Abdullaah

Abdullaah joined Mattamy Homes through the company’s Toronto-based Construction Leadership Internship Program (CLIP) during the summer of 2022. After four months of rotational assignments in various site roles including New Home Technician, Assistant Builder, Foundation Builder, Builder and even Senior Builder, Abdullaah headed back to George Brown College to complete his degree in construction management, all with an offer to join the Mattamy team full-time upon graduation. In May 2023, with a shiny new diploma in hand, Abdullaah joined the Mattamy team in Toronto as an Assistant Builder, working on site to build an up-and-coming community.

Get to know what a day in the life of an Assistant Builder is like here at Mattamy.

7:30 am
I usually arrive on site around 7:30 am. I’ll spend the first hour or two of every day walking the construction site and recording both the framing and masonry progress of each lot we have under construction. For framing, I’ll track which lots are being worked on, which lots have been completed as well as how many crews are out on site. When it comes to masonry, I track which brick colours are out on site, what brick has been delivered for which house, which houses have been finished as well as which houses are next.  

9:30 am
Once I’ve gone through and tracked all of the framing and masonry progress for the day, I’ll head back to the site trailer and start inputting that information into our framing and masonry tracking documents as well as our production schedule. At the end of every week, I send a weekly report to our Production Manager who then compiles it into a larger weekly progress report for our divisional leaders.

11:00 am
That takes up most of my morning. After that, I’ll typically spend time updating BuildPro or preparing drawing packages for the trades. If I’m in the office, I’ll head over to the coffee machine with some of my coworkers to grab our morning fuel and catch up.

Job security. Mattamy is the largest private residential home builder in North America and has ongoing projects year-round. Even throughout winter, the work doesn’t stop and I love that. 

The opportunity for growth within the company is what excites me most. My long-term goal is to become a Senior Builder. There are so many opportunities at Mattamy to ensure you are always growing and expanding. I also really appreciate that the company looks internally first to fill vacant positions.

Participating in the Construction Leadership Internship Program (CLIP) was super eye-opening. I learned a lot about different aspects of construction as well as the roles and responsibilities of the different positions out on site. Through school, I learned a lot of theory but that doesn't always translate into practical work. CLIP gave me a great idea of what to expect and who is responsible for what on a real construction site. What I enjoyed most about the program was that every week, I shadowed someone in a different role. One week I was working with a Senior Builder, then the next week it would rotate, and I’d shadow someone else. I ended up working alongside all kinds of positions including Builder, Foundation Builder and even New Home Technician.

My favourite part of being an Assistant Builder is walking the site every day. I get to interact with the various trades and see how they complete their work. It also gives me a more detailed understanding of what goes into building a new house as well as how our homes are constructed. Being able to see this and experience it can only make me a better builder.

The most meaningful experience I’ve had since joining Mattamy was when I got to apply what I learned in school in a new way to help make tracking information on site easier. I took a blank map of the site and then colour-coded it using software to determine which houses are done, in progress or ready to be started as well as if there isn’t brick on site for a particular house. There are 474 houses in this community, so this visual representation makes it a lot easier for all of site management to see where we need to focus our energy in a quick and visual way. I’m really proud of this initiative and its still something we use every day.

Persistence, open mindedness and attentiveness. To be successful at Mattamy, it is important to keep trying regardless of the obstacles you may face. There can be many variables that may cause delays on a project, and some delays you can’t plan for, but you have to remain persistent in reaching your project goals. Being open-minded is also an essential trait. There is more than one way to build a house. Having that mentality will allow you to be flexible and creative so that you can achieve the project goals and ultimately build the best possible home for our customers. Lastly, there are a lot of moving parts when working on site, so you need to pay close attention to the details to ensure nothing gets missed or overlooked as we have multiple homes getting built at once.

Show your desire to learn. CLIP gives you such a great platform to learn what goes into building houses and how to do it the Mattamy Way. Every day is an opportunity to learn something new. Take full advantage of that.