Isam Kabbani & Partners' contracting operations has five specialised businesses dedicated to the construction, petrochemical and ITsectors in the Kingdom.

The businesses, coming under the Kabbani Contacting Group (KCG) are BMC, Cosma, Cres, Sintec and Sogec.

"In 1999, we became a five-business group instead of only BMC ... and this has resulted in faster decision-making and an acceleration in the development of the businesses,' says a KCG spokesman. ''We are known in the market as a very reliable contractor, and we focus only on medium to large proejcts.''

The companies operate as follows: Western Region: BMC, Cres and Cosma; Central Region: BMC, Cres and Sintec; Eastern Region: BMC, Cosma, Cres, Sintec and Sogec.

Elaborating on the operations of these firms, the spokesman says: ''Cosma, the maintenance and construction division, looks after general contracting, air-conditioning, ducting, housing construction, building maintenance and infrastructure works. Its responsibilities also cover general electrical work, re-roofing, general painting and structural steel and external facade facelifting.

''Sogec is the oil and gas division. It focuses on construction and the installation of mechanical facilities for hydrocarbon plants; plant upgrading, modification, de-bottlenecking and pre-commissioning; shutdown facility support supply, technical and mechanical manpower supply; upgrading of the tanker fire protection systems; installation of hose reels and installation of the emergency shut down systems; fireproofing, cladding and insulation of pipes and valves for refineries; general welding and pipe works; fire protection and alarm systems; leak seals and online intervention treatments.

''Sogec's work in piping and fire-fighting systems includes bottom loading facilities for refined petroleum products along with automated controls; material control; run down lines; overfill protection and other safety features and preheating and post-weld heat treatment (stress relieving).

''The scope of works for IT specialist Syntec, covers fibre optic cable installation, cable pulling, cable splicing and termination, structured cabling (fibre optic and copper cable) for data service communications; premises distribution system (PDS); OSP and ISP cable infrastructure works; network and other connectivity work; network upgrades and other communication service contracts; CCTV surveillance cameras and security systems; microwave installation for telecommunication or data transmission; access control and uninterrupted power supply.

''Cres is the concrete repair services division. Its services cover full rehabilitation of concrete structures such as foundations, columns, beams, slabs or facades; maintenance and protective coating of metallic structures such as crude oil, fuel tanks, structural steel buildings or other industrial installations; industrial flooring repair and new protective coatings; chemical treatment and specialty injection of concrete either on ground or below the water table; shotcreting, support of either unsound excavation or newly cut mountains; installation of sports flooring; and cathodic protection engineering and installations.

''BMC is the building materials contractor. Its operations include waterproofing and damp proofing systems; thermal insulation and protection layers; tank lining tanking jobs; soil reinforcement utilising geotextile products; drainage and erosion control; geomembranes (impermeable layers) for ponds, environmental lagoons, landfills, waste water and industrial waste containment and geogrids for soil and asphalt reinforcement.''

Isam Kabbani & Partners was founded in 1979 and currently has over 2,400 employees.