When jobs run on one person's knowledge, one absence becomes everyone's problem. There's a better way to run a crew.
DC Trades Mentoring gives your team a shared system: clear standards, consistent planning, and the leadership tools to make it stick on every job, with every crew.
Or start with the one-day FFS course →
Gold Seal Accredited
100+ Students Trained Across BC
Electrical · Framing · HVAC & Plumbing · All Trades
Why jobs go sideways
Most jobsite problems aren't people problems.
Ask any foreperson what went wrong and they'll point to the crew, the schedule, the GC, or bad luck. Sometimes that's true.But after 34 years on jobsites as an apprentice, a Red Seal, a foreperson, and a project manager, Dan Campbell kept seeing the same pattern. The problems weren't random. They were predictable. And they almost always came back to the same thing: no shared system.When everyone figures it out their own way, the job depends on who shows up and how they're feeling that day. That's not leadership. That's luck.
"A bad system will beat a good person every time."
W. Edwards Deming
Two ways to run a construction company
One is stressful. One is profitable.
The difference isn't the crew. It's whether there's a system — or just one person holding everything together.
Two ways to run a construction company
Every problem is a surprise
The foreperson carries everything in their head
Different crews do things differently, every time
Rework shows up, and someone gets blamed
The job only runs well when the right person is there
Running on systems
Problems are identified before they happen
Everyone works from the same plan
Standards are clear before anyone picks up a tool
Rework drops. Margins hold.
The job runs well because the system runs it
Most companies end up running reactively not because they have bad people, but because no one ever gave them a better way to work. That's what DC Trades Mentoring is built to change.
Real results
Two foremen. Same scope. Completely different result.
On a hospital project, the rough-in phase took 20 workers three months to complete. No planning system. No shared drawings. Everyone working out the sequence as they went.
For the next phase — roughly the same scope — a new foreman was brought in with one instruction: lay out a proper plan before anyone picks up a tool.
Six workers. A week and a half.
Same scope. One system. That's the difference.
20 workers · 3 months → 6 workers · 1.5 weeks
Same scope. Two foremen. One change: a system.
The number most companies don't track
What's your rework rate?
Most companies have a rough sense of how much rework they're absorbing. Ask, and they'll give you a number. What they don't always know is how that number stacks up — or what it's actually costing them.
Industry-wide, rework consumes 7–11% of total project costs. That's not a target to aim for. It's the average cost of an industry that still runs on verbal handoffs and whoever happens to know the most on a given job. Many companies are running considerably higher.
Construction has had one of the worst productivity records of any major industry in Canada for two decades. The rework number is a symptom of that, not an inevitability.
The standard at DC Trades Mentoring is simpler: the goal isn't 7–11%. The goal is zero. Every piece of rework traces back to a plan that wasn't clear, a standard that wasn't shared, or a step that got skipped. That's what "done right the first time" actually means, and it's what the Leadership Development Program is built around.
7–11%
Industry average for rework as a share of project costs. Many companies run considerably higher.
3–7%
Typical construction net margin. Often less than the rework bill.
0%
The actual rework goal. Done right the first time, every time.
When rework costs more than you earn, the problem isn't the job.
The solution
A system your whole team can work from.
The Leadership Development Program
The Leadership Development Program is a practical, site-tested system for construction companies that are done leaving profits on the table. It gives your forepersons — and your whole team — the tools to plan better, communicate clearly, and build right the first time. Available across all trades.
DAY 1
The Leadership Development Program
The foundation. A full day covering the systems, standards, and planning tools every foreperson needs — and most were never taught. Gold Seal accredited.
Session 2
Communication & Leadership + Jobsite Strategy
3–4 hours online. How to direct work clearly, plan ahead, and prevent the problems most jobs spend their time fixing.
Session 3
Problem Solving & Decision Making + Worker Development
3–4 hours online. How to filter what needs action, build a crew that works productively, and stop chasing problems all day.
Session 4
Expectations & Standards + Productivity
3–4 hours online. What "done right" actually means, how to make it the team standard, and how to increase output without increasing chaos.
3–4 hours online. What "done right" actually means, how to make it the team standard, and how to increase output without increasing chaos.
Delivery: Online. Minimum group size: 8 participants from the same company. In-person FFS available by arrangement — contact DCTM for pricing.
Group Size
Investment
8–14 people
$10,800
15–24 people
$16,000
25+ people
Contact DCTM for pricing
What does that look like on your bottom line?
Dan Campbell's benchmark: any team that completes this program and applies it will conservatively save 5% in rework costs. Here's what that means in real numbers.
Company Revenue
$1,000,000
$2,000,000
$5,000,000
5% Rework Savings
$50,000
$100,000
$250,000
Program Investment
$10,800
$10,800
$16,000
Net
Gain
$39,200
$89,200
$234,000
Just Getting Started?
The Foreperson Foundational Skills (FFS) course is also available as a standalone one-day course. It's the foundation of the Leadership Development Program, and a strong starting point on its own. Gold Seal accredited. Available for all trades.
Or start with the one-day FFS course →
FREE
Not sure yet? Dan put together a free module on jobsite layout planning — a real snippet from the FFS course.
Access the free training →
About Dan
Built by someone who's seen and lived through the mistakes.
Dan Campbell is a Red Seal Electrician and Gold Seal Certified Project Manager with 34 years in the trades. He's worked as an apprentice, a journeyman, a foreperson, and a project manager.
He built DC Trades Mentoring because he kept watching the same preventable problems destroy good jobs and good people. The systems that fix those problems aren't complicated. They just aren't being taught.
Over 100 students trained, all from the trades, all working in the real world.
What students say
From the people who've been through it.
The Leadership Development Program
The Leadership Development Program is a practical, site-tested system for construction companies that are done leaving profits on the table. It gives your forepersons — and your whole team — the tools to plan better, communicate clearly, and build right the first time. Available across all trades.
"I have taken quite a few supervisor training courses and this was the best. It's really well rounded and includes all of the aspects that a foreperson has to deal with. I will be recommending that we put all of our new team leads into this."
Dylan C.
"I wish this was 10–15 years earlier. I will take it though!"
Trent H. · HVAC & Plumbing
"I thought it was a very well run course and covered key components."
Matthew C.
"One thing that stood out was the need to slow down, do a better job coordinating with other trades, and focus more on the layout of the job."
Sean M. · HVAC & Plumbing
Trade partners
Working with construction associations across Canada.
DC Trades Mentoring has delivered training through construction associations and owner groups, and is actively expanding to new regions.
