Having delivered prestigious, high-profile projects nationwide, BCL Contracts is widely-regarded as one of Ireland’s premier roofing and cladding contractors. We caught up with managing director Colum Breen to find out more about this exceptional, market-leading operation.
BCL Contracts’ stamp of quality is permanently on display to the public atop buildings all over Munster – where the company was established by Colum Breen in November, 2004 – and beyond. From Thomond Park Rugby Stadium and Shannon Airport to University of Limerick and Galway Regional Hospital, BCL has delivered excellent, high-quality, safe and aesthetically-pleasing solutions on time and within budget.
Working in conjunction with a veritable who’s who of main contractors, Colum has completed a wide array of bespoke projects, typically within the €100,000 to €2.5m price range, specialising in the sports & leisure, aviation, education, energy and health sectors, to mention just a handful.
A one-stop shop for all roofing and cladding needs, BCL Contracts design, supply and install a variety of envelope and roofing solutions on new and refurbishment buildings, with the ability to deliver outstanding bespoke finishes one of their key strengths.
A competitive maintenance programme is also provided in order to ensure that the client’s product guarantees and warranties remain valid through the lifetime of the structure.
To ensure the best possible result, founder Colum Breen always makes himself available to the client at the initial stage of projects, consulting and offering expert guidance on the design and specification of the envelope / roof element of the structure. This promotes competitive advantages, potential budget savings and improves the main contactor’s prospects of securing the contract.
“We pride ourselves on getting the job done on time and always within budget,” the Limerick man told Building Ireland. “If we can get to a project at an early stage, we can meet with the architects and the design team as they are designing it and this will invariably result in huge savings.
“We know all the products and finishes that will suit each individual building and project, so we can steer them in the right direction and save them both time and money. At this stage, I’d have a fair idea just from looking at the shape of a building what the best products are for that particular building.”
This is no major surprise as Colum has been involved in construction since he was 16 years old and boasts 25 years’ experience of the roofing and cladding sector specifically. Having initially operated as a subcontractor installing solutions for other main contractors, he took the decision to go out on his own under the BCL Contracts banner 13 years ago and has never looked back.
Some of the successfully-completed projects over the years include the Health & Science Building at UL; Thomond Park Rugby Stadium (for PJ Hegarty & Sons); Shannon Airport CBP International Security (for PJ Hegarty & Sons); Herberton Place Apartments, Dublin (for Elliott Construction); Foynes Oil Terminal (for Roadbridge Ltd); Dungarvan Hospital (for Duggan Bros); Doon School (for BAM Contractors); Pharmaceuticals in Munster Region (for PJ Hegarty); and Nutricia Ireland, Macroom (for JJ Rhatigan).
BCL Contracts installs only the best products on the market in its high-quality roofing and façade systems, including standard-setting industry leading names such as Kingspan, Soprema, Rodeca, Euroclad, Xtratherm, Moy Materials, Pluvitec, Kemporal and Alucobond rain-screen cladding, Rain-screen Cementous board both of which is available in a variety of colours.
Systems installed include aluminium perforated cladding systems; Rodeca twin-skin polycarbonate roof / wall systems; aluminium standing seam roof and wall facades; composite panel systems, aluminium trapezoidal profile roof systems; bitumen-based, PVC & TPO flat roofing; safety fall arrest systems; bitumen-based green roofing; aluminium trims and flashing, including Louvre ventilated systems; timber cladding facades; liquid roofing solutions; and lightning conductor applications.
“Prior to installation, we would provide a complete drawing set showing details of everything we propose to do, which replicates the individual components and gives the client a very clear picture of what we have in mind,” Colum states.
How did the MD of BCL Contracts succeed in becoming such an authority on roofing / envelope systems? It’s a highly specialist area, so where does his insight and knowledge come from? “You know from experience and from chatting to architects and keeping up to speed with industry standards. I’ve been at this a long time now. It’s important to use a bit of imagination, too – to come up with different colours and colour schemes and variations so as to achieve a building that will look good and also stand up to warranty for up to 40 years.”
Reshaping the landscape to such an extent, it must be a source of great personal satisfaction to regularly see your workmanship on many key buildings as you go about your day-to-day business? “Yeah, we’ve done a lot of buildings around the Munster Region alright and we did a stint in the UK as well,” says Colum. “We’re branching back into Dublin at the moment and also doing some work in Sligo and Galway.
Pre-planning is critical to ensure optimal execution. “The level of detail in the plans for the job going to site is paramount. When you have the details correct and everybody knows exactly what they are doing, you can hand the materials over to the installation team and there’s no room for error. Planning in advance and having things organised from design to handover of the roof and façade is extremely important.”
Colum is joined in the running of the business by his wife, Helen, who is a director, and the pair also have four children. Gainful employment is generated for a crew of between 20 and 60 depending on what projects are ongoing at any given time and the order book is full for the remainder of the calendar year, with work also secured going into 2018.”
Regarding some of the behind-the-scenes considerations that a roofing and cladding contractors needs to bear in mind, Colum notes: “You have to be conscious of the acoustic requirements of a building at all times, for example there’s a big difference between a school and a warehouse. Building regulations are changing all the time and there have been dramatic changes over the past 13 years, Insulation U-values alone have gone from an acceptable level of .30Wm/2k to .11 Wm2k, followed closely with huge changes in “air tightness” & “acoustic” levels.
“Fire regulations have also changed dramatically and will again following the atrocity in London. But we abide by all prevailing regulations and requirements. Health & Safety are huge in our business and we have everything in place and up to date.”
Looking to the future, quality will remain at the very heart of everything BCL Contracts does: “The goal is to maintain the business as it is,” Colum concludes. “I have worked hard through the bad times from 2008 until 2010 at maintaining the company and its value and the challenge now is to build on that.”
BCL Contracts,
Unit G2,
Eastway Business Park,
Ballysimon,
County Limerick.
Tel: 061 419824
Fax: 061 419826
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.bclcontracts.ie
Taken from Building Ireland Magazine, November 2017, Vol 3 No 10
