In large-scale industrial construction, the line between what happens below grade and what happens above it is thinner than most realize. The success of any project—its schedule, its budget, its long-term reliability—depends on how well those worlds align.

At Performance, we know what great looks like. When one contractor builds the foundations and another installs the steel, pipe, and equipment on top, the gaps between scopes can become fault lines: coordination delays, duplicated resources, misaligned sequencing, and rework that erodes efficiency long before the facility ever turns on.

That’s why we believe civil and mechanical construction are strongest when they work as one.

Integration is More Than Just Convenience

Since our beginning in 1979, civil construction has been a core part of Performance’s DNA. Every project we deliver begins with the same disciplined foundation: experienced planners, rigorous safety and quality programs, and a commitment to getting the sequence right from the ground up.

Our approach to integrated delivery is grounded in a simple idea: when the same team is responsible for both the foundation and what follows, everything aligns—priorities, pace, and performance.

This alignment delivers measurable advantages. Some of the biggest ones we see with these kinds of projects include:

• Fewer handoffs: With one contractor managing both scopes, there’s no lag between completion and mobilization. Work transitions seamlessly from civil to mechanical, guided by a single set of controls and safety standards.
• Shared resources: Field management, equipment, and project controls teams support multiple phases, reducing indirect costs. On recent projects, this overlap delivered 8–12% cost savings for owners.
• Unified sequencing: The same planners who build the foundations understand the precise requirements for setting steel, pipe, and modules. That prevents the bottlenecks that often appear when scopes are split among different firms.
• Adaptive planning: One schedule, one culture, one accountability chain. When weather, design changes, or material availability shift the plan, the team can adjust instantly without having to wait for another contractor’s approval.

Depth of Capability, Breadth of Experience

Performance’s civil operations rival dedicated heavy contractors in both scale and expertise. Each year, the company averages over 100,000 cubic yards of concrete installed, and peak civil field manpower exceeding 1,200 craft professionals.

From mass concrete placements to elevated structural decks and process sumps, our work supports complex industries—from petrochemical and LNG to manufacturing, data centers, and space infrastructure.

Yet the real strength of our civil group lies not in volume, but in discipline—the same safety culture, project controls, and quality systems that have defined Performance for decades:

• In-house training and mentorship programs that develop supervisors from proven craft professionals
• Hands-on orientation where new hires physically demonstrate their skill level before placement
• Pre-pour digital checklists using tablets for real-time QC documentation and sign-offs
• Mass concrete expertise developed over the last decade to manage thermal concerns and meet ACI designation parameters on large foundation pours
• Material management and sequencing capabilities that prevent the coordination breakdowns common with multi-contractor projects

These jobs also benefit from having leadership like Chris Domingue, Senior Civil Construction Manager at Performance Contractors, on-site. With 31 years at Performance, Domingue has become one of the industry's most sought-after experts in civil planning. His involvement in a project is often a deciding factor for clients during the bidding process.

Chris brings the kind of expertise that thinks five steps ahead. "When you're planning a foundation pour in Iowa in the middle of winter, you're not just thinking about concrete—you're thinking about thermal management, weather shelters, and how every decision affects the mechanical work that follows six months later," he explains.

What Integration Looks Like in the Field

Consider a project like the CF Industries Port Neal Fertilizer Complex, where Performance executed one of the largest continuous pours in Iowa’s history—5,300 cubic yards of concrete in a 16-hour window—followed by extensive mechanical installation under the same project leadership. Or the Sasol LCCP project, where an 85-foot-tall concrete reactor structure was built to carry one of the heaviest pieces of equipment on site.

In each case, Performance’s civil and mechanical teams worked as a single operation. Site leadership didn’t need to coordinate between contractors; they were the same people. That continuity meant that every decision—from pile cap to pipe rack—was made with the total lifecycle of the facility in mind.

Efficiency That Compounds Over Time

The benefits of integration don’t stop at the site fence line. When projects use separate civil and mechanical contractors, owners often pay twice for overhead—duplicate field offices, controls teams, cranes, and support equipment. But with single-source delivery, those resources roll seamlessly from one phase to the next. That efficiency compounds across months or even years on long-duration projects, and minimizes the ripple effects of schedule changes.

A Smarter Way to Build

In an era when industrial projects are larger, faster, and more interconnected than ever, integration isn’t just an operational preference; it’s a competitive advantage. Owners who leverage a single-source partner gain tighter control over costs and schedules, clearer accountability, and a smoother path from concept to completion.

Because at the end of the day, the difference between a good project and a great one often starts with who builds the ground beneath it and how seamlessly they connect it to everything above.