Cardoza Plumbing Corp.

Like an essential lifeline, plumbing is the internal system that brings any institution, building, business or residence to functional life. From the engineering of its design and layout to efficiencies and operational health, it is the internal workings of any major facility. Since September 1999, Cardoza Plumbing Corp (CPC) has been a top specialist in plumbing installation, renovation and repairs, leading the way in commercial, hospital and institutional plumbing in New York City. The full service, family-owned company, has delivered projects for some of the Big Apple’s most recognized organizations from Mount Sinai Medical Center to NYU Medical Center and Columbia University.

Raymond “Ray” Cardoza, president of CPC and his sister Marie “Morena” Pontillo, vice president, grew up immersed in their father’s master plumbing business. “I’ve been in and around the industry for the better part of 27 years,” shares Cardoza. “After a year of college, I went to work full time for my father and eventually became a master plumber myself, but decided to branch out from the family business, so my sister and I founded CPC in 1999.”

From design to completion

Together, the brother-sister duo heads up CPC and the company designs, installs and maintains complex plumbing systems for numerous medical centers and other commercial facilities. CPC operates out of two locations, with an office in Westbury, N.Y., and a shop in the busy neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens. The company’s team of experienced plumbing professionals works in all of the five boroughs on new construction, retrofit installation and warranty work for many of the cities institutions and hospitals.

“We currently have 100 field employees,” details Cardoza. The CPC team offers full design-build service and can oversee a facility’s plumbing from initial concept through estimating, drafting and installation to completion. A host of in-house engineers, specialists and project managers work closely with clients to develop systems that fit the end-function of a new building or accommodate future expansion.

“Health care work has been our niche and continues to be,” adds Cardoza. CPC has a wealth of experience in complex systems in the medical world. The company’s designers specialize in medical gas and lab systems, delivering a one-stop shop for intricate systems.

Coordination experts

Over the last several years, CPC has landed major projects that have bolstered the company’s success through the recession, one of which is Columbia University’s Mind Brain Lab Research Building at the brand new Manhattanville campus. Projects of this size and scope require complex logistics, but it’s nothing CPC is afraid of says Cardoza. “In July 2013 we started this 11-story research building for Columbia University’s new campus on the west side of Manhattan,” he tells. “This project involves an array of plumbing fixtures and a complete lab system so the coordination is very challenging. There’s a lot of MEPs in one area. This is a 30 month project that will be wrapping up by end of 2015.”

Logistics are an even bigger issue when CPC is tackling a facility that remains fully operational such as NY Presbyterian’s Adult Emergency Department. “We’re renovating a large emergency department while the rest of the facility remains active,” details Cardoza. “There’s a lot of brand-new equipment going in and infrastructure work on this uptown campus. The job will be completed in six different phases over the course of the next three years.”

CPC is also excited about the upcoming NYU Kimmel Pavilion in partnership with Turner Construction. CPC is slated to deliver all of the plumbing services on the 800,000-square-foot, 22-story hospital. As a key component of the campus transformation and consolidation of NYU Langone’s resources for acute clinical care, the Kimmel Pavilion will open in 2017. “Our portion of the project is expected to start in early to mid-2015,” details Cardoza. “There are 350 beds in this hospital as well as state-of-the-art operating rooms, MRI and radiology centers, so there’s a considerable amount of work to be done.”

While it hasn’t been an easy go through the recession in the competitive New York construction landscape, Cardoza says the company has managed to weather the storm. “The market downfall due to the economy has created much tighter margins,” he explains. “To shape up, we hired another project manager to create more oversight on our projects.”

Cardoza says the situation is much improved and the company looks forward to large-scale projects in the near future thanks to a trusted reputation. “Our customers rely on us for our experience, quality of work and employees,” he says. “We’ve built a reputation.” And that reputation is what has kept Cardoza Plumbing Corp going strong and steady in a fierce New York City market.