Construction projects involve significant risk to lenders. PACS provides focused and concise reports to alert the lenders of significant issues affecting the project.  PACS is a service company that applies the fundamentals of estimating, engineering, and construction process principles to fit the client’s individual needs. Our goal is to build a long-term relationship that provides our client with the confidence that their construction and property risk issues are being competently assessed and carefully communicated with helpful recommendations. We want to earn a position as a valued member of your real estate team!

The Principals and Staff of PACS understand the needs of Construction and Real Estate lenders, having worked in-house for major national Banks as part of their lending and appraisal departments. Our group includes licensed civil engineers, architects and seasoned construction professionals, with a combination of field construction experience and years of working with major lenders. The combined total experience of our professional team is over 225 years. PACS was started by Bertie Chawla and Kent Robertson on April 1, 1999. Both the principals worked at Bank of America for over 10 years each.

Bertie Chawla started his career in the construction industry in 1987 after graduating with a Masters in Civil Engineering from Oklahoma State University. Initially, he worked as a Project Engineer for a Developer based in Orange County, CA. In 1989, he joined Bank of America’s Construction Services department where he worked for eleven years and was eventually the Vice President and Manager of the Bank’s Southern California office. In 1999, Bertie started his own construction consulting company providing construction due-diligence services to financial companies.

Bertie has worked on all types of projects financed by construction lenders and mortgage companies throughout the country.  These include; land development, tracts, apartments, assisted living, hotels, offices, industrial, adaptive re-use conversions, condo conversions, custom homes and specialty projects such as, casinos, gas stations, milling plants, shellfish farms, etc. Bertie has also provided construction management services to his clients including foreclosure workout and completion of the projects for sale.

Bertie has the following California licenses:

Registered Professional Engineer - Civil
Contractor’s License
Real Estate Sales License

Kent Robertson is President of Professional Associates Construction Services, Inc., a construction consulting firm that provides construction and engineering expertise to lending institutions, property owners, insurance companies, investors and real estate developers in construction, acquisition and finance of commercial real estate. He has a Bachelor's of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Brigham Young University.  He is a registered Civil Engineer in California.  He has previously been employed in positions that approved construction projects for the City of Los Angeles, CA and City of Irvine, CA.  Kent also had a position for 10 years at Bank of America as a Vice-President – Manager of the Construction Services Group for the Southwest Region of the U.S. where he monitored all bank-financed properties requiring construction and engineering expertise and complex special projects such as large land development and hotel/casino projects. 

In 1999 Kent and Bertie Chawla started Professional Associates Construction Services, Inc (PACS) to offer these same services to a growing list of financial industry and real estate industry clients in California and other selected regions of the United States. PACS has extensive experience working on all the types of projects typically financed by construction lending and mortgage companies throughout the country. These include; land development, tracts, apartments, assisted living, hotels, casinos, offices, industrial, adaptive re-use conversions, condo conversions, custom homes. PACS also provides construction management services to its clients including foreclosure workout and completion of the projects for sale.

Dennis Nowland remembers his interest in the construction industry going back to his childhood as he watched his father build houses, including their own.  From junior high through high school and into early college he took Mechanical and Architectural Drafting and similar classes.

He enlisted in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and later graduated from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California with a five-year Bachelor of Architecture Degree.  During his college years, Dennis worked framing houses, forming, pouring and finishing concrete, doing finish carpentry and building cabinets.

Post graduation he passed the first portion of the California State Architectural Board licensing exam.  He continued working in the construction and architecture industries, designed and built houses and became a General Contractor.  In the late-seventies he moved to Southern California to work on build-outs of REIT’s and failed development projects for Lenders.

After several years he became a partner in the company, then 50% owner of that construction consulting company, which expanded into construction and mortgage Lender services and project owner rep services.  After many years of self-employment and then longing for a simpler life, he worked for a major California housing developer and then joined Professional Associates Construction Services, Inc., in November, 2000.

Dennis has more than twenty years of experience including project monitoring for Lenders on projects ranging from land development, single-and multi-family housing, golf-course development, tilt-up industrial, strip and big box retail, shopping centers, various commercial buildings, churches, mid- and high-rise office buildings, resort hotel and gaming industry projects and casinos.  

His experience also includes property assessment evaluations for Lenders and investors on various use properties throughout the United States.

 Dennis has the following California licenses:

Registered Architect
General Contractor (inactive)

Ben Mencias started his career in the construction industry in 1980 after passing the Licensure Board Examination for Civil Engineer in the Philippines. Initially, Ben worked as an inspector and cost estimator for an Orange County Consulting Company providing due-diligence to lenders. Thereafter, he ventured into the government sector as an engineering technician for County of Orange Public Works Division.  In 1989, he joined Union Bank of California’s Construction Technical Services where he worked for fourteen years as an Assistant Vice President and Regional Administrator of the Southern California region, responsible for construction risk management related to real estate due diligence. Prior to joining PACS in 2004, Ben had his own construction consulting company providing construction due-diligence services to financial companies.

Ben has worked on all types of projects financed by construction lenders and mortgage companies throughout the country.  These include; land development, tracts, apartments, assisted living, hotels, offices, industrial, adaptive re-use conversions, condo conversions, custom homes and specialty projects such as, church, hospitals, car-wash and mini-storages.

Robert Boyd has been an active part of Professional Associate Construction Services (PACS), Inc. since 2003. His primary responsibilities are providing due-diligence services to financial institutions and monitoring construction progress for approval of payment requests. Bob has over 26 years of experience in various aspects of the construction industry. Initially in 1979, he worked in project management with several Orange County based general contractors, including Koll Construction Company. In 1983, Bob transitioned from construction project management to sharing his expertise with the construction lending divisions of several major financial institutions. Bob first joined the Wells Fargo Bank’s Appraisal Department, where he worked for two years as a Cost Engineer and Inspector. In 1985, he joined the original Golden State Sanwa Bank as the Manager of the Cost Estimating Department. Although many changes occurred as the result of three separate mergers, Bob’s tenure with Sanwa Bank (et. al.) lasted over 18 years, earning him the eventual title of Vice President and Manager of the Bank’s California Cost and Inspection Department.

Mr. Boyd has experience with all types of projects financed by construction lenders and mortgage companies throughout the United States, focusing on the West Coast. These include: land development, tracts, apartments, assisted living facilities, hotels, office complexes, industrial business parks, adaptive re-use conversions, condo conversions, custom homes and specialty projects (i.e. casinos, gas stations, religious facilities, dairy farms).

Bob earned a Bachelors of Arts degree from George Fox University (Newberg, Oregon), and has completed relevant post graduate-level course work in related construction and real estate/appraisal areas. Bob has passed the written examinations for both the Real Estate Sales License and Appraisal Certificate for the State of California.

Myles Caswell

Myles Caswell joined PACS as a construction consultant in 2006. Myles is no stranger to the construction industry as he has well over 30 years experience as an Architect, Construction Manager, Construction Contract Administrator, Waterproofing & Roofing Consultant, and Contractor. 

Myles is a NCARB Certified Architect and is a registered Architect in the State of Arizona. He has completed the Arizona KB-O1 requirements and testing to qualify for the Commercial and Residential General Contractor’s License with the Arizona Registrar of Contractors (2003). Myles is a Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) Certified Construction Contract Administer and Construction Document Technologist.

Organizations that Myles has been affiliated with include the American Institute of Architects, Construction Specifications Institute, Roof Consultants Institute (RCI) and United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.

Myles received his 5-year Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Arkansas in 1991. While at the University of Arkansas, Myles was inducted into the Tau Sigma Delta Architectural Honor Society and was awarded two distinguished AIA scholarship awards. Myles was also inducted into the Golden Key National Honor Society and Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities & Colleges.

Roger M. Ferry

Roger M. Ferry started his career in the construction industry in 1969 while a student at Princeton University, where he graduated with a BSCE in Civil, Systems and Geological Engineering in 1972 specializing in soils and structures. Initially, he interned with the Davis Partnership Architects in Denver, CO; on hospital projects, with the City of Newark, NJ in urban engineering, and subsequently worked as a Project Engineer for the Carl Olson Construction Co. in Denver and Summit County, Colo., constructing industrial buildings and a major ski area. From 1974 to 1976, he was cost engineer for CM Associates and the Petry CM joint venture in Denver and Houston, building schools, biology and medical facilities, solar energy projects, and Middle East military facilities.  From 1977 to 1981, he rose from Project Engineer to Project Developer at the Al Cohen Construction Cos. in Denver and Los Angeles, building corporate facilities and high rises. In the early 1980’s, he was marketing and preconstruction project manager for commercial construction projects in the San Francisco Bay Area with the Carl W. Swenson Co. and in 1985 moved to San Diego, working with Snyder Langston Builders, The Hooberman Group, Tishman West, and Robert E. Bayley Construction Co., Seattle while attending MBA programs.

After starting the Environmental Risk Group at First Interstate Bank in Los Angeles in 1988, he managed environmental aspects of REO Properties with the Robert M. Bass division of American Savings during the Resolution Trust (RTC) crisis. Roger eventually joined Bank of America’s Environmental Services Department, where he worked for ten years as assistant manager of the credit division supporting risk and liability decisions in worldwide real estate, project finance, and merger/acquisition due diligence. In 2002, Roger returned to the local financial side of land development and commercial, retail, multi-family, and not-for-profit construction, joining to build PACS, Inc. services in San Diego.

Roger has wide ranging experience on all types of projects for government entities and for clients financed by construction lenders, equity partnerships and mortgage companies.  These include office park and tract land development, multifamily residential and hotels, offices, tenant improvements, industrial projects, adaptive re-use conversions, condominium conversions, and specialty projects such as ski areas, ice arenas, stadiums, schools, technology fitups, etc. Roger has also provided fee based development services, professional estimating services and construction management services to clients, including foreclosure workout and completion of projects for sale.

Roger has the following California licenses:

Contractor’s Class B License
Real Estate Sales License

Vitaly B. Luskin

Vitaly B. Luskin started his career in the construction industry after graduating with a Masters in Structural Engineering from Engineering-Construction Institute in the former Soviet Union. Initially, he worked as a Project Engineer for a Design-Construction Office in Ukraine. Since 1977, he worked as a consulting structural engineer for the Bechtel Power Corporation and small consulting companies. From 1984 until 1994, he went on his own and worked as a consulting engineer and Real Estate developer on single-family houses, commercial buildings, condominium complexes and land development projects in Northern California. In 1994, he joined the Home Savings of America, later the Washington Mutual Bank, as a Construction Project Engineer and Environmental Assessor. In 1999 he joined PACS, Inc., providing due-diligence services to financial companies.

Vitaly has worked on all types of projects financed by construction lenders and mortgage companies throughout the USSR and U.S.A. These include: land development, tracts, apartment and condo complexes, hotels, office buildings, college campuses, condo conversions, custom homes and specialty projects such as nuclear power stations, aluminum mills, etc.

Vitaly has the following California licenses:

Registered Professional Engineer - Civil
Registered Environmental Assessor
Real Estate Broker

Norm worked as a senior and chief estimator for various General Contractors in Colorado and later in the San Diego and Orange County, California for over thirty five years. His experience includes a wide range of commercial projects from housing, assisted living, retail, historic, education, religious, marine, banking, medical and detention facilities to an extensive list of military and engineering projects.

More recently, Norm worked for Dearborn Construction, Inc., concentrating on food and drug store construction, in their Huntington Beach, CA office, and was the chief estimator and Director of Estimating for the company’s five offices. He also worked closely with Dearborn’s in-house architectural staff.

Norm has also worked as an estimating consultant for various general contractors and was self employed for a few years constructing custom homes.

Joining Professional Associate Construction Services (PACS) in December 2005, he works primarily in the Phoenix, Arizona area.

Norm has the following California licenses:

General Contractor (inactive)