McGrath Quantity Surveyors (Dublin and Wexford) have been recognised by their peers with a nomination in the Consultancy of the Year category at the 2021 Irish Construction Industry Awards. The only QS firm in the category, Principal Ronan McGrath was full of praise for the efforts of his team when he spoke to Building Ireland.
Launched in 2014, the Irish Construction Industry Awards recognises, encourages and celebrates original and innovative contractors, businesses, teams, consultants and projects that demonstrate excellence in the built environment.
This is the premier awards programme in recognising excellence in Ireland’s construction industry and a superb opportunity for the industry to come together and celebrate with their peers.
The awards ceremony is annually attended by leading industry figures and the past winners list is a who’s who of Ireland’s construction industry.
This year’s winners will be revealed on Wednesday, December 8th and one practice that is eagerly looking forward to the ceremony (and keeping their fingers crossed!) is McGrath Quantity Surveyors who have been shortlisted in the Consultancy of the Year category.
McGrath Quantity Surveyors are a team of Chartered Quantity Surveyors with offices in Dublin (Sandyford) and Wexford (Enniscorthy).
Backboned by 15 years of experience, Principal Ronan McGrath and his team pride themselves on their ability to provide a knowledgeable Quantity Surveying service to Developers, Contractors, Sub-Contractors, Architects and Home-owners.
“It’s our first time to enter the Irish Construction Industry Awards and we are delighted to have been shortlisted for these prestigious awards,” Ronan enthused.
When asked: what would have impressed the judges about how they conduct their business, Ronan replied: “We spent a lot of time working on our systems and improving our offering and compliance. We are ISO accredited and, as part of our weekly meetings, we are constantly looking at ways to improve. We get feedback from our clients as we survey every client after every job which will in turn help us to improve what we offer.
“This attention to detail and quality, I believe, caught the eyes of the judges and then, of course, the quality and speed of the services and projects that we deliver. We have very positive testimonials.
“We are winning larger contracts now with Developers and Contractors for apartments and social housing and have just been appointed to new projects in the UK which is a first for us.
“We recently rebranded and our new branding and website (www.mccqs.ie) reflects our ambition to be the fastest growing niche QS firm in Ireland and this reward is recognition that the efforts of our team are paying off.”
McGrath Quantity Surveyors offer advice and expertise to assist their clients with a range of QS services and have a proven track record and an in-depth knowledge of the construction sector.
They are experts in Cost and Project Management and are up to date on current costs and trends in the building industry. They show how their clients can save on their budget for site developments, housing and apartment complexes as well as the building of a house or extension/renovation.
They provide a professional approach to every project and are focused on the details as they want to ensure that every project is built to the agreed budget and on time.
Since its inception nine years ago, the practice has grown organically and now boasts many chartered and qualified quantity surveyors from several different countries with many different experiences of large and complex projects right through to house extensions and renovations.
The McGrath team has considerable experience in diverse sectors like – large housing/apartment complexes, social housing, mining, data centres, education, one off houses and renovations.
They specialise in Developers QS and Builders/Contractors QS as well as Project Management and Property Investments.
They have quality control systems and use sophisticated QS software to manage costs and every aspect of the project including the programme. ISO 9001:2015 accredited, they have their own quality control administration system that ensure they deliver their projects, estimates and cost plans on time to their wide variety of clients.
“We offer a lot of different services to different people within the industry,” Ronan explained. “What makes us different is that we are Quantity Surveyors for the whole industry. We don’t just focus on one part of it, we deliver our total offering to our clients, to property investors and property developers.
“Basically, we understand where investors are coming from, we understand contractors and we understand our clients. We understand where everyone is coming from because we are quantity surveyors for every corner of the industry and I think that is unique to us.
“As a result, we are well aware of the challenges that everyone is facing, and we overcome these because we understand this industry and have considerable experience having survived recession, shortages and logistic challenges. It’s just about managing that and keeping communication open.
“I think that’s why people keep coming back to us and that’s why it is very busy at the moment. We have a lot of repeat customers, most of our work is repeat custom now and we have found that once our clients do business with us, they tend to stick with us. Some of our clients are in their fifth or sixth years of working with us.”
In terms of their current workload McGrath Quantity Surveyors currently has 15 multi-unit developments and 12 one-off developments live projects on the go.
“That ranges from three high-end houses to four apartments above a shop in Inchicore to 88 apartments in Coolock for social housing. It’s high end, mid end and social housing, as I said it’s all corners of the industry and there are very few QS firms covering all corners.
“We are currently project managing on a job which is probably the jewel in our crown right across the river from our office in Enniscorthy. It’s the Enniscorthy Technology Park, a 50,000 sq ft office block, and it’s going to be the first “passive office building” in the country. It’s a real feather in our cap.”
Not content to rest on his laurels, Ronan revealed that there are ambitious plans for further expansion in the pipeline.
“Our growth to date has been very purposeful. We have driven forward with growth to the point where there are nine of us working here now. We have a strategic plan for the business and we’re not done with our growth. We’re looking at taking an office in London with one or two projects starting over there soon. The future outlook is very positive for the next few years at least.”
So, why choose McGrath Quantity Surveyors? They are a people orientated firm. They create value for money for their clients. They simplify construction costs, contracts and the management of projects. Passion is at the core of their organisation. They take pride in continuously moving forward, innovating and improving.
McGrath Quantity Surveyors
Dublin Office
Suite 17, The Cubes Offices
Beacon South Quarter,
Sandyford Business Park,
Dublin 18
Telephone: 01 901 5767
Mobile: 087 7805660
Wexford Office
Enniscorthy Enterprise Centre,
Milehouse Road,
Enniscorthy,
Co.Wexford
Telephone: 053 91 02467
Mobile: 087 7805660
Website: www.mccqs.ie
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, April 2022, Vol 8 No 4
