two buildings. In fact, since many military
and civilian personnel are currently working
from home or other remote locations,
it’s actually made it a little easier for MNK
Mechanical staff to go about their work.
“The buildings have not been as busy as
they normally would be. It’s actually made
it a bit easier that way,” Kaluzniak said with
a laugh.
However, the pandemic has resulted
in some supply chain issues, which have
resulted in lengthy delays in obtaining parts
for the project.
“If we had ready-access to all of the
equipment, it would have amounted to
about three to four months’ worth of work.
But it’s going to be strung out longer than
that just because we can’t get the stuff we
need. You can’t just start at Point A and
finish at Point B,” he said.
“In the Q-114 building, we have to
supply a small energy recovery ventilator. It
would be something you might put in a big
house. It’s not a huge piece of equipment,
but the delivery on it right now is 14 weeks.
Normally, it would be three to four weeks.
The worst part has been that there has been
no consistency in terms of the delivery
of equipment.”
BRANDON
FEATURE
Kaluzniak says working with the federal
government and Department of Defence
hasn’t been any more challenging than with
any other commercial job. The only real
difference, he says, is the myriad of protocols
that must be followed and the reams of
paperwork that need to be filled out.
“There is so much more paperwork that
you don’t see … if you are working for a
private company or an owner/operator,” he
said. “They have these halocarbon service
logs where every time you work on a piece
of equipment there, it’s all got to be documented
and there are multiple copies that
have to go to different facets of the operation.
Once you get used to the system, it’s
not so bad.”
Although MNK Mechanical is the primary
contractor on the two CFB Shilo
projects, Kaluzniak stresses it has by
no means been a solo effort. His company
has been using a number of fellow
CARM members as subcontractors
including Jamieson-Judd, Nickel Electric
and Brandon Avenue Electric to wire
units and relocate appliances. Ben Wiebe
Construction, Westman Premiere Homes
and CW2 Construction and Design
have handled the majority of the civil or
construction work onsite. In addition,
Winnipeg-based Johnson Controls has
handled much of the work on the base’s
control system since their software was
already installed in a number of buildings
on the base.
Kaluzniak says much of the work his
company is doing at CFB Shilo likely won’t
be noticed by military personnel or visitors
to the base.
“I don’t think it’s going to change a lot
for the people in the buildings,” he said.
“Someone who’s been there 10 or 15 years
might notice a little bit better air quality,
but it’s more of an energy upgrade
than anything.
“A lot of it is replacement work where
they’ve already had a piece of existing
equipment. It’s just we’re putting in new
equipment that is more energy efficient
and has some heat-recovery capabilities.
The main thing is it’s going to be newer
equipment so they’re going to be able to
operate it with a little more precision.” n
BUILDING RURAL MANITOBA | 23
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