Principal’s Profile

The President and Principal Consultant for Unity Services Corporation is
Mr. John Grubb, SMA, RPA, RRO.

John started working in the home renovation industry in 1973, and by 1977, had incorporated his own contracting company, specializing in exterior home renovation and installation work. The company was based in Victoria, BC, where he was raised, and the majority of its business was carried out.

In 1984, along with other business activities, he accepted a position as manager of a Victoria rental townhouse complex, which was his introduction to Property Management. Mr. Grubb subsequently worked for Devon Properties Ltd., a major residential property management firm in Victoria, continuing his duties as Site Manager with the complex through its conversion to a Strata Plan until 1987, when he relocated to Nanaimo, BC.

He set up Corunna Management Services, providing wide ranging maintenance and rental property management services to investment and private property owners. In 1991, Mr. Grubb was hired by the Property Management division of British Columbia Buildings Corporation (BCBC).

The Crown Corporation provided a fertile ground for growth, education, and experience in managing an unusually wide range of property types that fall under a Provincial government’s purview. These include commercial office buildings, residential institutions, courthouses, correctional facilities, medical facilities, and a variety of other property types. They include Government owned sites, as well as leased, and leased/maintained properties, providing Mr. Grubb a wide experience in Facilities Maintenance and Management as both “owner” and lease manager.

BCBC also provided opportunities to develop and manage increasingly larger and more complex projects, ranging from Tenant Improvements, both minor and major, through to complex building renovation, maintenance and repair projects, and intricate, heritage building restoration work.

He attained the positions of senior Operations Supervisor and acting Project Superintendent, spending almost 10 years overseeing the daily operations and maintenance, and project development and management, for a portfolio of Government buildings in the Central Vancouver Island area totaling approximately 1,000,000 sq.ft.

More recently (Jan. 2007), he was granted accreditation as a Registered Roof Observer (RRO) through RCI. Inc., formerly the Roofing Consultants Institute, and completed the requirements to act as a Roof Inspector for the Roofing Contractors Association of BC (RCABC). He spent almost two years working as a Roofing Inspector and Project Manager under the watchful eye of Mr. John Wells RRO, a former Technical Manager for RCABC, and a highly respected Roofing Consultant.

John maintains his BOMA and RCI accreditations with regular and continuing educational programs either offered, or acknowledged, by these organisations. He has also completed a wide scope of industry training programs and seminars through internal corporate training systems, and other external education services. These include Public Works & Government Services Canada, the BC Building Envelope Council, RCABC, RCI Inc. (Western Chapter), RS Means, Energrated Systems Ltd., BC Hydro, Workers Compensation Board, and a variety of other industry specialists.

In June, 2009, he accepted a position as Provincial Facilities Inspector with BC Transit, working from its head office in Victoria, where his duties include the development of operational policies and procedures for a portfolio of owned and leased Transit Maintenance Facilities located in various centers around British Columbia. His duties also include responsibility for the oversight of the annual maintenance programs for these sites, including the commissioning and start-up operation of two recently constructed facilities, and the development and execution of major maintenance and upgrade projects.

In moving to Victoria, Mr. Grubb became a strata property owner, and was recently re-elected to the Council as Vice-President for the third year, and has helped to guide the Owners Group through the design and execution of a successfully completed exterior restoration project.

Mr. Grubb is also the author of Strata Strategies, a monthly column formerly published in the Nanaimo News Bulletin, offering perspective and advice on the maintenance and operation of Strata Corporations and their common property assets. Some of these columns have also been published in the periodic news letter of the Vancouver Island Strata Owners Association (VISOA).

He is proud to have served clients through Unity Services Corporation, continuously, since 2003.