentry and industrial construction there very experienced co workers and supervisors. The hardest part would have to be installing industrial air conditioners, and working with steel studs because I did not do it before. Most enjoyable was learning new things and working with a very big and respected company, and helping in a big construction job.

I have enjoyed working for this company for years. I find that most workers that I have come into contact with are polite and friendly. I have not had major issues with foremen, but sometimes there are challenges with specific superintendents. Overall, safety is very valued and promoted and the pay and benefits are competitive. As with most general contractors, there is a tendency for project management to subcontract carpentry tasks which leaves less skilled work for carpenters to do. This can create a felling of lower self esteem, as we are not trained and trusted to do more.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Project coordinator 9 salaries reported	$78,483 per year
Journeyperson carpenter 1 salary reported	$32.50 per hour
Project manager 13 salaries reported	$131,412 per year
Superintendent 15 salaries reported	$131,033 per year
Estimator 12 salaries reported	$93,458 per year

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