Construcciones Yamaro: FTI Group delivers certainty through certified building systems
With rigorous testing and assured supply, FTI Group gives contractors certainty on cost and labour despite market volatility.
Australia’s commercial projects are growing in scale and complexity, and the demands on cost, compliance and labour are only intensifying. Since 2016, FTI, an Australian family-owned business, has responded with building solutions engineered to take uncertainty out of construction.
FTI’s leadership team, with more than 150 years of combined experience, has long-standing roots in high-rise concrete construction. The family has been supplying the sector since 1996, building a foundation of expertise that now underpins its growth.
“It is not a small family-owned operation that has happened upon manufacturing preformed stairs, decking and door frames,” says Cameron Arkcoll, CEO of FTI. “The company was built on deep in-house expertise, and that expertise continues to drive expansion.”
Growth for FTI has also come from identifying products that ease pressure points for contractors, guided by values of quality, reliability, innovation and customer focus. The results are tangible: project-specific shop drawings, durable products and on-time deliveries. For project managers balancing multiple tasks, a single supply chain partner brings relief.
BlueDeck, launched in 2019, embodies that approach. A metal tray formwork for suspended concrete slabs, it is designed for commercial builds such as hospitals, shopping centres and car parks with large spans and suspended ceilings. The system integrates into beamed construction or structural steel with shear stud welding, making it versatile across project types.
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FTI positions BlueDeck within a wider ecosystem. Supplied alongside FastTread stairs and SureFit metal door frames, the company streamlines procurement with one delivery, one invoice and one accountable partner.
Equally important is proving the system’s performance. The credibility of BlueDeck rests on the rigour of its testing.
“Compliance is critical in the metal decking market. It is often the first question an engineer will ask: what testing has the product undergone?” says Arkcoll.
“BlueDeck has been subjected to full-scale fire testing by the CSIRO across 0.75mm and 1mm profiles, along with composite action testing undertaken by the University of Technology Sydney under the supervision of Dr Shami Nejadi, associate professor in the School of Civil & Environmental Engineering.
“It has taken four years of stringent testing to reach this point, and we can now confidently say that BlueDeck meets every compliance requirement.”
That investment gives contractors assurance not just in performance, but also in approvals and documentation – often decisive factors in large-scale developments.
Managing costs is one of today’s biggest project pressures, with material price volatility threatening budgets and unexpected shifts during construction adding further risk. FTI addresses this through a value-based pricing model that locks in rates for the life of a project, insulating contractors from steel price fluctuations.
The product itself also contributes to efficiency: when used as part of a composite slab, BlueDeck allows reductions in reinforcement and slab thickness compared to conventional formwork, delivering savings on both materials and labour.
To support the product and simplify workflows for engineers and project managers, FTI has developed the BlueDeck design app.
“The app generates a detailed design using BlueDeck, including reinforcement types, fire ratings and slab thicknesses,” says Arkcoll. “By offering both in-house engineering support and collaboration with external consultants, FTI ensures the product is applied efficiently, with design decisions anchored in certified data.”
For project teams, reliable supply can be the difference between meeting deadlines and watching schedules unravel. With BlueDeck, or any FTI product, certainty begins the moment a contract is signed. The company locks in both price and delivery capacity for the duration of a project, with FTI’s logistics team managing end-to-end transport using its own fleet.
“There may be 50 formworkers waiting on site, so reliability is critical,” says Arkcoll. “By managing the process ourselves, we can provide contractors with confidence that materials will arrive on time. It is all about delivering peace of mind.”
FDC Construction & Fitout’s delivery of Visy’s glass recycling and remanufacturing facility in Queensland highlights the value of FTI’s end-to-end model and its BlueDeck system. More than 17,000 square metres of decking were supplied, with short lead times keeping installation cycles tight.
“The lead times on the FTI BlueDeck product were around two to five days, which is a great turnaround time for us to achieve fast slab cycles,” says Dimitrios Zaverdinos, senior project engineer at FDC. “Working with the BlueDeck product itself has been quite an easy process.”
That seamless delivery contrasts with the challenge facing much of the industry: a shortage of skilled labour, which has heightened the need for efficient formwork systems. BlueDeck’s ability to simplify installation and minimise stripping false formwork after pours has seen it increasingly specified in large commercial developments. Its value lies not only in technical performance but also in aligning with the realities of a stretched workforce.
The next phase for FTI is an expanded BlueDeck portfolio, with new profiles under development to serve larger warehouse-style projects.
“FTI aims to keep the industry moving forward with a continuous stream of innovative products designed to solve real-world construction challenges,” says Arkcoll.
“Ultimately, it all comes back to the customer. We listen closely to what contractors and project teams need and then build out our product offering accordingly. Our innovation is driven by their requirements, with the goal of making construction simpler, faster and more efficient.”
BlueDeck’s growth reflects FTI’s philosophy: engineer complexity out of construction. Testing and certified compliance have underpinned that progress, ensuring FTI systems perform under scrutiny as well as on site. With a promise of continual product evolution, the company is setting its course around practical innovation shaped by market needs.
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