W Fairweather & Son wins top building accolade

Fourth-generation commercial building company W Fairweather & Son was named the winner of the Master Builders Association’s Robert Law award at an event in Perth today.

Managing director Peter Fairweather, who is the great grandson of the company’s founder William Fairweather, accepted the award at a Master Builders Association and Bankwest luncheon for industry executives held at Crown.

The Robert Law award, named after the association’s first president in 1898, is given to an individual or organisation that has made an outstanding contribution to the building industry in the state.

Fairweather & Son’s involvement in Western Australia’s construction industry stretches back 122 years to the Goldfields, when William Fairweather started the business in 1895. He was also a founding member of the Master Builders Association and served as president from 1919 to 1920. His son, William, was a member of the association from the 1920s and president from 1938-1940.

The company currently undertakes a range of construction including refurbishment projects, educational facilities, heritage works and commercial projects. Recent developments have included the transformation of an industrial warehouse into the Patricia Kallis Centre in Cockburn, Scotch College’s Early Learning Centre, which opened earlier this year, and the University of Western Australia’s $6 million refurbishment of its student services precinct.  

MBA executive director Michael McLean said the fourth-generation company had a proud history and continually delivered outstanding workmanship in an extremely competitive industry.

“Fairweather & Son is an inspiration to all builders in WA as they are living proof that you can survive booms and busts, and live to see the landmarks your predecessors have built as legacies to future generations,” he said.

“It’s incredible that the walls of Kunanalling’s Premier Hotel, which were built by the Fairweathers in the late 1800s, still stand today even though the town has been abandoned.

“The builder has excelled in restoring historic and heritage-listed buildings such as churches, schools and universities to a consistently high standard.

“Master Builders is privileged to have had Fairweather & Son as members for over 100 years.”

Previous Robert Law winners include Homeswest, Plunkett Homes, John Roberts, Dale Alcock, Garry Brown-Neaves, Ross North and the late Len Buckeridge.