Ensuring project delivery

Rokon is a civil contractor with a diverse infrastructure building skill set.

Civil contractor Rokon prides itself on the prompt delivery of projects. As one of the largest civil contractors in Victoria, Rokon has a substantial and varied fleet of construction machinery which insurance broker PNO insurance and insurer UAA work together to tailor specialised policies.

In the September quarter of 2020 the Australian Bureau of Statistics found 1.175 million people were employed in construction in Australia. A large number of these employees are civil engineers or on-site workers. These civil engineering companies transform green and brownfields environments into the towns and infrastructure that facilitate the country’s growth.

Rokon has a diverse infrastructure building skill set, contracting to major developers in the state, including Frasers, Lendlease, Stockland, AVID, Goodman and Dexus. Rokon transforms farmland into lots for residential builders or large industrial sites. The company also perform bulk earthworks for subdivisions or construction and constructs wetlands and waterways.

Company directors Jim Thomas and Steve Traicevski have built the business over 20 years from its beginning with two employees, to a team in excess of 200 people.

Some of the company’s current projects include the Amber, Aurora, Bloomdale and Windermere estates in the outer metropolitan Melbourne suburbs as well as the Burwood Brickworks project.

To produce the civil infrastructure and major construction elements for these projects, Rokon own a comprehensive fleet of machinery.

Jim Thomas, Rokon Director, advises the business owns excavators from five to 90 tonne, bulldozers from D6 size to D8, large open bowl twin powered scrapers, graders, compactors, rock crushing equipment, loaders, articulated dump trucks, trucks and trailers, and water carts.

“This equipment works on producing bulk earthworks, drainage construction, pavement construction, electrical and Telstra installations for large subdivisions within Victoria. The rock crushing equipment also allows us to produce our own crushed rock for projects,” he says.

This fleet of plant and machinery spans across the Victorian metropolitan area to ensure the most efficient machinery can be used on each project.

The upkeep and insurance of these machines is integral to Rokon’s works, ensuring every machine is utilised effectively for the many projects across Victoria.

Rokon works with PNOinsurance, who are a specialist insurance broker in the construction industry to tailor an insurance program with a key focus on the mobile plant and equipment coverage provided from Underwriting Agencies of Australia (UAA).

UAA specially designs insurance cover for mobile plant and equipment. The team has extensive experience in the construction sector dating back over 30 years and understand the unique challenges presented by civil construction such as the importance of an extensive repair network and heavy costs of downtime.

“Dealing with an insurer that understands the value of the equipment we own, and the urgency of replacement machinery has helped us to save time and money on either damaged or stolen equipment. This is key to our ongoing success,” Thomas says.

Through PNO, UAA and Rokon are able to work together to contribute to the safe and continuous operation of Rokon’s equipment.

“Most important to our business is that the machinery keeps on working, so if we have damage that requires timely repairs, we can immediately hire a replacement machine to continue the work.”

PNO works directly with both the client and insurer to tailor cover for each business. Over three decades PNO and its staff have worked to become experts in their fields, anticipating the demands of the construction, transport and professional service industries.

The deep industry knowledge of the PNO team helps address the exposures of Rokon, and other construction clients, from not only a plant and equipment perspective but also additional areas of risk such as public liability, contract works, management liability and cyber insurance.

“Working with John Percey and the team at PNO is great as we get an understanding of potential ‘holes’ in our cover. We also get advice on how we can potentially save money by not over insuring,” Thomas says.

Through the combination of specialist insurance from UAA and the expertise of PNO brokers, Rokon is able to adequately cover exposures across its fleet of civil machinery, to keep projects running smoothly.

At Rokon, Thomas says specialised insurance from UAA helped immensely when the company experienced a costly event. In this instance, Rokon were covered and only had to provide the excess for major repairs.

“From UAA we also get an extra 15 per cent buffer on equipment value that ensures our machinery is valued at market rate.”

One of Rokon’s founding values is its commitment to delivery. Successful projects completed on time are integral to the company and the strong partnerships it has with its clients.

“We believe that working with people that understand our business minimises delay and disruption to our projects. This is a key factor in enabling us to successfully deliver for our clients” Thomas says.

The quick assessment of machinery, and the value provided through PNO and UAA, assists Rokon to deliver successful, safe and quality projects across Victoria, as the business continues to grow.