Projects Across Ireland

Both ends of the range. The smallest work is a single storey extension or an opening through a load bearing wall, which is a set of calculations and a certificate; the largest on this page is a pair of eleven storey blocks carrying more than two thousand precast units. What decides whether we are the right office is the frame rather than the budget: if the job turns on how it is structured, and particularly if any of it is precast, it is the sort of thing we do all week.

Yes. The office is in Newbridge, Co. Kildare, which is inside ninety minutes of most of the country, and the projects on this page run from Kerry to Meath to Galway. Design work does not need us on site every week; what does need a visit gets one, and the site visits are written into the appointment rather than charged as they arise.

Either, and it changes what we are doing. A client or an architect appoints us as the design team's engineer, which means we set the frame and carry it through to certification. A main contractor or a precast manufacturer appoints us to design and detail a package inside somebody else's scheme, which is most of the precast work. The two are priced differently and the responsibility matrix is drawn differently, so it is worth saying at the outset which one you are.

For a house extension, two to four weeks from instruction to stamped drawings. For a commercial or residential frame the analysis and the detailing together run three to six months, though that is not the number that matters: what matters is when the first drawings land, and those are sequenced to the erection order so fabrication can start while the upper levels are still being detailed. We give a deliverables programme with the fee, not just a completion date.

Often, and it is more common than starting from a blank sheet. Taking over means checking what has been designed before we put our name near it, which is a fixed piece of work we quote separately, and being straight with you if something already built needs revisiting. Where the frame is sound we carry on from where the last engineer stopped; where it is not, you find out before it is cast rather than after.

When the building is small, when nothing about it repeats, or when the design is still moving. Precast pays for itself on repetition and on programme, and it needs a longer lead in than in situ because the panels are designed and cast before anything arrives. A one off shape with an unresolved layout and a crane that cannot reach is an in situ job, and we will say so. Precast is what we are known for, not what we sell into every project.

Yes, and as Design Certifier. As Design Certifier we certify the design and sign the Ancillary Certificates for the elements in our scope. As Assigned Certifier we write the inspection plan, inspect and coordinate through construction, and sign the Certificate of Compliance on Completion with the builder. We will tell you which of the two you are actually asking for, because the words get used interchangeably and the duties are not the same.

Yes. Ask for a reference on a project like your own and we will put you in touch with the client or the main contractor, whichever of the two is the better read on how it went. It is a fairer test than a page of photographs, and the jobs on this page are the ones we are happy to be asked about.