Providing a comprehensive suite of civil engineering and construction (residential, commercial and industrial) solutions, Datum Building & Civil Engineering boasts an impeccable track record for invariably delivering high-quality, bespoke projects on time, within budget and to the client’s exact specification. We travelled to Tralee, County Kerry and spoke to MD Brian Hayes about this highly-versatile, industry-leading contracting company.
With a wealth of expertise and experience in successfully completing a wide range of civil engineering and construction projects, Datum Building & Civil Engineering (Datum BCE) is renowned nationwide as a flexible, dependable and professional building contractor.
As a one-stop shop for both civils and construction, Datum offer the full array of services from groundworks to complete turnkey finishes. Although renowned for delivering unrivalled workmanship both above and below the floor slab, the Tralee-based contractor’s expertise in largescale, multi-unit groundworks is particularly impressive.
In civils, they work regularly to the most exacting standards for prestigious clients such as the ESB and Irish Water. “To get projects across the line with Irish Water, it goes without saying that your quality has to be up to the very highest standards,” states managing director Brian Hayes. “They expect you to work to the highest standards and we’re proud to have a longstanding working relationship with them.”
Datum BCE have accumulated immense expertise in utilities, including sewerage, water, stormwater and electrical ducting. Alongside traditional building practices, they are also happy to embrace new construction technologies and methodologies and, to this end, have completed a number of rapid-build ICF projects across a number of counties.
“I would describe Datum as a medium-sized building and civil engineering company with 30 employees and around double that in subcontractors,” the MD continues. “Our direct staff include project managers, engineers, specialist pipe layers and general operatives, while we also have our own estimating department, headed up by [commercial director] Sean Daly, and do all our pricing in-house.”
Between them, Brian and Sean boast more than 30 years’ experience working at the cutting edge of the construction industry. Both men have worked previously with major Tier One contractors and that combined knowledge has been instrumental in driving Datum BCE’s growth in recent years. The company is fully ISO-certified for implementing best-in-class Quality, Environmental and Health & Safety management systems and became an essential services provider during the construction shutdown that went hand in hand with the Covid-19 public health emergency.
“We were contracted to carry out a couple of groundworks projects for ESS Modular and were deemed an essential worker during lockdown. That kept us going during those times,” Brian reveals. “One of them was a 48-bed extension in Kilkenny Hospital and the other was an extension at Mercy University Hospital in Cork.”
Currently, Datum are enlisted to provide all the groundworks including drainage and utilities on Lioncor’s stunning development of 77 new residential homes at Richmond Rise, Sallybrook, near Glanmire in County Cork. “We’re also doing groundworks for a 48-unit development in Galway, on a challenging site with rock (which is granite) and peat – so that’s a heavy civils job,” says Brian.
Meanwhile, in Kildare, Datum BCE are working on a magnificent ICF (Insulated Concrete Formwork) construction project of 30 units for Alder Homes at Cluain Dara in Derrinturn. Here, they are providing the full groundworks package as well as the ICF construction. Datum have embraced modern methods of construction and have developed an excellent reputation as ICF specialists. Buildings delivered using ICF provide many advantages over traditional building techniques, the most obvious being speed of build, low labour requirements, the ability to work in all weather conditions and of course the inherent high energy efficiency in the end product.
Datum’s ICF-built residential homes are designed to meet the highest standards in quality and compliance, with BER standards of A1-A3 typically delivered. ICF is flexible enough to be adjusted to incorporate onsite changes easily, including structural elements such as beams. It meets NZEB standards but can also be easily adapted in order to satisfy any new regulatory, compliance or energy standards that might introduced in the future, such as soundproofing or airtightness.
Brian agrees with the consensus that MMCs such as ICF could be the future of construction and this belief has seen Datum take on numerous ICF projects in recent times, including a nursing home in Moycullen, County Galway last year.
Groundworks has become a highly-skilled and specialist part of construction and dedicated professionalism is becoming increasingly important. It would be fair to say that Datum BCE – who benefit from a large volume of repeat business from a core group of clients – take things to the next level in terms of adapting a modern, collaborative and co-ordinated approach. “We have a project manager and an engineer on the ground on every civils project and that enables us to work to a very high standard and spec,” says Brian. “Typically, the majority of our work is below a straight line from Galway to Dublin, but we will tender for work further up the country as well.”
Despite the obvious challenges facing construction at present, Datum Building & Civil Engineering are extremely busy at present. “We’re very busy but we are facing challenges around staff and materials. The price of materials is at an all-time high and there are shortages to contend with as well. It’s also a challenge to get skills on board but we are lucky in that regard as we have a lot of long-term employees built up over the years and have our core staff sorted, which is important.
“Personally, I would encourage young lads to go out and get a trade – even pipe laying. If you can lay pipes, you will always find work. The first year would be a steep learning curve but you should be on top of your game within three-five years and will have a long-term career out of it after that.”
What comes next for Datum BCE – further growth or perhaps a period of consolidation? “We’re still aiming to grow the business,” concludes the company’s personal MD, who closely oversees their strategic direction, dividing his time equally between site and office. “We’d be hoping to increase our turnover by 20% per annum going forward.”
Datum Building & Civil Engineering,
Unit 5I,
Liber House,
Monavalley Business Park,
Tralee,
County Kerry.
Tel: 066 7127254
Email: [email protected]
Web: datumbce.ie
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, March 2022, Vol 8 No 3
Datum Building & Civil Engineering
