Stephen Pouppirt on building a business and more

Builder Stephen W. Pouppirt tries not to be obvious about it, but when someone happens to invite him to a party in an apartment his company built, Pouppirt goes on the prowl.

"I take great pride in being there and seeing what we did, knowing what the hell it took for that to happen," said Pouppirt, 53, chief executive of Clemens Construction Co., which is based in Center City.

Which residences?

Two Liberty Place, the Drake, Southstar Lofts, AQ Rittenhouse, and now, 1112-1128 Chestnut St. are among Clemens' projects.

Clemens, a general contractor, also handles its own carpentry construction.

Are you in the bathroom, checking out caulking?

For me, kitchens. I want to see if it all lines up, all the cabinets. Then I will look at bathrooms, where the detail is. Tile work, joints, the base details - just to make sure that the frames were caulked to the wall and that it's right.

Since it began, Clemens has always been a union company. Why?

The quality of the work, the quality of the workforce, the quality of the companies. Non-union tends - and, of course, there are ones that are opposite of what I'm going to tell you - but they tend to have a smaller work staff, can't man the job. In the non-union world now in the rest of the country, they have a tremendous shortage of manpower. A lot of places can't promise a schedule [because of shortages]. It will be done when it's done.

What about here?

Because we're union, we have never had that shortage of manpower, and even now, we're probably getting close, but we can man these jobs.

Do reports of ironworkers' vandalism, the fistfight between labor leader John Dougherty and a non-union contractor, and other protests, with or without the inflatable rat, affect your ability to get work?

I don't think any of that bad press is helpful to our industry. [But], it hasn't affected us at all. We're committed to [union construction] and all our customers are committed to union construction. It's a delivery model that works. It's predictable. It's consistent.

What's going to be the next big trend in construction?

More and more work will happen offsite. Bathrooms are being built offsite and shipped in, in pods. Everything can be fabricated offsite, especially in the plumbing and fitting and sheet-metal business.

How is that helpful?

It makes us more efficient. Ceramic tile can happen in a factory, for example. It's done in a warm building. It's maybe just a tad higher quality than in the field. There's less to deal with.

Are you a checklist person?

Well, you know, our industry ends with the punch list.

Is that what you forgot to do?

There's forgot or they're not right or they're scratched or they're dirty. Our most successful jobs are where we think backward, where we prep for the punch list to minimize it.

Finish, get paid, get out.

That's what the owner remembers, how you finished - turned over, on time, clean, ready. Nothing is more maddening to a client than dragging that out for months. We spend an inordinate amount of time planning. We win or lose in the planning. Chaos is the enemy of this business.

Do you build at home?

I don't have the time or interest. I'm not that good, either.

You've risen through the ranks in construction management. Any lessons?

Early in my career I reported to a vice president, who said two things. Number one, there is no clock here. There's no 8-5. Just take care of the job. If you want to go to lunch with your fraternity brothers for three hours, do it.

Two, if you get in a mess, don't hide it, because it will just get worse. Come to me and, normally, the two of us can figure it out early and it won't be nearly as big a problem. Don't worry about making mistakes, because only people that don't make mistakes aren't doing anything.

Interview questions and answers have been edited for space.

jvonbergen@phillynews.com

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@JaneVonBergen