Tutor Electrical Service Inc.

Since 1993, Tutor Electrical Service Inc. (Tutor) has been a source for superior electrical contracting in Dallas-Fort Worth and surrounding areas. The company’s licensed journeymen and master-certified electricians excel at streamlining the project process while ensuring the highest electrical standards are upheld.

Commercial, industrial, institutional, municipal, medical and even residential – name the project and Tutor’s electricians will deliver in the most timely, efficient manner. “Even though we’re technically a subcontractor, we try to set the pace on the project by aggressively thinking outside of the box,” explains Brian K. Brinkmann, vice president of operations and design for Tutor. “With a vision of the critical path of completion, we filter through tasks and do them as soon as possible. Doing things ahead of time ensures we’re ready when a tight timeline needs to be met.”

Driving value

Unlike some subcontractors, Tutor doesn’t take a backseat role in project delivery. “We strive to be a partner on the design team and a key participant in the planning process,” compares Brinkmann. “We’re experts at what we do and we have a lot to bring to the table to help general contractors and construction managers accomplish their tasks.”

Tutor strives to drive value on the simple ideal that a client deserves the highest value for their money. “It’s pretty simple, but doing the job right the first time always costs less than doing it twice,” measures Brinkmann.

Doing a job right the first time, and safely, is particularly important in the medical and health care field, which Tutor frequents. “We operate primarily in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, but in the last 10 years Tutor’s crews have traveled all over the state from Odessa to Austin to Corpus Christi and as far north as Gainesville,” details Bobby Tutor, founder and president of Tutor.

“Our projects are primarily commercial projects and a good amount of our work is medical related, whether its remodel work in hospitals or new construction for medical clinics and we do a lot of imaging facilities,” he adds.

Adapting to the environment and ensuring safety

Working in sensitive environments in the health care market requires an adept understanding of clients’ needs, operations and a few key tools of the trade. Tutor has established procedures to minimize risk to hospital staff and patients, one being a policy preventing work on energized circuits or equipment unless absolutely necessary.

“We notify all stakeholders when and where work is set to begin – department managers, maintenance and staff,” says Brinkmann. “These are some of the things that I think keep us around – being able to learn about their operations and facilities and how they want things done. Our customers know when they call us, we’re going to do it right the first time, because we have a better understanding.”

An example of expert communication, coordination and environmental awareness is the ground-up Victory Medical Hospital in Fort Worth. “Tutor was involved in a huge amount of coordination between power distribution and engineering and the design and implementation of lighting and controls,” shares Brinkmann.

Aside from the medical arena, Tutor is also well-versed in the commercial and institutional markets, taking a lead role in project design, planning and delivery. “Some of the best projects we’ve done over the years were ones where Tutor was leading the planning process,” explains Brinkman. “At the end of the day, we’re the installer, so we know what needs to be done.”

In Odessa, Texas, Tutor led the electrical design and installation of nine new dormitory buildings and 72 separate four-bedroom apartments at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin. “We’ve also been working on two family waterparks for Splash Kingdom,” notes Brinkmann.

Design and delivery

The first completed Splash Kingdom Wild West family water park received the 2013 Award of Excellence in Electrical Construction by the Independent Electrical Contractors Association. The 10-acre park included seven water slides, a lazy river float ride, a 220,000-gallon wave pool, child splash pads, as well as concessions, offices and locker facilities. Tutor engineered the design of the entire electrical distribution system, as well as underground low-voltage infrastructure interconnecting all components of the park.

According to Brinkmann, Tutor actually came on the project fairly late in the process to replace the original electrical contractor on the job. “We came in and redesigned the entire electrical distribution system and layout and installed everything from scratch, while completing the job on schedule,” he reveals.

After successfully completing the first Splash Kingdom, even after a complete re-haul of the design, the commercial client wanted Tutor on the next project. The company is currently finishing the second park project for Splash Kingdom.

“We’re the prime electrical contractor,” says Brinkmann. “The second park is modeled after an airport, so there’s a great deal of runway lighting and controls; there’s even an old airplane body going on top of the water slides.”

Brinkmann says it comes back to education and training – focal points for Tutor and one reason why the company’s team is so efficient. “All of our electricians go through four-year apprentice programs,” he adds. “Education is very important to us.”

Also, staying abreast with the industry keeps Tutor on top of the electrical game; a member of the Independent Electrical Contractors Association, as well as the Subcontractors Association of the MetroPlex in Dallas-Fort Worth, Tutor is able to network with other subcontractors and stay in touch.

“Education, networking and legislative representation – those are the three main advantages of the associations,” says Bobby. “Also, it gives us the opportunity to discuss best practices with legal counsel in the room, therefore we can share project and contractor information – it’s a pretty big deal for us.”

The company continues to be a respected name in the industry, known for going above and beyond. “We deliver above what’s expected,” compares Brinkmann. For 22 years, Tutor Electrical Service Inc. has been driving more efficient project delivery and superior electrical construction.