Rutherford Co., Inc.

Jim Rutherford started Rutherford Company Inc (RCI) in 1970. In our inaugural year of operation the business was run out of a residential garage with minimal support. Jim Rutherford’s charismatic personality, boundless energy and work ethic, along with his dedication and commitment to his clients’ needs, set RCI on a course of rapid expansion.

In the beginning, RCI was a drywall, metal stud framing and lathing sub-contracting firm.  However, by the late 1970s, with support from our clients, we started our plastering, scaffolding and fireproofing divisions. In 1978 we were contacted by that decade’s market leader to build mock-up panels for a new cladding system called “Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems” (today known as EIFS). With the experience we gained from building the EIFS mock-ups and the manufactures approvals of this new exterior cladding system, we knew we were part of something new, exciting and an industry game-changer. Since then, RCI has completed hundreds of EIFS projects throughout the state of California.

In the early 1990s, RCI was awarded a Metro-Rail/Metro-Link tunnel project to install a machine-applied acoustical plaster that helps mitigate sound transmission. As a result of the success of this project, we have made the acoustical plaster scope one our main focuses. We have successfully completed multiple Metro-Rail Tunnel projects in addition to numerous schools, halls and auditoriums.

In the late 1990s, RCI began partnering with sheet metal contractors in an effort to bring a full and complete waterproof scope of work to the GC. We wanted to help fill the void of missing items that were inherent with the common exterior cladding details of that time. Today, with the design-assist / design-build bid delivery models, we view this as a common sense union and opportunity to offer our clients a complete service package. Rutherford Company Inc acquired the CSLB license classification C-43 – Sheet Metal, and now self-performs this element. We are also a certified metal panel distributor/installer for a leading industry manufacturer.  Offering this new added-granularity to our clients, has been an invaluable instrument for not only value engineering ease, but seamless transition and flow in the building phase.

In 2010, RCI opened a satellite location in Clovis, California to better serve our clients along the ninety-nine corridor. We have recently completed projects in Bakersfield, Fresno, Clovis, Tulare, Madera, Stockton and Tracy.

Rutherford Company Inc puts the health and welfare of all its employees as a main priority when it comes to the company’s purpose and goals.  We cannot be successful as a whole if our teammates are injured.  It is crucial that our team is healthy and ready to perform each and every day. To help make our company better and safer, in addition to our workers compensation carrier loss control specialist, our firm contracts with an independent safety compliance company to do random job-site visits.  These visits help catch potential safety issues that might be commonly overlooked.

As our industry evolves, so does RCI. We have seen how building information modeling (BIM) has been an invaluable tool, not only to our trade, but as a coordination tool in the field. To keep up with this technology, RCI offers a Senior Design Manager who coordinates with the “Gate Keeper” on all BIM required projects.

RCI continues to evolve with new and better Lean, Safety, LEED and Building Solutions. Rutherford Company Inc’s tremendous flexibility and numerous exterior cladding options, many of which are not offered by our competitors, make RCI “The New Paradigm” in exterior cladding subcontracting.