--- title: "Structural Engineers in Dublin" description: "Structural, civil and precast engineering for Dublin city and county, from hotels and apartments on tight city sites to bridges in Fingal." updated: "2026-10-12" url: "https://www.petruf.ie/areas/dublin" --- # Structural Engineers in Dublin > Structural, civil and precast engineering for Dublin city and county, from hotels and apartments on tight city sites to bridges in Fingal. Much of our largest work is in Dublin: hotels on Liffey Street and at the airport, an eleven storey building on North Wall Quay, apartments in Adamstown and Malahide, and two bridges at Swords. Newbridge is on the M7, and the engineer who designs the job is the one who comes to site. City sites set the problems. There is rarely room to store anything, the neighbours are close, the street cannot be closed for long, and the frame has to go up in an order the site can take. That is where precast and a temporary works design earn their place. ## What we do in Dublin ### [Precast Concrete](https://www.petruf.ie/services/precast-concrete) Frames for apartments, hotels and offices, designed to be delivered and stood on a site with no room to spare. ### [Temporary Works Design](https://www.petruf.ie/services/structural-engineering/temporary-works-design) Propping, excavation support and crane bases next to buildings that have to stay standing. ### [Structural Calculations](https://www.petruf.ie/services/structural-engineering/structural-calculations) Extensions and openings in load bearing walls, with a site visit and a fixed fee quoted first. ### [Surveys and Reports](https://www.petruf.ie/services/structural-engineering) Pre purchase surveys and crack and subsidence reports on houses for sale. ### [Building Regulations Compliance](https://www.petruf.ie/services/consulting-and-compliance/building-regulations-compliance) Opinions on Compliance, and design and assigned certification under BCAR. ### [SuDS and Drainage Design](https://www.petruf.ie/services/civil-engineering/suds-design) Attenuation and controlled outfalls, designed to the Greater Dublin Strategic Drainage Study. ### [Uisce Éireann Connections](https://www.petruf.ie/services/civil-engineering/irish-water-connections) Connection and diversion applications for residential developments. ### [Roads Design](https://www.petruf.ie/services/civil-engineering/roads-design) Estate roads, entrances and footpaths to DMURS, for all four councils. ## Four councils, not one Dublin has four local authorities, and each is the planning and building control authority for its own area: [Dublin City Council](https://www.dublincity.ie/), [Fingal County Council](https://www.fingal.ie/), [South Dublin County Council](https://www.sdcc.ie/) and [Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council](https://www.dlrcoco.ie/). Each has its own development plan and its own drainage requirements, so the first thing to settle on a Dublin job is which council it answers to. Surface water across the region is designed to the Greater Dublin Strategic Drainage Study, which sets out how much a site may discharge and how it has to be held back. We prepare the drainage, the flood risk assessment and the Uisce Éireann applications that go with a planning application in all four. ## The ground in Dublin Much of the county sits on glacial till, the stiff Dublin boulder clay that carries a foundation well but does not take a soakaway. Near the quays and the coast the ground is made ground and soft deposits over it, and a building there is often on piles. A basement next to an existing building adds the question of what holds the neighbour up while the hole is open. What a site investigation finds on ground like that, and what it decides about the foundation, is in our piece on [what the ground decides](https://www.petruf.ie/blog/what-the-ground-decides). ## Our work in the county ### [Motel One](https://www.petruf.ie/projects/hospitality/motel-one-dublin) A hotel on Liffey Street, framed in precast to hold a programme on a street with no room to store anything. ### [73 North Wall Quay](https://www.petruf.ie/projects/commercial/73-north-wall-quay) A basement and ten storeys over it on the quays, braced on precast crosswalls. ### [Seatown Lane and Lissenhall Bridges](https://www.petruf.ie/projects/public-infrastructure/seatown-and-lissenhall-bridges) Two road bridges for Fingal County Council, with a precast deck that kept the work out of the channel. ### [Oscar Taylor's Apartments](https://www.petruf.ie/projects/residential/oscar-taylors-apartments) Apartments in Malahide on precast crosswalls and stairs, chosen for the acoustic separation as much as the speed. ## Questions from the county ### Which council does my Dublin project go to? The one whose area the site is in. Dublin City Council covers the city, Fingal the north of the county, South Dublin the south west and Dún Laoghaire Rathdown the south east. Each is the planning authority and the building control authority for its own area, and each has its own development plan. ### Can a soakaway be used in Dublin? Often not. The boulder clay under much of the county takes water slowly, so a percolation test frequently rules a soakaway out. The usual answer is attenuation on the site with a controlled outfall, sized to what the council and the regional drainage standards allow. ### Do you take on small jobs in Dublin as well as developments? Yes. Structural calculations for an extension or an opening, a survey on a house for sale or an Opinion on Compliance are as much a part of the work as a hotel frame. The first call is free, and we will tell you on it whether the job needs an engineer at all. ## Related - [Precast Concrete](https://www.petruf.ie/services/precast-concrete) - [Temporary Works Design](https://www.petruf.ie/services/structural-engineering/temporary-works-design) - [SuDS and Drainage Design](https://www.petruf.ie/services/civil-engineering/suds-design) - [Building Regulations Compliance](https://www.petruf.ie/services/consulting-and-compliance/building-regulations-compliance)