From their base in Ardagh, County Limerick, Meskell Consulting Engineers deliver a complete range of professional engineering solutions to the construction industry. Building Ireland spoke to founder / proprietor Maurice Meskell to find out more about this exceptional, all-encompassing operation.
Working hand in hand with local contractors, architects and homeowners, Meskell Consulting Engineers provides a vast array of engineering services to a wide range of building projects across County Limerick and sometimes beyond. Be it residential new builds, refurbs, commercial work, factories, school extensions or upgrades to GAA facilities, Meskell covers everything from start to finish, from percolation testing, planning, site assessment and drawings through to project management, supervision and final sign off.
Boasting two decades’ experience working as a civil engineer, Maurice Meskell established the company in Ardagh, ten years ago. As a one-stop shop, Meskell Consulting Engineers (MCE) provide one point of contact for a comprehensive range of engineering services and this simplifies the entire process for their ever-growing list of clients: “Our biggest selling point is that we can do it all from start to finish,” the Limerick-based engineer confirms. “You don’t need to bring in somebody else to do the BER [Building Energy Rating] assessment or the percolation testing, the drawings or whatever and that sells a lot of our work for us.”
Maurice is pleased to report that business is reasonably brisk right now despite the obvious challenges presented by lockdowns and restrictions in response to the novel coronavirus outbreak. “Things are quite busy with a good few new houses going up in Limerick at the moment, while we also cover Clare, Tipperary and Kerry and take on some work in Dublin, where we have a few clients. Most of our work would be one-off houses where we come in and provide complete engineering services from percolation testing, planning and planning applications to construction drawings, tender drawings, project supervision to sign off and final certification.
“The same applies to commercial and industrial projects, where we have a lot of factories and warehouses going on at the moment. Again, we take everything on under our own umbrella.” Indeed, Maurice’s civil engineering background is very much in commercial work. Prior to establishing Meskell Consulting Engineers in May, 2010, having qualified as a civil engineer, he joined Pat Mulcair Civil Engineering (now Roadbridge Ltd.) in 2000 and cut his engineering teeth working on a number of major commercial projects including Dundrum Shopping Centre and the Mayo–Galway Gas Pipeline. With a wealth of experience working on landmark projects, he opted to set up his own firm and has never looked back!
Maurice is honoured to work with some excellent local contractors: “Where I’m based, there would be a selection of up to 20 outstanding contractors that we’d use on a regular basis. There are a good few lads in Limerick who provide superb building solutions and, if asked, I’d always recommend the very best ones. As well as new builds, we also do renovations and refurbs, and we get a lot of referrals from architects, for whom we provide drawings and planning services, etc.
“Design of new builds accounts for a big part of our work with architects. Obviously, with the new energy efficiency standards dictating that new dwellings must have a BER of A2, there is more supervision required during construction. Every new house built since November, 2019 has to be A2 certified. Prior to that, it had been A3 since 2014, but it’s A2 now and you have to incorporate that into your specs.”
While a BER rating of A2 constitutes a Nearly Zero Energy Building, Maurice believes it is such a push to achieve this rating that A1 ratings – or Passive Homes – are unlikely to become the new standard any time soon.
In line with the Limerick County Development Plan and following EU guidelines, going forward it will soon be nigh on impossible to develop new houses on greenfield sites outside of already built-up areas. How much of a blow will this be to the construction industry in Ireland?
“The County Development Plan is due to change in April and that would reduce the number of one-off houses in the country,” Maurice notes. “I would assume at this stage with everything that’s
going on that it is going to be kicked down the road but realistically it’s a matter of when and not if this plan is implemented. It’s in place in England and Northern Ireland already, to divert people away from greenfield sites. However, there will still be work there as more people are likely to purchase older homes with a view to renovating them.”
When it comes to drawing up the plans for a home, how much emphasis does MCE place on achieving an aesthetically-pleasing end result as opposed to adopting a more practical approach? “It all comes down to the client,” says Maurice. “I would always say to the client that it’s their home at the end of the day and, as I’m not an architect, I’m not going to push a design onto them. I always let the client spearhead the look and idea of the building and I can refer them to an architect if they wish. “Obviously, by and large, the budget is going to dictate the style of the house and a lot of them are going to be traditional bungalows or two-storey homes. It’s all budget-orientated. Everybody would love glass from wall to wall but once they learn the cost of that they are going to include more blocks as they are the more affordable option.”
Meskell Consulting Engineers have done a lot of work for local GAA clubs, securing planning permission and signing off on walking tracks around pitches, floodlights, etc. as well as designing and securing planning for car parks and set down areas for local national schools, not to mention renovations and extensions to add on additional classrooms.
“There’s always something happening,” Maurice concludes. “If it’s not new builds, houses aren’t big enough and need to be expanded or a school needs a new classroom or a new factory has to be built. We’re starting work on two new factories in Limerick and one of those clients is also thinking of building a second one in Dunshaughlin in Meath.
“Since Covid-19 arrived, work has gone a bit quiet with regards to percolations as people are understandably cautious and worried about their financial situations. So we have five new houses on hold at present, but on a day to day basis we still have more than enough to keep us going.”
Meskell Consulting Engineers,
Coolcappa,
Ardagh,
County Limerick. Tel: 087 9641862
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, March, Vol 7 No 3
