How F.H. Paschen Is Building Better Communities

F.H. Paschen’s construction roots go back to 1871, when the Paschen family started a business to help rebuild the city after the Great Fire. A century later, F.H. “Bud” Paschen founded our current company, continuing the family legacy.

F.H. Paschen continually grows and evolves by adding services, embracing new technology, and working with nearly every type of public and private customer. As a result, we’ve taken the lead on thousands of construction and renovation projects across Illinois, including the suburbs — from heavy civil infrastructure and municipal buildings to healthcare facilities, schools and public parks. For example, in the past 30 years, we’ve completed more than 1,100 local school construction projects, helping to create vibrant learning environments and gaining a deep understanding of what school districts need from their construction management and design partners.

This work isn’t just a job to us. Like you, hundreds of our employees call your communities home. We go to your parks in Downers Grove. Our parents will be living in your senior home in Bellwood. Our kids attend your school in Niles and Elgin. And as your neighbors, we share the same goal: to build better communities for today and future generations.

The expanded high school. The renovated library. The new senior center. These aren’t just buildings. They’re the places where communities are built. We bring this understanding to all our work — whether building a facility like a healthcare clinic or taking on a smaller job like a trendy new pickleball court. Whether the project budget is $50,000 or $600 million, we work closely with elected officials and local government leaders like you and your community stakeholders to finish each job on time and on budget.

We also know that the suburban communities we work in are home to people and cultures from all over the world. At F.H. Paschen, we know that communities are stronger when they are diverse, and when local elected officials are voting to approve building projects, we know they want a local, diverse partner who looks like their community. Just ask the City of Aurora. When we began work in the city, we utilized local DuPage and Kane County-based sub-contractors to help us deliver. Meaning the work kept jobs local, contributing to the economy.

When building the new police station or renovating the high school cafeteria, your constituents demand that you be fiscally responsible. That means getting the job done on time, on budget, safely and with minimal disruption. F.H. Paschen understands that those leaders, in turn, need a partner they can trust — a partner with a demonstrated track record of completing projects on budget and on schedule. To that end, F.H. Paschen has been perfecting Job Order Contracting (JOC) since 1985, and we’re an industry leader in executing reliable on-call construction services using cooperative purchasing.

Construction technology has changed dramatically since the 19^th century, and F.H. Paschen has been a leader in adopting the technical innovations that have created stronger, safer construction methods. Even after adopting new solutions, like building information modeling (BIM) — a 3D modeling process that generates virtual representations of buildings to validate designs, verify field conditions, and plan for materials costs and construction sequence — we continually train our team on the latest solutions to enhance those services. Additionally, we are always looking for ways to drive efficiency in our processes. This is why we developed Site Specs to help increase productivity by automating the documenting process. Whether using drones to create 3D scans of existing buildings or adopting alternative materials and equipment to save time and money, we’re always looking for the best way to get a job done right.

We’ve also embraced solutions that improve environmental standards. With over 20 LEED-accredited professionals on our team, our deep experience with sustainable materials and LEED standards has allowed us to build some of the most environmentally progressive buildings featuring geo-exchange heat pump systems, solar thermal hot water heating systems, low-flow fixtures, and recycled and locally sourced materials.

Stuff happens. That’s the nature of life and construction. F.H. Paschen has learned from experience that we must always look around the next corner and prepare for changes and unforeseen challenges. Preparedness begins with listening carefully to our clients and their stakeholders.

When we take a job, we engage with the residents whose lives will be impacted during work. When renovating the school, we want to know the class schedule in detail so we do our best not to disturb the students’ ability to learn. For example, before starting work as construction manager for Community Consolidated School District 93, F.H. Paschen provided preconstruction services for the addition of their new STEM wing at Jay Stream Middle School. We partnered with the District to schedule the phasing of construction during the holidays and breaks to minimize disruptions to the school’s daily operations. During winter break, F.H. Paschen completed site clearing, utility work and built the concrete foundations. School resumed until spring break when F.H. Paschen returned to construct a large portion of the structural steel and complete any necessary underground work. The remainder of the project was completed over summer break. This phased approach allowed us to build a new addition consisting of six science labs, a design and research room, a virtual reality room, and a single sloped skylight spanning the entire length of the corridor without disrupting the day-to-day operations of the middle school.

Because we recognize that every community is different, we don’t take a cookie-cutter approach to addressing challenges and opportunities. Instead, we combine careful listening and deep expertise to develop creative solutions tailored to your community’s unique needs. In addition to general contracting, cooperative purchasing and design-build, we specialize in construction management (CM). Under a CM delivery method, the owner selects the contractor based on best value and qualifications. As a result, the owner has transparent, open-book access to all project costs, including participation in the bidding and selection of subcontractors and vendors.

The technologies and delivery methods for construction and renovation have evolved dramatically over the past four decades. We’ve evolved along with them while staying true to the goal that inspired our founder, Bud Paschen: Building Better Communities.