John Paroukas is Major Loss Supervisor in the Advanced Buildings Victorian office. He oversees insurance building jobs in excess of $100,000 and supervises a young, enthusiastic team with various skills and trade backgrounds.

Originally a qualified bricklayer by trade, John has worked in the building and construction industry for over 20 years. Working mainly on home building sites, he later moved into a position as rectification supervisor for a display home company.

“Fixing-up other people’s mistakes taught me a lot about how important it is to get the job right the first time”, explains John. “If you don’t do a good job upfront, it’s often costly and time-consuming to go back and rectify shoddy work.”

John later moved into the commercial market, training and assessing apprentices. He loves learning and keeps his qualifications up-to-date, with Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety and a Diploma in Building and Construction.

He’s pleased to be part of the growing Victorian division of Advanced Buildings. “Delivering our first major loss project in Victoria was really satisfying. I was grateful to be given the opportunity to oversee major loss and I appreciate the back-up I get from my manager and from my team.”

He finds one of the biggest challenges he faces in his job is dealing with the length of time it takes to get a building permit and a job variation.

“I totally understand that it’s part of the process, but it’s often a challenge to assess the cost of a job accurately when you don’t have full access to the job site.

“You need to justify why you’re going back to the insurer to change the scope of works. But for me, I just want to get the job done and achieve the best outcome for the building owner and the insurer as quickly as possible.”

When asked what’s the one thing that Advanced Buildings does differently from other companies, John replied:

“Honestly, I think the difference is the way they conduct themselves. It’s a comfortable, open forum, where anyone can speak openly and have a say.”

John describes himself as ‘easy-going’ – a characteristic he believes helps him to get on with all the trades.

When he’s not at work, he’s a keen fisherman. “I love fishing. I have my own boat and I spend as much time as I can on the water. It’s peaceful and I feel ‘free’.”

According to John, his ‘bucket-list’ is straightforward: “To avoid upsetting my wife as much.” He’d also like to own a classic Mustang car.