Logical Group’s progressive young Associate Director James McParland was a deserving recipient of the prestigious Emerging Leader Award at the 2023 Surveying Excellence Awards. Building Ireland sat down with the Carlingford, County Louth native to find out more…
A key member of the team at Logical Group – Ireland’s premier real estate consulting and contracting firm – for coming up on nine years, Louth native James McParland was a very popular winner in the Emerging Leader category of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland’s inaugural Surveying Excellence Awards in December, 2023.
Since joining Logical Group, James has excelled in providing clients with high-quality, professional services and this award is due recognition of the outstanding standards of excellence he consistently delivers. “I was honoured to have won this award– it was a brilliant end to a great year,” he told Building Ireland.
“Receiving this award is fantastic for myself and also the company. We have a brilliant team of 20 people and it’s a real group effort – I wouldn’t win an award like this without the support and hard work of the entire team.”
A wonderful team player, James joined Logical Group in 2015, became a chartered building surveyor in 2022 and was promoted to associate director at the firm in 2023. On a daily basis, he demonstrates his technical knowledge and understanding of building compliance within the built environment.
He has developed a sizable portfolio of blue-chip clients, providing tailored building consultancy advice. Client feedback is consistently superb and James works hard to add value to each relationship.
Specialising in building compliance within the built environment, James graduated from Dundalk Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science (Hons.) in Building Surveying and joined Logical Real Estate Consulting as a graduate surveyor. He was elected as a Professional Member with the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland in 2021.
His dedication and can-do attitude provide an energy and motivation to clients and colleagues alike. He is always willing to help others and has been a tremendous mentor to some of the more junior members of the team, bringing them out on site visits and allowing them sit in at various customer meetings.
Whilst the role of a building surveyor is vast, James’ uncanny ability to cover all aspects of the extended job description is impressive. In addition, he took it upon himself to return to college part-time in 2018, attending a postgraduate course at Trinity College Dublin to study Fire Safety Practice. As a result of this, he now specialises in complex fire related projects and has given exceptional advice to Logical’s clients in this area. Some notable projects delivered include multiple fire safety remediation projects, and fire consultancy services for large logistic, retail and primary care centre developments.
Logical Group was set up in 2010 by Managing Director Barry O’Halloran, a chartered building surveyor with over 20 years’ experience. Going beyond the obvious for clients and bringing a variety of disciplines and skills as part of an integrated service, Logical has developed a reputation for real engagement, honest advice and exceptional results.
Their main areas of expertise cover commercial property, small, large or somewhere in between. Customers know Logical is a firm that they can trust and one that is also fun and stimulating to work with.
Logical Group is made up of two divisions – real estate consulting (a team of chartered and registered building surveyors who provide property consulting services to clients who typically include commercial agents, financial institutions, asset and fund managers) and contracting / client services (a team of leading providers in building contracting, refurbishment and fit out projects – from a single office space to a complex internal or external multi-floor refurbishment).
Logical Client Services can add value to any given commercial project, using their fully qualified construction team to reduce program and cost through market experience and up to date commercial market knowledge. Working with leading architects and other design team members, they can assist if and where required by picking up some of the ancillary project services, such as BCAR, Fire and DAC certs, PSDP, etc.
Logical’s chartered building surveyors provide robust strategic and commercial property consulting services to clients ranging in size and sector. They assist both clients who are acquiring or disposing of commercial property and those who need support developing and maintaining their commercial property portfolio.
Expertise lies in the full remit of commercial property professional services across all disciplines.
As well as a vast range of professional services including Commercial Technical Due Diligence (Pre-Acquisition Surveys), Building Survey Reports, Fire Safety Consulting, Fire Safety Certificates, Disability Access Certificates & Planning Permission, Assigned Certifier Role – BCAR, Schedules of Dilapidations, Schedules of Condition, Lease Audits, Landlord / Tenant Issues & Tenant Alterations, Insurance Reinstatement, Cost Assessment Valuations, Construction Project Management, Project Monitoring, Project Procurement & Contract Administration, Planned & Preventative Maintenance Schedules / Building Investment Funds, Health & Safety / PSDP and Measured Surveys / Floor Area Calculations, Logical are also highly regarded for their expertise in providing sound opinion on property related matters, including development analysis and feasibility, and portfolio strategy.
While James has proven to be a fantastic member of the team, it’s very much a mutually-beneficial relationship as Logical Group has gone above and beyond in terms of offering him opportunities to further his career: “I have been afforded great opportunities here at Logical. They have really invested in me and that provides tremendous motivation to be the best you can be.”
In so far as is possible, Logical Group try to bring through their own talent. “They are looking to the future and investing in people coming out of college, which is a unique approach. I had a particularly busy year in 2023 as I also got married and started building a house, and the company was very supportive of this.”
James’ day-to-day activities as a chartered building surveyor at Logical see him acting on behalf of either the buyer or vendor on commercial properties being bought and sold. On the fire safety end of things, he looks after fire safety certificate applications and supervises works onsite while they are ongoing, be these on new developments or existing sites being refurbished or undergoing a change of use.
While most of his work is in Dublin, he has worked across the greater Leinster region and as far away as Cork, project monitoring a new client fit out. A few completed projects include Horizon Logistics Park, Musgraves’ in Newcastle, County Dublin and Dun Laoghaire Shopping Centre.
As for the secret to providing industry-leading building surveying services, the award-winning associate director concludes: “It’s mainly a matter of providing the client with reasoned, sound advice and ensuring you meet the high standards set by the SCSI [Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland]. It’s also important to maintain clear lines of communication with the client and, as part of the team, I try to be a mentor for younger staff members coming up.
“It’s been a great journey since I joined Logical in 2015. I’ve seen steady growth and I continue to see that in our line of work, which involves working predominantly with existing properties. It’s a very dynamic industry out there and things are changing quickly especially within the sustainability and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) sectors where we are now also offering advice
“We get a lot of repeat business from existing commercial clients and also have new clients coming on board every month. We already have a steady book of instructions and projects and projects lined up for 2024 so it looks like another positive year is on the cards.”
James McParland and Logical Group wouldn’t have it any other way.
Logical Group,
15 Herbert Place,
Dublin 2.
Tel: 01 443 4155
Email: [email protected]
Web: logical.ie
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, June 2024, Vol 10 No 6
