Graham Alexander

Graham has been intricately involved in the building industry for over thirty years, informing and learning from the industry. He has passionately pioneered the principle of calculating building costs correctly.

Purpose

After growing up in a construction industry family, Graham noticed at an early age that calculating building costs in the residential sector was a hit or miss scenario based on scant information. The desire to correct this became his life’s passion and everything he has undertaken since revolves around this concept. His business purpose is second to his family, which is his compass.

Buildaid

Graham founded the company Buildaid in 1988 and it has been the vehicle for most of his endevours. Most personal references in this CV are in conjunction with Buildiad and includes partners and collegues that shared a common goal.

Software development

Graham helped pioneer computerised cost estimating in association with Brett Schachat & Associates; the technology was offered to the market but was way ahead of its time. Some of this technology is still too advanced and its importance not understood to this day.

The computerised cost estimating technology was linked to a CAD system in 1989, whereby quantities where generated automatically from a drawing. This was a world first.

Graham is presently involved with the development of advanced cutting edge systems and services that will be launched in 2016.

Publishing

The Buildaid Building & Pricing Guide was the first book Buildaid published and now after 12 editions the publication is in its 23rd year and is used by most building contractors.

Graham has overseen the publishing of 31 books, on architecture and building technology including the best seller that features some of his architectural work, Made of Africa.

Teaching

At a young age, Graham was a guest presenter at Wits University, offering students an overview of computers in construction technology; particularly with regard to calculating quantities and costs.

Spreading the concept took him across the country teaching emerging builder’s how to read drawings and price correctly. Many of his lectures were in the then homelands and often the classrooms were under trees or in a dusty factory. He will always salute IBM Projects Fund, The Small Business Development Corporation, Cashbuild and African Bank for their belief at the time and he has fond memories of working with the Soweto Builder’s Association in the nineteen eighties.

In the late 1990’s, Graham managed the set-up of a training centre for Eskom where ex-miners were trained into the building industry. Under his guidance, candidates were tested for skills and learning ability and then trained into specific trades, including a few select students who were given training in entrepreneurship within the building industry. The project was an unprecedented success.

Architecture

In between the development of technology was architecture. While inventing systems to calculate quantities and costs, Graham recognised that the information on an average set of drawings was insufficient. After intense research, it was found that 60% of the information required to quote on a project was not on the average set of drawings. In an effort to improve this, he began operating an architectural firm linked to a cost estimating service. Over five hundred projects have since been completed with him designing many of these and ensuring that the information generated was adequate to calculate costs. In 2003 he was registered as a Senior Architectural Technologist through R.P.L.

Marketing

Graham thrives on working with marketing concepts. He achieved a Business Management Diploma soon after leaving school and later, an IMM certification. In addition to teaching, writing and designing, Graham has consulted on numerous marketing projects for businesses within the building industry, as well as founding one of the first advertising agencies to specialise in the building industry, The Marketing Department.