RN Constructions celebrates 20th anniversary of excellence in construction

Continues backward integration by forming specialised companies

RN Constructions Ltd., one of the leading construction companies in Sri Lanka, marked its 20th anniversary at a special event that felicitated its employees and selected clients and consultants.

RN Group of Companies provides technologically-advanced, high-quality construction solutions through its six specialised group companies. The parent company – RN Constructions Ltd. – began operations in 1996 with just three employees under the visionary leadership of two brothers – Ruwan Edirisinghe, the current Chairman who is a qualified civil engineer, and his brother Nishantha.

From left: RN Constructions  General Manager – Corporate Ajith Weniwella, RN Group Director Nishantha Edirisinghe, Chairman/Managing Director Ruwan Edirisinghe and Group General Manager Bandula Wijesinghe and RN Constructions General Manager – Projects Srilal Fernando

RN Group area of expertise includes construction of factory and warehouse buildings, commercial buildings, housing projects, hotels, hospitals, roads, bridges and telecommunication towers. The company uses its own expertise on all projects, through its in-house design team, machinery and raw material production facilities and reached the prestigious M1 category – the highest grade in construction – by 2005. This achievement of the highest level has continued to date as the C1 grading by the Institute of Construction Training and Development (ICTAD) and obtained ISO: 9001:2008, ISO 14001:2004, OHSAS 18001:2007 and Det Norske Veritas quality and management system certifications.

By focusing on backward integration, the company has captured a significant market share in industrial construction projects in Sri Lanka during the past 10 years. Their first foray into diversifying commenced with the forming of RN Readymix Ltd. in 2006 which produces high-quality ready-mixed concrete at four batching plants that adhere to international quality standards. In 2007, their second company – Amalgamated Building System Lanka Ltd. – was setup to provide a stepping stone to the industrial and commercial building manufacturing industry. Today, ABSL is the brand name behind Colombo’s tallest pre-fabricated steel building structures and most of the industrial and commercial development in Sri Lanka. The third company of the RN Group – RN Cement Product Ltd. – was created in 2008 for the manufacturing of cement products such as cellular, solid and hollow cement blocks as well as interlocking paving stones. Their fourth entity is ABSL Roofing Products Ltd. which was also incorporated in 2008 to support the steel building business by manufacturing a wide range of steel roofing and walling products required to complete projects and installation of branded steel building structures from end-to-end. The newest addition of the companies – RN Innovative Products Ltd. – was setup as a BOI-approved manufacturing company in the Export Processing Zone in Mirijjawila, Hambanthota. It is equipped with five manufacturing facilities to produce the complete range of construction material required for modern building construction industry to cater to local and foreign market in the south Asian region.

Speaking at the event, RN Group Chairman Ruwan Edirisinghe stated, “As we reach this significant milestone in the history of our company, I am proud to state that in a relatively short span of 20 years, we have reached the highest levels in the construction industry in Sri Lanka. Looking back, our first 10 years of operations was about getting our fundamentals right and reaching to become a top level category construction company to move forward, while the second 10 years was all about carefully-planned expansions by means of Backward Integration to manufacture our major raw materials in new companies, all of which gave us a competitive price with highest quality products to our customers and also to the market. Today, we are undoubtedly one of the most sought after construction companies in Sri Lanka due to our brilliant track record in timely delivery of projects, competitive prices, use of superior technology and of course our dedicated professional service.”

During the past 10 years, RN Constructions Ltd. has been recognised and awarded with over 25 national and international awards for its professional construction, industrial and entrepreneur success. Some of the notable awards include the ICTAD Construction Excellence Award in 2006 for the construction of a three-storied factory building for ORIT Apparels, ICTAD Construction Safety Award in 2008 for the Serendib Warehouse building project, Platinum Award for the ‘Best Sri Lankan Entrepreneur’ organised by the Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sri Lanka (FCCISL) in 2008, Gold Award for the ‘Best Sri Lankan Industrialist for Achievers of Industrial Excellence Award’ organised by the Ceylon National Chamber of Industries (CNCI) in 2008, CEDA ‘Construction Excellence’ Award and ‘Green Excellence’ Award in 2015 for the warehouse building for Nestle Lanka at Pannala and the CEDA ‘Construction Excellence’ Award in 2016 for the bottling plant for Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka (DCSL) at Seeduwa.

A majority of the company’s clients have returned for new projects thereby giving RN Group a steady stream of projects across several key industries. Some of the key clients of the company include Ceylon Biscuits Ltd., Timex and Fergasem Group, Nestle Lanka, Maliban Biscuits, Pyramid Lanka, Shangri-La Hotels Group, John Keells Holdings, Richard Pieris & Company, Distilleries Company PLC of Sri Lanka, Brandix Lanka, Unilever Sri Lanka, MAS Holdings, Nature’s Beauty Creations, Lion Brewery, D. Samson Industries, Global Rubber Industries, Dialog Axiata, Sampath Bank, Centara Ceysands Resort & Spa, Ananda College, DS Senanayake College, Stone N String, Vision Care Optical Services, Empire Teas, Airport Aviation and Road Development Authority.