History
Summary of the company's history
IAV / IPC is one of Iceland's oldest construction companies originally established as a sole-source military construction contractor in 1954.
In 1997 the company was reorganized into a limited liability company and subsequently listed on the Iceland Stock Exchange where it is still the only listed construction company. With acquisitions and internal growth it is now one of two biggest construction companies in Iceland. It is very actively participating in every sphere of the construction industry such as residential housing, commercial buildings, official buildings and other special buildings, earthmoving, airfield and road construction as well as hydro-electric power projects and such complicated projects as radar stations on mountain tops in remote areas.
Technical Advances and Staff Training
At the time that IAV / IPC commenced operations, the equipment and expert knowledge required to carry out defense construction projects was not readily available in Iceland, other than to the Americans and their own contractors. When IAV / IPC took over the contracting for the US Naval Air Station marked an important stage in the industrial history of Iceland and became a substantial educational tool in the construction industry sector. Various machines and tools were imported which had not been previously seen in the Icelandic construction industry; these were soon used in various construction projects all over the country.
IAV / IPC and their predecessors, United Contractors, supported the diversification of construction workers by sending employees to training seminars in the USA, as well as providing specialised training for particular projects locally. In this way, IAV / IPC had a considerable effect on the development of the Icelandic construction industry. This was done with the support of the Icelandic government, not to mention the Americans, who naturally wanted to ensure that the transfer of knowledge continued in line with the demands of the complex projects which the company carried out as contractor to the US Naval Air Station.
Structural Changes
From 1990 onwards, it became clear that there was growing support for a change in the arrangement concerning contractors in Iceland As an increasing number of defense projects were being financed by the NATO Building Fund, NATO member states were in favour of competitive bidding. In 1992, the Icelandic government agreed that the competitive bidding for NATO projects would be open to companies from all NATO countries.
Since 1996 the system in which the Icelandic government nominated contractors to negotiate for projects on the NATO Base has been reduced by stages with the aim to finally reach and support open bidding from any and all contractors.
