Luke Volpato believes there is nothing extraordinary about his typical day on the job, so it does beg the question: Why does he like working at Kane so much?
His day begins at 5.30am, and as he grabs a coffee on the way to site, Luke contemplates the workload that will take up much of his day at the Emerald Apartments complex at Settlers Cove, Noosa. He also checks the surf as he drives to the site, mentally scheduling a trip to the beach with his kids Harrison (4) and Mila (2) this coming weekend.
A joiner by trade, Luke’s job is Contracts Administrator on this building project – a role he has held with Kane on the Sunshine Coast for almost a year. In his spare time, he studies for his Advanced Diploma of Building and Construction (Management), that is, when he’s not kitesurfing.
“I always wanted to work in the construction industry,” Luke explains. “I was given an opportunity last year to join Kane and haven’t looked back since.”
Arriving just after 6:30am on this particular day, Luke is grateful that he has the opportunity to work with a team who knows their stuff.
Kane’s Sunshine Coast crew have a mounting portfolio of project experience, recently adding high profile projects to their CVs – the Maroochy RSL refurbishment, Sunshine Coast Airport Terminal Redevelopment, the GP Super Clinics at Sippy Downs and Caboolture, the Caloundra Hospital Mental Health Ward refurbishment, new classroom buildings for Redcliffe State High School, Bounty Boulevard State School and Chancellor State College – just to name a few.
Luke says that the team is grateful for the opportunity to work with a view of Noosa’s north shore every day.
“It’s definitely an extraordinary work site, and there is no typical day here at Emerald Apartments as every day is different to the next with new issues and challenges always arising,” Luke said.
“I am constantly liaising with the project team to assist where I can. I also look after all subbie claims and invoicing.
“Keeping registers and drawings up-to-date, submitting Requests for Information and issuing Project Managers Instructions to subbies are frequent activities of my workday.”
If you ask Luke what he likes most about his job, he says it is the challenges that are the most rewarding.
“I’m learning new things every day – from the unforeseen issues, organising the next stage of the program, coordination of trades and timing, liaising with the client, right through to managing the budgets,” he says.
“Seeing the job taking shape, having happy clients, subcontractors and work colleagues at the end of each day is all I can hope for.”
