Oak Contracting, which formed from the McShain Co. in 1971, specializes in K-12 and medical buildings, and says it looks forward to taking on more projects in the medical sector.

Some construction companies have certain niches they specialize in. Oak Contracting, for example, specializes in K-12 schools and medical buildings. Focused on school construction from its early days, the firm says it has progressively built its foundation on serving clients' needs first and foremost.

“Making our owner's best interest our top priority is part of Oak's culture instilled by our founder and still practiced today,” the company states. “This tradition has afforded us continued success, a multitude of awards and has allowed us to build lasting relationships in the industry. Our clients tell us it's also our team of seasoned professionals - averaging 28 years' total experience, 20 years with Oak and 14 years in construction management - that contribute to bringing their projects in on time and on budget while not sacrificing quality or safety.”

Oak Contracting is a regional construction management firm which formed from the John T. McShain Co. It specializes in new construction and renovation projects for the K-12 and medical research sectors, but also does work for higher education, non-profit and commercial projects typically ranging from $5 million to $100 million in value. Dominick Dunnigan, director of sales and marketing, says about 80 percent of Oak Contracting's revenue comes from K-12 and higher education, and it acts as the construction manager for 99 percent of its jobs.

“We pride ourselves on our ability to consistently turn out a high-quality product, so owners are always satisfied,” he says. “That's the kind of experience everyone wants, and that's the kind of experience we bring to every project.”

McShain Co. to Oak Contracting
During the 1940s and 1950s, the McShain Co. became one of the biggest builders in the nation with its most noteworthy projects located in Washington, D.C., including the Jefferson Memorial, the Pentagon, the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Thomas Grey was a senior project manager for the McShain Co. at the time it left the Baltimore area to focus on projects in its hometown market, Philadelphia. He agreed to complete the remaining projects in the area and formed Oak Contracting as a general contractor in 1971.

While finishing these projects, Oak Contracting began to take on new work and landed its first project, the Harbor Master's Office in Annapolis, Md. In 1992, Oak Contracting completed its first project as construction manager, the Elkridge Elementary School in Howard County, Md.

In 1996, the company shifted its focus solely to construction management services and continued expanding its expertise in the K-12 market.

The company is currently completing two projects this summer - Veterans Elementary School in Howard County and Parkland Middle School in Montgomery County - both in Maryland. Veterans Elementary is a brand-new, 117,000-square-foot, $18.5 million job that will include a two-story media center, cafeteria, auditorium and gym.

Parkland Middle School is a comprehensive modernization located in Rockville. Dunnigan says about 40 percent of the building was knocked down and the remaining 60 percent reused the existing steel structure, roof decking, masonry and slabs.

“We completely renovated the interior of the remaining structure and built a completely new 71,852-square-foot addition,” he says. The improved middle school is 143,299 square feet total, with a total cost of $28.9 million. Seventy-five percent of construction waste was recycled and no epoxy paint or flooring was used.

“The county focused on what they could salvage for the environment - reusing parts of the building also reduced the overall cost for the project,” he says. “We installed all-new electrical, plumbing and mechanical systems into the existing school and built a new, two-story academic wing.”

Tight Deadline
Oak Contracting completed the Dr. Henry A. Wise, Jr. High School in Prince George's County, Md., in late summer 2006. Dunnigan says this was one of the largest high schools in the area at 434,600 square feet, with a 5,000-seat gymnasium and a 950-seat auditorium. The company had 27 months to complete it. “Twenty-seven months is the standard time frame for a high school half that size,” he says, “and we had to have it complete so the kids could start school in time.”

To stay within the schedule, Dunnigan says when the county began applying for permits, Oak Contracting put bid packages together and fast-tracked some aspects of the design.

When the packages were awarded, Oak Contracting “hit the ground running,” Dunnigan says. “The contract packages were very detailed. Once the contract packages were bid, we met with each contractor to make sure they knew exactly what was on the scope. Then it was managed from there.”

The final construction costs totaled $78.2 million.

Expanding Horizons
In the future, Dunnigan says Oak Contracting would like to get more into the medical/healthcare industry.

“With aging baby boomers and hospital work out there, we feel we have some expertise based on our higher education work,” he says. In addition, the company completed 300,000 square feet of malaria and AIDS research labs for Johns Hopkins University in 2004.

The company hopes to use its experience on that job to further break into the medical industry.