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Construction Business Review
Unified Door & Hardware Group
Opening Doors for Better Built- Environment
A tremendous amount of thought, planning, review, and finesse go into the design, specification, and installation of building doors and door hardware. From ensuring that each door seamlessly blends into and enhances the building’s carefully constructed design, to improving accessibility and flow with the correct hardware, all while safeguarding occupants with exceptional security and assistance requirements require great industry proficiency and skill in order to ensure each building and every one of their doors and openings maintain the perfect balance of needs. In order to ensure common national and local standards for the safest level of security and accessibility, building codes requirements, numbering in the thousands and varying based on state, city, and municipality, are required to be enforced and updated in every US commercial building. As time, product solutions and human behavior advances, the continuous and ever-expanding number of codes and regulation requirements continue to grow and change, posing a steady, yet never-ending challenge for building owners and construction engineers as they struggle to identify new changes, process, additional requirements, determine specific door opening and hardware impact and apply each solution the final build in the field. To navigate the relentless complexities of today’s world of doors and hardware, Unified Doors and Hardware Group (UDHG) captured the attention of major national contractors and architects providing them with constantly-connected and one of the highest level of industry expertise in Division 8 - Commercial Doors and Hardware, Division 10 - Specialty, and Division 28 - Electronic Safety and Security products. As an expert in the ever-changing complexities of building openings, UDHG skillfully deliberates on the ultimate needs of both the building owners and its future occupants to establish the right code-compliant solutions, with the right products, all working to deliver the highest level of accessibility, security, life-safety, and functionality for every individual commercial building type. “The level of code-related details required for an individual to understand, process, and recommend the ‘right’ current code-compliant solution in every single municipality and for every single building-type: healthcare institutions to higher education campuses, mixed-use facilities to massive business complexes, and more, is immense,” says, Ira Hymowitz, Executive Vice President at Unified Door & Hardware Group, “Our team of over 500 are those experts.” Unified Doors and Hardware Group has strategically built a business acumen dedicated to providing the highest level of expertise and service as “The” building door and door hardware experts, aligning themselves with the most notable of east and west coast contractors. They have been brought in as the leading-expert on over 1000 projects, including many renowned high-profile buildings throughout the US with the mission to offer the best door opening solutions and services, with always the highest degree of professionalism, knowledge, and integrity.
Jason Pulliam, executive vice president at Unified Door and Hardware Group, says, “We have an incredibly dedicated group of customers; most of our customers are people we work with on repeated projects. That level of return-customer business is invaluable. We take great measures ensuring our team provides the highest level of service, continuously equipped with the most up-to-date building code and product knowledge, and acts as a valuable asset to every contractor and architect.” As a part of their customer engagement, Unified Door and Hardware Group provides pre-construction budget and design assistance to construction-ready product procurement, fulfillment, and installation services. A few of the noteworthy services are within their Design Assist program, where UDHG acts as an extension of the construction team, embedding themselves within the group as the door and hardware specialists, along with end-users and an architect to provide best-in-class facility code-compliant design recommendations. This step proves useful to the client by providing a clear understanding of tenant expectations, budgeting recommendations, and specifications requirements prior to enabling the building’s final design and specs; they also provide customers with the right estimate in bid situations for Division 8, Division 10, and Division 28.
We have an incredibly dedicated group of customers; most of our customers are people we work with on repeated projects
Unified Door and Hardware Group, with its attuned expertise, is a valued contractor partner throughout the US. The company has earned a well-respected reputation in the areas of multi-housing, education, healthcare, office complexes, entertainment venues and stadiums, and so on. Pulliam proudly notes, “We’ve done projects in almost every vertical market segment and of all magnitudes, and are very comfortable with providing the right openings solutions for every type of building project.” He further adds, “Our team’s experience level and comfort with performing work within a broad array of project types is just unparalleled at this point in time.”
Unified Door and Hardware Group was started in 2013, with the merging of two companies: Commercial Hardware and Tru- Fit, a merger that enabled UDHG to achieve market leader status in each of its trading areas. Since its inception, UDHG has bolted on 12 additional acquisitions, which provided tremendous support in staffing, technology, purchasing power, and other shared resources – enable UDHG to expand its reach throughout broader areas of the US – working broadly in almost every US state.
Besides all these specialties in place, Unified Door and Hardware Group considers its unique feature to be the heightened experience in the industry - providing services in diverse verticals. Pulliam believes this experience has contributed to another exclusive of the company, that is, to work within contractor-specific budgets. Unified Door and Hardware Group, acting with a high degree of value, does not impose technology on the customers; when customers call out for things that are unnecessary or don’t fit into the project, UDHG works with its customers to identify their occupant needs, proposing solutions that fit into their budget, all while ensuring complete code safety compliance. In addition, with their experience, UDHG has also ensured a rapport with the major door, door hardware, and access control manufacturers to provide a broad array of products and solutions for every application and building type.
The prominent position of Unified Door and Hardware Group in the industry can be fully understood through a real-life success story. Pulliam narrates the story of a large university that was upgrading their total of seven campus buildings. This project demanded a complete remodel of all their security, doors, frames, and hardware, but required to do so in a very limited timeframe, as the school had lost their key control and were not in a secure environment. So, Unified Door and Hardware Group pitched into the project, and within a three week period, the company provided the best, knowledge-driven solution, within budget, including complete detailed material list, design assistance programming, electronic access control plans, and the right team at the right place assembling the right resources. With such expertise, the university benefited with the highest standards of security, within its seven million dollar project, at an exceptional rate of speed, quality, and return of a fully secured campus.
Illustrating many such success stories, UDHG focuses on its customer service improvement by providing a cooperative approach with its contractor partners. Being an acquisitive company, UDHG is always looking for opportunities to acquire new businesses with the purpose of helping them expand into greater levels of customer service offerings and capabilities, providing broader and more meaningful customer experiences. Pulliam notes, “We’re always looking for the best way to service our customers with a high degree of innovation, and we’re very opportunistic as it relates to making sure that we’re doing it the best possible way.”
