Active participants in the Master Builders awards program, Lyons have been named South West Commercial Builder of the Year five times and Regional Commercial Builder of the Year on three occasions. Steve has been charged with submitting the applications, something he says is worth the effort.
“There’s a lot of work to actually do a job, and there’s not a lot of work at the end to do an awards submission,” he explains.
“Master Builders have made it relatively easy. You’ve got to be in it to win it, and it’s just a good experience. To say that you’ve won an award is a pretty special thing, but more importantly it gives recognition to our staff and subcontractors who have made it happen.”
“We use the legal team from time to time to get advice and I think something a lot of members don’t know is that it’s free advice that you can get through the legal department and that might be just checking contracts, legal documents or asking for advice,” Steve explains.
“Going to your own solicitor for advice costs a lot of money, why would you do that when you can do the same thing through Master Builders for free?”
“John Darcy and the OHS team have great knowledge about OHS and if you’re unsure of something you can always contact them and they’ll give you straight advice. It’s very handy,” Steve says.
“We do a lot of training with Master Builders, particularly the OHS side of it,” he continues.
“This year we had an OHS refresher course that was held by Master Builders for all of our staff.”
He explains how the industrial relations team are also a valuable part of their member services.
“We get constant advice from Master Builders on industrial relations that could stem from an EBA or dealing with the unions or rates of pay,” Steve says.
“We find that they’re very good, particularly when you need immediate advice that they’re very good to jump on it straight away and get back to us nice and quickly.”
You can’t talk about the Geelong building industry without mentioning Lyons Construction. The family owned and operated firm has been building some of Geelong’s most important and recognisable structures for 87-years. Master Builders Life Member Norm Lyons and his brother Kevin (although now semi-retired) have been instrumental in developing the company over decades and setting a course for the next generation.
It was their father Eric and Uncle Allan who first started the business in 1929 at the height of the Great Depression by building a soldier settler home near Echuca followed by one classroom schools in the western district.
Norm tells of how important Master Builders has always been in the life of the business. His father was president of Geelong’s Master Builders Association in the 1960s before the association joined Master Builders Association of Victoria.
“Master Builders has always been a huge part of my life, as a teenager I’d go with my dad to some of the meetings and then at 22-years-of-age I was fortunate enough to win an Australian Overseas Foundation Scholarship (AOF),” Norm recalls.
“This provided the opportunity to work and study building construction in the United Kingdom for three years.”
“That was a life changing experience for me. Master Builders funded the scholarship and I’m forever grateful.”
Norm is now on the board of the AOF.
Always a family run business, Managing Director Gary Iacono who has given nearly 40 years’ service to Lyons Construction and is ably supported by Norm’s son Steve who joined the company 20 years ago. Steve is now a director and Kevin’s daughter Christine is an advisory board member.
In the 50 years that Lyons Construction have been members of Master Builders they have utilised nearly all of the products and services available. Norm was awarded Life Membership in 2012 and holds the record for attending 33 consecutive State Conferences.
“We like to attend those to keep up with what’s happening in the industry and certainly other information sessions that Master Builders has from time to time. It’s important to be well informed,” he said.
Another way that the staff at the company use their membership to keep abreast of what’s happening in the industry is by sending Managing Director Gary Iacono to Geelong Section meetings. He is a committee member and says that meetings are a valuable source of information and networking opportunities.
“The section meetings are good to go along and discuss local issues and bounce things off your peers,” Gary explains.
“A lot of the time you’ll go and realise other people are having similar issues. It’s important that the company is up to date with what’s happening in the construction industry and also to help encourage others who are starting out to come along and give them an idea about what transpires in the industry,” he continues.
“It’s good for your knowledge and understanding. You get good feedback from other people and there are good guest speakers and it’s just good to be updated.”
Lyons is a community oriented building group that strives to stay involved and engaged with the local community. That community mindedness extends to the next generation of potential tradespeople, something Norm is passionate about fostering. Together with other Geelong Section members he has pioneered a program connecting local school students with the building industry in an attempt to inspire them to choose a trade career. Norm has led site visits to some Lyons Construction sites with more than 60 Geelong secondary students going through the program this year.
“It’s a good thing, and the kids get a lot out of it,” Norm says.
“I’d like to encourage other sections to do it too because we are going to need tradespeople for the future and unless you’ve got people coming as apprentices, we’re going to be short,” he explains.
Active participants in the Master Builders awards program, Lyons have been named South West Commercial Builder of the Year five times and Regional Commercial Builder of the Year on three occasions. Steve has been charged with submitting the applications, something he says is worth the effort.
“There’s a lot of work to actually do a job, and there’s not a lot of work at the end to do an awards submission,” he explains.
“Master Builders have made it relatively easy. You’ve got to be in it to win it, and it’s just a good experience. To say that you’ve won an award is a pretty special thing, but more importantly it gives recognition to our staff and subcontractors who have made it happen.”
Lyons are regular users of many other Master Builders services including legal, OHS and industrial relations advice.
“We use the legal team from time to time to get advice and I think something a lot of members don’t know is that it’s free advice that you can get through the legal department and that might be just checking contracts, legal documents or asking for advice,” Steve explains.
“Going to your own solicitor for advice costs a lot of money, why would you do that when you can do the same thing through Master Builders for free?”
Lyons utilise the OHS training and advice as support for their OHS manager.
“John Darcy and the OHS team have great knowledge about OHS and if you’re unsure of something you can always contact them and they’ll give you straight advice. It’s very handy,” Steve says.
“We do a lot of training with Master Builders, particularly the OHS side of it,” he continues.
“This year we had an OHS refresher course that was held by Master Builders for all of our staff.”
He explains how the industrial relations team are also a valuable part of their member services.
“We get constant advice from Master Builders on industrial relations that could stem from an EBA or dealing with the unions or rates of pay,” Steve says.
“We find that they’re very good, particularly when you need immediate advice that they’re very good to jump on it straight away and get back to us nice and quickly.”
All of Lyons’ insurances are also with Master Builders.
“All of our insurances are done through MBA Insurance Services. They are a great service to us,” Steve explains.
Lyons also uses the Find a Master Builders service to get work “it’s very handy in helping to get work,” Steve explains.
Lyons Construction’s current projects include retail/commercial, apartments, a number of education and community projects, including a $20M aged care facility at Torquay.
“Support your community, support your staff. With a successful community around you, your business will also be successful,” Norm says.
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