Mastering construction
Building confidence

A word from the Chairman

Since GA’s establishment in 1875, two core values have underpinned its development:

Expertise in construction. By incorporating the whole scope of building trades and services and industrializing production, we have gained optimal control of quality, lead times and costs. GAPEO®, the system we have been developing in-house for years, allows us to coordinate equipment and facilities, get feedback on energy consumption and optimize the information. This puts GA firmly ahead of other public works and civil engineering companies that have integrated sustainable development into their operations.

The trust our partners put in us. GA abides by decades-old values: the importance of honouring commitments, product quality, and constant innovation placed at the service of contracting owners. Our partners’ trust is a large part of what makes GA so successful.

Robert Dagrassa, Chairman of the Executive Board

Background

Auguste Guiraudie founded GA in 1875. In its early years the company was involved in major infrastructure works such as railways and the Canal du Nord. For the construction of the canal, GA created a brick-factory, a first step in the process of industrializing its trades.

Between the two world wars, GA participated actively in reconstruction. The company branched out into the building sector and by 1928 boasted its own engineering and design department in Amiens. It also opened an office in Paris, where it erected a large number of buildings. Dyking works along the Garonne River brought GA to the south-west and in 1936 it set up its head offices in Toulouse.

After the war, considerable rebuilding efforts were made in both industry and housing. GA stepped up its industrialized building approach while at the same time embarking on technical pre-stressing, a technique that had recently been developed by Eugène Freyssinet. It was industrialized building that enabled GA to complete 640 homes in the suburbs of Rouen in less than two years, an achievement so noteworthy that the company was featured on the evening news on the one television channel that existed in those days.

In the late 1970s GA set up business in the United States, where it gained expertise in industrial estates and began to focus more attention on durable architecture and workplace layout and comfort. In the 1990’s, out of growing concern for containing operating costs while providing users with optimal comfort and convenience, GA incorporated sustainable development values into its buildings. This policy gave rise to the development of GAPEO®, a computerized energy performance management tool that combines increasingly fine-tuned computer-aided management with efficient sophisticated equipment.

Organization

Customer satisfaction is our ultimate goal, so our organization is designed to provide the best service

Corporate engineers at GA Entreprise, as general contractor, take customers’ needs into account in the initial stages of their projects and participate in project designs together with architects.

Once planning permission is granted and the final contract signed, the Oméga engineering and design office produces all the working drawings, incorporating the impact of the mechanical and electrical (M&E) and finishings and fittings (F&F) trades.

Oméga’s plans are then sent to the group’s manufacturing plants for prefabrication. There, true to its tradition of industrialized building, GA produces structural components as organized by the process planning department.

The components are then shipped to the building site where they are incorporated into the construction by GA Entreprise teams.

A similar process is used for the supply of pre-manufactured aluminium joinery from Paquet Fontaine and Equilab’s lighting, heating and other equipment for occupier comfort.

GA Entreprise’s foreman is also responsible for putting the other M&E and F&F building trades into action, the ultimate aim being to hand over a building that is ready to use.

Some businesses don’t wish to buy their business premises. For these customers GA Promotion offers rental solutions on many building sites that it project manages or is able to do so.

GA Rénovation operates as a general contractor, carrying out all the works required to bring existing buildings into compliance with changes arising either from customers revising their requirements or from amendments in the regulations.

GA Services is able to offer building owners asset management, property management and administrative management. Although aimed primarily at institutional investors, this department can interest any owner. With regulations changing often, having the kind of professional management that GA Services can provide is an advantage.

Management

From left to right: F. Minck, R. Dagrassa, B. Bousquet, F. Laffont, P. Pivotto, S. Rizk, C. Vandewalle, J. Mauriaud, A. Maman

Board of trustees

• Léon Bressler (Perella Weinberg Partners)
• Christophe Kuhbier (Perella Weinberg Partners)

Executive Board

• Robert Dagrassa: Chairman of the Executive Board
• Samir Rizk: Chairman of GA
• Bertrand Bousquet: Industrial Manager
• Frédéric Laffont: Works Manager
• Alain Maman: Information System Manager
• Jacques Mauriaud: Managing Director, GA Promotion
• François Minck: Managing Director, GA Entreprise
• Pierre Pivotto: Chairman, Oméga
• Christian Vandewalle: Financial Director, Pegase