Bayview Contracts’ One-Stop Shop solution offers homeowners all the services required for a complete home energy upgrade. Building Ireland touched base with co-founder and operations director Paul Cunningham to find out more.
Bayview Contracts are Ireland’s premier providers of whole house energy solutions and experts in the design and installation of central heating, renewable energy, home insulation systems and general building maintenance.
With a wealth of experience accumulated over the past 22 years in both the private and public sectors, Bayview have successfully managed a series of large volume energy efficiency projects focused upon installation of high efficiency boilers and zoned controls, insulation systems, renewable energy systems and ancillary energy efficiency measures including windows, draught-proofing and energy efficient lighting.
One of the qualities that sets Bayview Contracts apart from their competitors is that they have since inception been geared towards delivering whole house energy upgrade solutions. “We were set up as a one stop shop in 2001 to provide a complete home energy upgrade service, top to bottom, inside and out,” reflects operations director Paul Cunningham. “From the very beginning, our focus was fully on whole house energy upgrades and that is what we have continued to do to the present day.”
Bayview deliver all works in house, including oil and gas heating systems with zoned heating controls; attic insulation; cavity wall insulation; internal and external insulation; draught-proofing; ventilation (roof, soffit and wall); and the installation of high efficient double glazed windows and doors. They boast the experience, expertise and full certification to manage all aspects of the process from initial survey through to installation and final commission.
“For the different systems that come together for a complete property upgrade, with that comes a need for building maintenance services within occupied properties. All our systems – ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, etc. – are designed around energy upgrades and building maintenance in occupied properties. We provide bespoke solutions on each property, making sure that we offer the best designs, best tradesmen and best aftercare service. In short, the best solution.”
Home energy upgrade works optimise the energy efficiency of homes going forward, reducing ongoing energy costs and creating a more comfortable living environment. A full home energy upgrade will transform the comfort levels of a home and reduce energy bills.
Delivered in conjunction with SEAI (Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland), Bayview’s One Stop Shop solution offers homeowners all the services required for a complete home energy upgrade. Bayview’s team of building sustainability professionals manage the complete upgrade from start to finish, providing all of the specialists and in-house engineers to guide the homeowner through from initial home assessment and design through to the project completion.
They identify the best solutions for each home through a detailed home energy assessment, provide a competitive quote on carrying out the best upgrades to bring the property up to a B2 energy rating or higher, organise and manage project delivery, present finance options, apply for SEAI grants on the client’s behalf and discount all available grant supports from the overall upgrade cost invoiced.
Bayview Contracts were already firmly established as a one stop shop property energy upgrade provider long before SEAI announced the new One Stop Shop home energy upgrade service (and associated grants scheme) to provide homeowners with a hassle-free way to undertake a complete home energy upgrade in February, 2022. Thus, becoming a registered One Stop Shop home energy provider was a smooth and seamless process.
“We’re unique in that we genuinely are a one stop shop, with direct labour in-house across all the trades,” Paul continues. “We are fully certified by NICEIC and RECI for electrical installations, Gas Safe and RGII for gas heating installations, Oftec, the National Insulation Association (NIA), the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI), Constructionline and are SEAI-approved for all their measures and schemes.
“On every project we undertake, we have always provided our own design engineers to come up with the best bespoke solutions, a project manager and all the trades including electricians, plumbers, joiners, plasterers and painters. We manage a very integrated and seamless process. While it is technical, we make it easy and understandable to the homeowner. We will conduct a technical assessment and develop a roadmap to bring the property up to B2. We will present that roadmap to the homeowner and come up with a design to carry out the works to their preference, in a seamless manner with minimum disruption, making sure they can continue to live in the property while the work is going on and that they are both comfortable and safe.”
Bayview Contracts take great pride in delivering the most energy-efficient solutions that are cost-effective], provide real value for money, and guarantee a swift return on investment. Having developed teams of the most highly skilled and competent engineers from within the industry, they have been responsible for managing and delivering some of the largest energy efficiency retrofit projects in Ireland under The Warm Homes Scheme (NI), The Warmer Homes Scheme (ROI), the Electric Ireland Homes Services Programme (Halo) and various local council projects.
Bayview have also developed expertise in the management and delivery of large volume response maintenance and planned maintenance contracts across Ireland – covering all 32 counties. In managing a housing portfolio of over 20,000 properties on a 24/7 basis, Bayview have developed highly skilled and competent in-house teams covering all trade areas, thereby ensuring delivery of the highest quality housing maintenance services.
Reiterating the company’s ideal suitability to delivering One Stop Shop home energy upgrades, Paul notes: “As a business, we were set up to deliver this. We have been involved with SEAI since 2008 and have worked with them on all the schemes over the years, handling every aspect of upgrades from building fabric and insulation to windows and doors, ventilation and heat pumps. The One Stop Shop programme is exactly what we were created for and it has been a resounding success due to the way it is structured.”
Delivering services to local authorities, housing associations and private homeowners nationwide, Bayview have successfully completed industry-leading projects across all 26 counties, not just on the mainland but also on more remote locations including Bere Island and the Aran Islands. Due to the massive housing stock in the capital, a large percentage of their work is in and around Dublin.
A landmark project delivered in 2013 was the €3.3m complete energy upgrade of 650 homes in Cox’s Demesne, Dundalk, County Louth – a major scheme which won a European sustainability award for Electric Ireland at the time and created the template for the One Shop Stop scheme.
Direct employment is generated for a team of 150 and Bayview Contracts are currently experiencing controlled, sustainable growth, working on energy upgrades of hundreds of residential properties at any given time, including deep retrofits in retirement villages.
“The home owner journey is key and we have the systems in place to make that journey as comfortable and straightforward as possible,” Paul concludes. “Everything is geared towards making life as simple as possible for homeowners – our team of design engineers will talk them through the entire process and our PMs will work hand in hand with them. We have a very detailed and integrated process to get them from where they are now to having the full home energy upgrade delivered and certified.”
Bayview Contracts,
Greenbank Industrial Estate,
23 Rampart Road,
Newry,
County Down.
Tel: 028 3025 1122 (Northern Ireland) / 01 5267706 (Republic of Ireland)
Email: [email protected]
Web: bayviewcontracts.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BayviewContracts
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, December 2023, Vol 9 No 12
