Meet the Executive Team

Brian Cox

PRESIDENT

Brian grew up in the HVAC business, starting in the field working summers at the age of 15. He attended San Diego State University where he received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. While there, he was the founding President of both the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) chapters for the university. He continued to work for his father in San Diego, and in 1990 started his own company, Brian Cox Mechanical (BCM) serving the Riverside and Orange County areas of southern California. A few years later when his father retired BCM began doing work in San Diego. BCM Customer Service was formed in 1996 and both companies were acquired by Service Logic in 2021.

Brian continues to lead the company as he has for more than 30 years. He is currently on the board of directors for Trade Tech High School (a charter school that helps graduates get into the construction industry) and the Associated General Contractors Retirement Trust (to ensure our employees retirement funds are cared for).

Jeff Litman

VP Pre-ConstructioN

Jeff has been with BCM for over 30 years. Jeff and Brian met at San Diego State University, where Jeff received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. Jeff got into the HVAC industry by working for Brian’s father’s company. When Brian’s father retired, Jeff went to work with Brian.

Jeff manages the entire Preconstruction division at BCM. He oversees the Engineering, BIM and Estimating departments. His attention to detail, analytical skills, knowledge of building codes, and mathematical skills are critical to his success in his role. He works extremely well with customers and provides great leadership for his team. These skills keep our projects within budget throughout the design process and allows for a thorough constructability review before turning any project over to the construction or retrofit teams. Jeff’s oversight helps to ensure our customer’s get what they want and gives our construction team realistic budgets to work within.

Shawn LaVera

VP Construction

Shawn grew up in San Diego, CA. where he spent the summers of High School, working for his Father’s Plumbing, Heating, and Air Conditioning company. After graduation he continued in the business where he learned the many different facets of residential mechanical systems, including service and repair. Shawn was encouraged to get commercial experience so, in 1996 he took a job at a San Diego based mechanical company where he worked for 15 years. He started as an entry level Pipefitter, and during his tenure he became foreman and ultimately Pipefitting Superintendent. He completed an HVAC system design program at UCSD which included DDC controls. He has extensive corporate leadership training and holds many safety certifications. While working, he attended Cuyamaca college full time and became member of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. He studied business management and Environmental Technology. Shawn changed companies once, before joining the BCM Team in 2015 as the Pipefitting Superintendent. He advanced to General Superintendent and then promoted to his current position as Construction Manager.

Rob Ford

VP Retrofit/industrial

Rob joined Brian Cox Mechanical 2019 as the General Manager for the Retrofit and Industrial team. He has worked in the mechanical industry for over twenty-five years. His experience started as a summer job helping his brother-in-law plumbing custom homes. He worked into Project Management while he attended college and graduated from the University of Southern California, with a degree in Business Administration. After Graduation in 2001, he was a founding member of a mechanical company where critical facilities were their focus. There he worked as a Project Manager and grew into the position of Director of Operations and Vice President. In 2015, that companies’ service division was brought into California Comfort Systems.

At California Comfort Systems he led the Retrofit and Industrial team that was later brought into Brian Cox Mechanical in 2019. Through Rob’s opportunities he has gained knowledge that range from all aspects of HVAC to fuel cells, to building cGMP laboratories, and to solar. Rob holds multiple contractors’ licenses in California (B, C-20, C-36).

Mark Sampaio

VP Service

Mark has extensive experience in the Energy, HVAC, Plumbing and Refrigeration Service industry, and consistently pursues improvement across the built environment.  Mark completed an apprenticeship for HVAC Service in the San Francisco Bay Area, graduating with distinction. He has been active in several trade associations, relentlessly pursuing industry knowledge and completed Service Leadership Excellence at SMU.

Mark has advanced organizations as a successful Field Foreman, Sales Professional, Sales Manager, Service Manager, General Manager and Vice President, leading operations for the United States 9th largest Mechanical contractor. For the last 30+ years Mark has thoughtfully provided the vision and oversight for major business units servicing all of California and Hawaii. His team support and guidance has resulted in national recognition for sales growth, group safety, customer satisfaction and operational excellence.  

He currently holds a C38 refrigeration contractor’s license in both California and Hawaii. Mark joined Brian Cox Mechanical when they acquired a portion of California Comfort Systems in 2019.