INTRODUCTION

First Balfour is one of the largest engineering and construction companies in the Philippines today with 40 years of construction experience.  It is a Triple-A (AAA) contractor in general engineering and general building registered with the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board.

First Balfour is a fully-owned subsidiary of First Philippine Holdings Corporation (FPHC) ,one of the largest Philippine conglomerates with core business in power and energy, infrastructure, manufacturing and property development.

The company is one of a few, select construction firms to have maintained the triple-certification (International Management System) under the standard ISO 9001:2008 for quality, ISO 14001:2004 for environment, and OHSAS 18001:2007 for safety and occupational health.

COMPANY HISTORY

1969

The company was born as Philippine Engineering and Construction Corporation (PECCO), a spin-off from the former power plant construction and design unit of Meralco.

1976

PECCO was renamed Engineering and Construction Corporation of Asia (ECCO-Asia).  The Company expanded to other areas of work such as power transmissions, oil refineries and industrial plants, but continued to offer engineering construction services.

1997

First Philippine Holdings Corporation, a parent company of ECCO-Asia, formed a 60:40 joint venture construction company with Balfour Beatty (BB) of the United Kingdom and named it First Philippine Balfour Beatty Inc. (FPBB).  ECCO-Asia was placed as a subsidiary of FPBB.  The Company won a contract from Siemen's Inc.  as the main civil works contractor for the 1,000-MW Sta. Rita combined cycle power plant in Batangas.  The project was the first completed natural gas-fired power plant of its kind in the Philippines.

2002

FPHC and Balfour Beatty, the parent companies, decided to merge FPBB and ECCO-Asia into a single company with the latter as the surviving corporation.  ECCO-Asia was then renamed First Philippine Balfour Beatty Inc.  It was also the year when FPBB received ISO certification for its Quality System according to ISO 9001:2000.

2003

FPBB started to build its first high-rise residential condominium project for Rockwell Land Corporation.  A joint venture with SKi Construction, the Manansala Tower was completed in two (2) years. FPBB also received two certifications for its environmental management system according to ISO 14001:1996 and safety management system according to OHSAS 18001:1999.  It thus became one of the first local contractors to be triple-ISO certified.

2004

Balfour Beatty sold its 40% shareholding to FPHC, making the latter the 100% owner of the company. The Company was later renamed First Balfour, Inc.

2005

First Balfour was awarded the contract to undertake the power supply and electrical works for the second phase of the LRT Line 1 capacity expansion project.  It also became active in pipelaying and sewage treatment plant projects for Maynilad and Manila Water.

2006

First Balfour celebrated its 37th anniversary.  It bagged the contract to build of St. Luke's Hospital in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig after a tough competitive bidding among local and international contractors.  The new hospital is a 154,000 square meter complex comprising about 600 beds and is expected to be completed by July 2009.

2007

First Balfour President and COO Anthony L. Fernandez was elected as the new President of the Philippine Constructors Association (PCA) for 2008-2009.  The Company won a subcontract from JFE Engineering Corporation to build several bridges as part of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX).

2008

First Balfour, in a joint venture with DMCI, was awarded the contract to build the 5.5 kilometer LRT-1 North Extension Project that will connect LRT-1 to MRT-3.  The P 3.6-Billion contract was awarded on a "design & build" basis and is expected to be completed by April 2010.  The company also became part of the consortium of local contractors that wins the bid to construct the Tarlac-La Union Expressway.

2009

First Balfour completed St. Luke's Hospital in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, a joint venture project with Makati Development Corporation.  Also, the Company has upgraded its ISO & OHSAS cetifications, now, ISO 9001:2008 for quality and OHSAS 18001:2007 for safety and occupational health. First Balfour celebrates its 40 years of building a tradition of excellence and engineering construction.