Headquartered in Adamstown, County Wexford, ABS Construction is an exceptional family-run building contracting company with a proven track record for delivering high-quality residential and commercial projects in line with client expectations. We contacted director Alan O’Shea to find out more.
Fronted by brothers Alan, Brian and Stephen O’Shea, ABS Construction is a highly-versatile, industry-leading family-owned construction company that, through meticulous pre-planning and an unwavering adherence to quality, invariable achieves outstanding results on every project undertaken.
Vastly skilled and knowledgeable in all aspects of both traditional and modern building techniques, the O’Sheas pride themselves on always achieving absolute customer satisfaction, combining the keenest attention to detail with expert workmanship to complete each project to the highest possible standards.
From residential new builds, extensions and refurbishments / retrofits to commercial projects or community-based work, the emphasis is very much on quality at all times: “We’re big into quality as that’s what will get you more work,” Alan confirms. “If you rush through a job and your only focus is on making sure it’s done within programme, then that can affect the finish. This is where careful planning and coordinating all the trades comes into play.
“We are extremely well organised and we keep on top of everything from start to finish. It’s really nice to be able to go into a building afterwards and to be happy with the job – that’s the target we set for ourselves every time. You can’t beat a quality finish. We employ highly-skilled and –experienced tradesmen and that obviously plays a vital role in keeping the standards up.”
From a family with a proud construction tradition, Alan, Brian and Stephen joined forces to establish ABS in 2017, Alan having previously worked extensively within the industry as a Quantity Surveyor while Brian and Stephen had headed up a successful plastering contracting business for 15 years. Today, ABS Construction operates both as a main contractor on general building projects and as a supply-and-fit subcontractor to large contractors (offering unbeatable plastering, boarding, rendering and insulation services).
Covering the South East, Wicklow and into the capital, ABS Construction typically specialise in residential building projects ranging from €50,000 up to €1m including numerous social housing schemes for Carlow and Waterford County Councils, Kingsriver Housing Association, Brothers of Charity Services and Good Shepherd Services. The latter provides emergency accommodation, transitional housing and resettlement services and, at the time of writing, ABS Construction were refurbishing five apartments and two houses on their behalf in Kilkenny.
As well as new builds and extensions, ABS regularly carry out extensive residential retrofit refurbishments, which completely transform homes and upgrade their energy rating, bringing them up to A2. Earlier this year, they completed two such retrofits in South Dublin, in Blackrock and Mount Merrion respectively.
With regards to the plastering subcontracting division, ABS offers a complete range of services including all boarding, metal fixings, skimming and tape jointing, external insulation and traditional or modern external rendering in a variety of finishes, styles and colours. In this capacity, they are currently working on a 200-house development as well as two separate developments for Magna Construction (one of 60 units, the other of 50, comprising a mixture of social and private housing) and another 60-house scheme in Wexford town for William Neville & Sons.
“It’s great to be able to offer that service in addition to our building work and, of course, on our own construction jobs, we have access to our own skilled boarding and plastering crews, so it works out very well,” Alan notes.
Direct employment is generated for a full-time team of twelve as well as a large pool of subcontracted slabbers, skimmers, electricians, plumbers, etc. “We tend to use the same crews and suppliers all the time as we have built up a good level of trust with them as well as strong working relationships,” continues Alan.
ABS have just recently finished a lovely 2,000 sq ft one-off residential home locally in Adamstown, with a striking external render, having delivered a similarly-attractive and quality new-build home in Kilmacthomas, Waterford last year. “We also take on a lot of renovations, where we’d gut the entire building and revamp it for social housing.”
Helping keep prices as competitive as possible, ABS Construction own and operate their own fleet of plant and machinery, which they have accumulated gradually over the years, including diggers, dumpers and scaffolding.
Despite the obvious challenges that the industry has faced over the past 20 months or so, Alan reveals that ABS Construction have never been busier: “It’s hard to keep up with demand. There are calls coming in for pricing every day and it’s not easy to get through them all. At the end of the day, this is a business and we have to focus on quality projects that are worth doing … although, having said that, we are community spirited and we do like to get involved in projects like community halls, as well. In fact, we are doing an extension for storage at the community hall in Campile, Wexford at the moment.
“One of the most important things on any building project is to plan and cost it properly from the beginning and don’t wait until the end. Planning is key and it is worth putting the extra effort into getting those early preparations right. The industry is being hit with a lot of cost increases these days, which isn’t ideal, but you have to be aware of these issues and plan accordingly.
“Make sure you have all your materials ordered and that they are definitely going to be available when you need them. Insulation was a big problem with price increases but you have to do your best.
“Value engineering is a big thing – with the experience we have developed from previous projects, we can offer clients advice on alternative materials they could potentially use without devaluing their finished building.”
While ABS Construction is in a strong position going forward, Alan is only too aware that there is no room for complacency. To the contrary, they are more determined than ever to keep their standards as high as humanly possible:
“Things are progressing nicely and we are in a situation now where we are getting calls in through word of mouth whereas previously we had to spend time actively looking for work, getting our name out there and building up client relations,” the Wexford man concludes. “We’ve come a long way but we still have a lot of scope to grow and improve the business.
“We have proven both to our clients and to ourselves what we are capable of. We are extremely confident in our ability to take on larger scale projects should such an opportunity arise.”
ABS Construction Ltd.,
Glenour,
Adamstown,
County Wexford.
Alan: 086 3566017
Stephen: 087 6829593
Email: [email protected]
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, February 2022, Vol 8 No 2
