Nolan Construction Consultants is a leading chartered quantity surveying and construction cost consultancy practice with offices in Waterford and Kilkenny. Established in 2010, the practice is synonymous with public sector projects and can count the Department of Education, Department of Defence, OPW and most of the country’s local authorities among its list of clients.
Specialising in commercial, residential, civic, educational, healthcare and ecclesiastical projects, Nolan Construction Consultants was formed by the previous partners of Nolan Ryan to meet new challenges in a changing economy. The principals, Robert Nolan (managing director), Paul Nolan (director) and William Kee (director), have a wealth of experience as chartered quantity surveyors and construction cost consultants. The practice’s range of professional services are focused on serving its clients’ best interests in a time of unprecedented change.
“Paul, who is my uncle, has over 50 years’ experience in the construction sector, Willie has 37 and I have 32. That’s a lot of years when you put them all together,” Robert says.
“During the recession, we decided to start afresh by setting up this practice. We reacquainted ourselves with people we hadn’t dealt with in a number of years in both the private and public sectors, and we have grown from there. The public sector accounts for approximately 80% of our work.
“One of our larger clients is the Department of Education. We’re currently working on large school projects (over 1,000 pupils) in Kilkenny, Donegal (x2), Limerick, Dublin, Galway and Cork (x2). We are also dealing with a lot of the country’s local authorities on social housing projects. We have a very good working relationship with the local authorities in the South-East and Dublin area in particular.”
The main services provided are quantity surveying, development advice and ancillary services. Cost consultancy services include procurement advice, contract procedures, contract documentation, tender evaluation, forecasting and reporting, and financial control.
As development advisors, Nolan Construction Consultants offer strategic planning, site evaluation and feasibility assessment, advice on procurement options, financial oversight and monitoring, employers’ representative and bank monitoring services. Ancillary services include insurance reinstatement cost assessments, grant and taxation allowance advice and dispute resolution and expert witness.
ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management accredited, the practice employs a team of 18 quantity surveyors and administration staff at its busy Waterford and Kilkenny offices.
“Our people are our greatest asset,” Robert stresses.
“They have extensive experience in a wide range of sectors and have contributed greatly to our growth and success to date. The Covid pandemic proved hugely challenging for everyone, but our staff knuckled down and were very productive when working from home.”
The directors and staff of Nolan Construction Consultants share an innovative approach to client services. They are firmly focused on delivering value-for-money to all clients and are committed to meeting project challenges pro-actively.
Each project is controlled by a director and an experienced professional QS who know and understand clients’ requirements and goals, and personally deliver them. By setting realistic budgets at the early feasibility stages, and by planning and controlling cost at detailed design and construction stages, they ensure final costs relate strictly to original agreed budgets.
It was a case of business as usual throughout much of the pandemic for the practice. Current projects would include Portlaoise Garda Station refurbishment and extension for the OPW, The Casino Model Railway Museum in Malahide for FCC, The Riverside Garden and Skatepark at Abbey Quarter Development for Kilkenny County Council, Bettystown Seafront Building and Civic Space for Meath County Council, Kilkenny Castle refurbishment for the OPW, Shackleton Museum in Athy for Kildare County Council, the Cadet School refurbishment and extension in the Curragh for Department of Defence, Public Realm Works at Quay Street in Balbriggan for Fingal County Council as part of the Our Balbriggan Rejuvenation Plan and Public Realm Works in Carrick-on-Shannon for Leitrim County Council.
“We’ve been engaged in a number of exciting projects in Kilkenny’s Abbey Quarter over the last number of years. The former home of Smithwick’s Brewery will be a vibrant urban quarter in the heart of Kilkenny city with the soon to be completed Brewhouse Building providing 50,000 sq. ft. of office space and public realm works to the highest standard.”
The practice has another upcoming project in the Kilkenny Abbey Quarter which will see the old Mayfair Ballroom transformed into the new City Library, which has recently commenced on site.
“We have a special interest in refurbishments projects. A good example of this can be found in Athy where we helped to transform the former Dominican Church into a new municipal modern library,” the affable managing director explains.
Nolan Construction Consultants was also delighted to give professional cost advice to the Waterford City & County Council architectural team after a further €27.6 million of funding was secured for a series of stunning new developments in the Cultural Quarter and Viking Triangle earlier this year. The Council is aiming to transform Waterford into a living city by returning to a people-centric city centre where people want to live, work and play. This will further add to the appeal of Waterford City which recently won the Irish Times Award for the “Best Place to Live in Ireland”.
Furthermore, the practice has provided its professional services to countless social housing projects for local authorities as well as for Approved Housing Bodies such as Respond, The Peter McVerry Trust, Cluid, St Vincent de Paul, Oaklee and NOVAS.
In addition, Nolan Construction Consultants has forged strong links and has built up excellent working relationships with main contractors, architects, design teams and developers alike.
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank our clients, suppliers and everyone else we work with for their continued support,” Robert concludes.
Nolan Construction Consultants
WATERFORD OFFICE
9 Wallace House,
Canada Street,
Waterford.
Telephone: 00 353 (0)51 841 719
Email: [email protected]
KILKENNY OFFICE
The Village Campus,
Waterford Road,
Kilkenny.
Telephone: 00 353 (0)56 780 1201
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.nolancc.ie
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, January 2022, Vol 8 No 1
Nolan Construction Consultants
