Civil & Construction - November 21

NOVEMBER 2021

IRISH BUILDING CONTRACTORS INCREASE TURNOVER BY €1.3BN

SMART CONSTRUCTION - Artificial Intelligence and Smart Construction CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGIES - The role of data SUPPLY CHAIN - The Construction Industry and supply chain issues

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Welcome to Civil and Construction and we hope you enjoy the read. Housing and commercial activity has continued to rise, with the former continuing to post the faster pace of expansion. Meanwhile, the three-month sequence of growth in civil engineering activity came to an end with a modest reduction in August. The post-reopening recovery was again evident with rapid increases in new business, albeit that some modest easing of new orders growth also came through in this area. Firms reported that the post-lockdown strengthening of demand, activity and orders which has taken hold in recent months is leading them to continue to boost their staffing levels. The pace of jobs growth has accelerated. That said, supply-chain developments continue to represent a notable headwind for construction firms, with evidence of material shortages and supply-chain disruption (some of which is Brexit-related).

The AEC sector is one that typically learns by doing; expertise through experience. This month, Construction Tech explores the gap between daily practice and best practice when it comes to digital adoption, and finds out what the wider industry can learn from the leaders in this space. Read the full discussion inside.

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In the past, “artificial intelligence” conjured up visions of futuristic science fiction robots. Today, AI is the technology behind digital assistants like Amazon’s Alexa.

Consumers can enjoy the convenience of AI on their smartphones. Now, artificial intelligence is entering various industries with promises of lucrative commercial applications. An industry benefiting greatly from AI is the construction industry.

Using artificial intelligence in the construction sector helps construction companies be more productive. AI also improves the quality and safety of those projects. McKinsey predicts that AI in the construction sector will be modest at first. In their report, the research company notes that a monumental shift is coming in the near future.

With rising material and labour costs within the construction industry all too often profitability is being eaten up. These issues are also threatening the delivery of the target of 33,000 homes a year that need to be built, to take pressure off the housing market. Supply chains between Ireland and the UK operated under the principles of the Customs Union and Single Market. Brexit has also a major impact on the price and supply of building materials, with price increase, delays in shipping, unfamiliar taxes and dealing with additional bureaucracy resulting in increased costs and longer lead times. The costs of building materials have been experiencing an unprecedented increase since the beginning of 2020, with many in the industry believing prices to continue at a higher level for a considerable time to come. Usually, across a 12-month period, suppliers and contractors might experience price increases of 3% to 5%. Contractors surveyed by Turner & Townsend predicted material prices increase by 6.8 per cent over the next 12 months.

Read the full Dynamic Consulting article inside.

We wish continued success to all our clients. We hope you enjoy the read and have an enjoyable Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

6 NEWS

Latest news from the civil and construction industry.

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10 RADIUS SYSTEMS

Decarbonising heat: delivering a safe hydrogen distribution network

18 CERS

50 Years in Pensions - A lot has changed since 1971!

24 WESLIN CONSTRUCTION

Some of the repeat clients Weslin have worked with over the years are Bank of Ireland, Dublin Port Company and Euro Car Parts Ireland Limited

28 PIPELIFE

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36 CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGIES

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50 years of proud Irish Manufacturing and supporting Irish jobs

In this month’s ConstructionTech, columnist Carol Tallon chats to Autodesk’s Marek Suchocki and Kirby’s Mark Danaher about the role of data across Ireland’s construction sector and increased industry adoption.

40 DYNAMIC CONSULTING Construction cost a concern

44 JONES ENGINEERING

At Jones Engineering, we are proud to once again, support the CIF annual Construction Safety Week

46 SURETY BONDS

The Cost of Construction

56 MERCEDES GLC DE HYBRID

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With the brand’s rivals offering plug-in models Mercedes needed the GLC 300de to compete effectively in the upper mid-sized premium SUV segment

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NEWS MAGPLY COLLABORATION

Construction firms see further sharp rises in activity and new orders

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he Ulster Bank Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index® (PMI®) – a seasonally adjusted index designed to track changes in total construction activity – dipped to 57.5 in August from 62.8 in July. Although the reading was the lowest since COVID-19 restrictions on the sector were lifted, the latest figure still pointed to a marked expansion in construction activity during the month. Anecdotal evidence suggested that companies continued to benefit from improvements in demand following the reopening of the sector. Index readings above 50 signal an increase in activity on the previous month and readings below 50 signal a decrease.

Commenting on the survey, Simon Barry, Chief Economist Republic of Ireland at Ulster Bank, noted that: “The August results of the Ulster Bank Construction PMI survey signal that Irish construction activity experienced another month of rapid growth last month. The rate of expansion did ease for the third consecutive month in August, but from what was an exceptional pace recorded immediately after the sector’s reopening. The May to July period was the second strongest three-month period for overall activity in the survey’s twenty-one-year history, and while the August results were not quite as exceptional, they do nonetheless clearly point to a sector that is enjoying strong growth as it continues to benefit from the re-opening of the economy which has been facilitated by the easing of public health restrictions. “The post-reopening recovery was again evident in another month of very rapid increases in new business, albeit that some modest easing of new orders growth also came through in this area of the August results.

And firms reported that the post-lockdown strengthening of demand, activity and orders which has taken hold in recent months is leading them to continue to boost their staffing levels. In fact, the pace of jobs growth signalled by the survey accelerated last month to the fastest since May. That said, supply-chain developments continue to represent a notable headwind for construction firms, with the August survey again picking up evidence of material shortages and supply-chain disruption (some of which is Brexit-related), albeit that there was a very slight easing in the pace of input cost inflation from July’s record high.”

Housing leads growth in August Housing and commercial activity continued to rise, with the former continuing to post the faster pace of expansion. Meanwhile, the three-month sequence of growth in civil engineering activity came to an end with a modest reduction in August.

Further rapid rise in new orders New orders increased for the fifth consecutive month, and at a rapid pace that remained well above the series average. As was the case with activity, fewer www.civilandconstruction.ie

COVID-19 restrictions and stronger customer demand were behind the expansion in new business.

Fastest increase in staffing levels since May Rising workloads led companies to expand their staffing levels again in August, extending the current sequence of job creation to five months. Moreover, the rate of increase was the fastest since May. Firms also increased their purchasing activity, and at a pace that remained marked despite easing to a four-month low.

Efforts to secure materials were hampered by ongoing supply-chain disruption. Lead times lengthened to an extent unseen prior to the pandemic as a combination of global material shortages and Brexit disruption caused delays.

These supply issues contributed to a further sharp increase in input costs, with increased shipping rates also reported.

The rate of inflation softened from July’s record high but was still the second-fastest since the survey began in June 2000. Copper, steel and insulation were among a range of materials signalled as costing more over the month.

Companies remained confident that business activity will rise over the coming year. Sentiment dipped to a six-month low, but remained elevated as a number of respondents indicated that they expect the further release of pent-up demand. Close to 49% of respondents predicted a rise in output over the next 12 months, while 7% were pessimistic.

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HAZARDOUS ENERGIES

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NEWS MAGPLY COLLABORATION

New John Paul Construction Promotion

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he board of John Paul Construction is delighted to announce the promotion of Gary Howard to the senior leadership team as Associate Director – Mission Critical. Over the past eight years John Paul Construction has expanded their mission critical portfolio, delivering numerous data centre projects in Ireland, the UK and the Middle East.

Gary has been instrumental in expanding John Paul Construction’s presence in the mission critical / data centre

sector and has a proven track record of successfully delivering multi-disciplinary projects on a fast-track basis.

Commenting on Gary’s appointment, Liam Kenny says: ‘We are delighted with Gary’s promotion to our senior team where he will be responsible for expanding our base of operations, whilst maintaining John Paul Construction’s position as contractor of choice within the mission critical sector’.

Gary Howard (Associate Director - Mission Critical), Liam Kenny (Managing Director), and John Keaveney (Construction Director)

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RADIUS SYSTEMS

DECARBONISING HEAT: DELIVERING A SAFE HYDROGEN DISTRIBUTION NETWORK When it comes to meeting decarbonisation targets, replacing natural gas with hydrogen is potentially a game-changer.

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ut how do you actually get it to customers safely?

Radius Systems have tested polyethylene pipe systems for their viability to transport hydrogen in a network. And the results were fascinating…

In 2019, the UK government committed to reducing the country’s carbon emissions by 100% through The Climate Change Act of 2008 (2050 Target Amendment), with the aim of becoming Net Zero by 2050. Switching carbon-emitting natural gas for hydrogen could be one of the solutions to achieving our sustainability goals. What’s more, the government’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution and the recently published UK Hydrogen Strategy places hydrogen at the heart of the drive for clean energy.

The use and distribution of this future energy has been the focal point for the whole gas industry, with the four UK gas distribution networks intensifying their work on projects that deliver a safe energy transition. Radius has

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worked closely with key stakeholders to test the suitability of polyethylene pipe systems for transporting hydrogen. With the ongoing 30-year gas main replacement programme, which will see over 100,000 km of ageing metallic gas pipelines replaced with PE pipe, it is vital to ensure the future distribution network is robust, resilient and safe.

In our interview, Radius’ Derek Muckle, director of innovation and technology, and Simeon Adjei-Doku, graduate development engineer, talk about their work on the project over the past two years and reveal the results.

DM: Hydrogen is not a new idea. What is new is that people are now thinking in practical terms about how they could use it. With hydrogen, you can store it within an existing gas distribution network, and one way you can think about that is to think of our current gas distribution system as one huge battery; one energy storage device

11 that has all the energy in it that you need to heat over twenty-million homes in the country, at the time we want to press that button. Hydrogen is great in that sense. It’s not the sole solution to the future energy problem, you can’t use hydrogen in isolation, so it becomes part of the solution, alongside everything else.

SA-D: There were offers of grants to do some research into hydrogen applications. As suppliers of PE pipe, we applied and our bid was accepted.

At the time, there wasn’t any facility able to carry out hydrogen testing within the UK. I had prior experience with hydrogen and I thought, ‘Okay, we need help from people with more safety experience than myself.’ We ended up contacting various hydrogen consultants, including experts at the Health and Safety Executive, to come in and help us bring things together [for instance by planning a fit-for-purpose testing facility].

Once the facility was up and running, I took care of much of the operational work such as implementing tests, collecting data and ensuring the facility was properly maintained. The initial idea had to be scaled up to allow for more testing to be undertaken. It was a really big exercise.

DM: There was a particular study undertaken by Northern Gas Networks. They took Leeds as an example and built a model to show how we could convert it to hydrogen, using this as a basis for change in the UK. At that time, it was planned that the gas. distribution network would be converted from metal pipes to plastic. [The regulator wanted to be sure that if we put hydrogen into plastic pipes, they would be reliable, safe and ideally last for 100 years or more without any significant risk to society.]

When we started our investigation, the first thing we had to think about was what aspects of the life cycle of a polyethylene pipe are affected by hydrogen.

As Simeon mentioned, we’ve worked with oversight from the Health and Safety Executive, as well as subject experts like Kiwa, the emergency services, and other specialist consultants, to ensure we developed a safe and reliable system.

Certainly nobody in the surrounding society has noticed we were doing this work. By that measure, it’s a success.

However, I can also say that the testing itself has been a success. Over two years, we have simulated a range of conditions that allowed us to replicate a network that has been installed for 100 years. That gives us a lot of confidence about the way a real pipe system – not just the material – will behave.

We looked at things like the strength of a pipeline, to make sure that it’s going to be strong enough for the next hundred years. Also, we assessed if there will be a big enough engineering safety factor to ensure that there’s no possibility of the pipe or the fitting system rupturing in an unplanned or uncontrolled manner. You want the comfort of knowing it’s just going to sit there and behave itself!

Incidentally, what could potentially happen in a pressurised pipeline is this: if you drive a fracture in a pipe of a particular material at a certain temperature, when it’s carrying pressurised gas, it can lead to a phenomenon called rapid crack propagation (RCP). This is known as ‘failure mode’; it’s something that we test for and when you see it happen, it’s dramatic.

A pipeline can literally unzip within a fraction of a second: and when I say ‘unzip’, I’m talking about hundreds of meters in a rapidly driven crack through the network. That’s a phenomenon that’s never happened in real networks, because we understand the conditions for it and ensure there is a big safety factor in place. But what we have to understand is this: if we change the gas, does an RCP become more or less likely?

One thing I can tell you about hydrogen – and this was one of the interesting findings – is that a failure that could lead to RCP is even less likely to happen with hydrogen.

The nature of hydrogen means it can’t create the energy at the crack tip to drive those kinds of cracks. So going from methane to hydrogen is a safer choice in that sense.

As well as this, we looked at electrofusion fittings made

by Radius. Specifically, we examined the surface temperature of the fittings when you’re welding them, to make sure that they don’t have the activation energy that might create an event.

Again, we got the result we wanted: nothing happened!

It was a nice, safe, reliable way of joining. This means we know we can repair these pipes, and we know we can join to them.

I think we did a comprehensive study. It was well received by the regulator and the gas networks. As I say, we found www.civilandconstruction.ie

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RADIUS SYSTEMS that it was probably slightly safer going from methane to hydrogen, taking the RCP mode as an example. For other modes we didn’t find anything detrimental, so it was a good result.

called HyDeploy, which is aimed at testing the practical applications of hydrogen in a ‘live’ environment: a small independent gas network which is part of the Keele University estate.

SA-D: Going back to the logistics of these safety checks: testing with hydrogen was an unknown. There were no pre-set data we could use to do the testing with defined values, so we created those defined values ourselves. It has always been the same batch of pipe, with the same sizes – the only thing that has changed is the pressure ranges. The testing would only be undertaken for a year and a half, but with the conditions we’ve created it has allowed us to extrapolate to 100 years.

HyDeploy was the first project where hydrogen was blended at a ratio of 20% to 80% natural gas. A scientific study will hope to show that they can gradually increase the level of hydrogen content safely without people seeing any change.

We were testing pipes up to destruction. We wanted to find out at which point they burst, so that we knew if they burst at a certain pressure we would reduce the pressure by a safety factor of X, then reduce it further. This means the working pressure can actually be significantly below the limit at which the burst starts.

We were asked to explain how we could join onto pipes that had a hydrogen-methane blend. This led to an invitation to be involved in a bigger project called H100 (Hydrogen 100), which aims to build the first brand-new hydrogen network in the UK. Hydrogen would be created from renewable energy sources, through electrolysis. One hundred per cent hydrogen would be injected into the new network to bring hydrogen to the local population. It will go ahead for construction in 2021 and we have helped to deliver the groundwork to enable it to happen.

We wanted to prove that hydrogen is a viable pathway.

It’s interesting that people are talking about a future in which polyethylene pipe systems will be used, and hydrogen would be the gas that they would convey. That’s the market that we sit in.

The pipes are actually doing better than expected: hydrogen hasn’t made the pipe deteriorate or become so soft that it collapses in on itself. It’s been over-performing.

From a safety perspective, unlike methane, there’s no chance of carbon monoxide poisoning within your own home, so when you’re burning hydrogen you won’t have to be concerned that it’s burning properly. From a safety perspective that is not an issue and from an environmental perspective it’s very good. Hydrogen is very promising. It’s not as scary as you think, and once you use it the right way it’s very easy to get along with.

DM: The work we’ve carried out in testing PE pipe systems with hydrogen has led to our involvement in a UK project

We became involved in that because some questions were asked of us as a supplier at the time, in our role as a technical support to the project investigators.

You know, our core business is to make polyethylene pipes, to make the fitting systems, to innovate in that area, to try to keep going with the times as societal demands change, and to deliver the solutions that people want.

Hydrogen is at the heart of it, but from our perspective, so is polyethylene!

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NEWS

Hines Cherrywood Development comes first in Europe in Sustainability Benchmark Award

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ines, the international real estate firm, has announced that it has once again been recognized

by GRESB (Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark) for its sustainability leadership in 2021 cementing its position as a GRESB Sector Leader.

The Cherrywood development in south Dublin has scooped the top ranking in Europe and achieved Global Sector Leader status for the second year running, attaining an overall score of 96 out of 100 and received a 5-star rating for its 1,300-unit mixed-use development located in the new Town Centre area directly adjacent to the Luas Green Line stop.

This year’s GRESB scoring for Cherrywood represents a 4-point uplift from its performance in 2020. The project was awarded multiple awards including Global Sector Leader and Overall Regional Sector Leader, in the Opportunistic Mixed-use category. Already one of the largest urban developments in Ireland, Cherrywood is also emerging as one of the most sustainable urban projects in Ireland and across Europe as demonstrated by these results.

“Today’s announcement has been warmly welcomed by Senior Managing Director of Hines Ireland, Brian Moran “We are extremely proud to be awarded the top GRESB score in Europe for Cherrywood which is our flagship project in Ireland, and which has involved a great deal of innovative collaboration with multiple stakeholders including some of the top architecture design teams in Ireland. The vision for Cherrywood is not just to deliver best-in-class residential housing but also to create a truly sustainable community to benefit from it. The wider Cherrywood masterplan is therefore delivering unprecedented

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levels of amenity, sporting and recreational facilities – such as 3 large new parks, cycle and running trails, all weather sports facilities – all of which demonstrates that we are delivering a truly remarkable development of European and world-class standard, which will greatly enhance the lived experience and wellbeing of our future residents and be a great place in which to live, work and play.”

The awards mirror Hines’ ongoing commitment to creating a positive societal impact in the communities it operates in and achieving the highest levels of environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance across a wide range of areas, including energy performance, stakeholder engagement, building certificates, resilience, social risks, opportunities and water use.

Each year, GRESB assesses and benchmarks the ESG performance of assets worldwide, providing clarity and insights to financial markets. The GRESB Assessments are guided by what investors and the industry consider to be material issues in the sustainability performance of asset investments and are aligned with international reporting frameworks, goals and emerging regulations. The GRESB ESG Benchmark grew this year to cover more than $6.4 trillion of assets under management, up from $5.3 trillion the year before.

GRESB data is used by hundreds of capital providers and thousands of asset managers globally to benchmark investments across portfolios and to better understand the opportunities, risks and choices that need to be made as the industry transitions to a more sustainable future.

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SITES

SOUTH DUBLIN SITE WITH POTENTIAL FOR 400 HOMES SEEKS €23M-PLUS

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substantial residential development site of about 29.4 acres, with the capacity to build almost 400 homes in a prime south Dublin area, has come to the market seeking what is understood to be in excess of €23 million.

The “Brennanstown” plot, which is available in one or more lots, is situated off the Brennanstown Road, one of Dublin’s premier postal addresses, close to the villages of Cabinteely and Foxrock.

It is also close to the Green Luas line, and the site benefits from extensive frontage on to the Brennanstown Road and extends as far south as the Luas Green line at Laughanstown. The site, which is situated within the Cherrywood SDZ, is largely undeveloped and contains five existing residential units.

The land is for sale in one or more lots. Lot 1, known as “Druid’s Glen”, comprises about 8.8 acres of residential development land and 11.1 acres of forestry land, while Lot 2, “Lehaunstown”, consists of about 9.5 acres of residential development land, with a small portion zoned for town centre use under the Cherrywood SDZ.

The third lot comprises the entire 29.4 acres, with development potential for more than 370 residential units and about 600sq m of commercial space. A report detailing the zoning status and planning potential has been prepared by McGill Planning and is available upon request.

According to selling agent CBRE, the two distinctive plots of lands offer interested parties the potential to deliver both traditional housing and private rental sector accommodation, subject to planning permission, in a well-established residential location.

Darragh Deasy, associate director with CBRE, said: “The scale, affluent location, connectivity and situation of the site within the Cherrywood SDZ offers the purchaser the opportunity to buy a rare development opportunity in Dublin 18.”

There have been significant developments within the Cherrywood SDZ in recent years, with the delivery of housing, apartments and schools well under way, further solidifying the attractiveness of Cherrywood as a residential location.

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PENSIONS AND BENEFITS

50 YEARS IN PENSIONS

A lot has changed since 1971! Some of our current members were not even born by then!

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O

ver that time, there have been many changes in planning, health and safety regulations for the construction industry and a lot of changes to pension regulations also with technology advances in both industries!

CERS has been providing pensions and looking after the interests of the construction sector for the last 50 years.

Regulations in the pension industry have significantly changed over that time and this includes the recently transposed IORP II regulations. These regulations bring a range of additional governance requirements to pension schemes in Ireland.

CERS is a Master Trust arrangement with an independent trustee company providing an important additional layer of independent protection for employers and members. This structure removes the burden of pension governance from employers and provides peace of mind at no extra cost, thus freeing up your time so you can deal with developing your own business without having worries or time constraints associated with being a Trustee or having a requirement to hire a pensioneer trustee company to do that for you.

As a full service Scheme, we look after all elements of your pension needs from the start of your own and your employees’ journey right through the full life cycle of your scheme.

You and your employees as members of CERS have access to a dedicated pension consultant and an experienced administration team. Annual staff presentations – many being done virtually now ensure your staff understand the pension and risk benefits your company provide and also offer a forum for discussion on the advantages of retirement savings with one to one member meetings arranged if requested.

Anne Keogh - Head of Trustee Secretariat Services protection benefits built up over the years. We have learned to adapt to the ever-changing nature of the industry. We provide bespoke pension solutions for each company. Employers can choose the contribution amount, the retirement age and protection benefits to meet their specific needs.

According to a Morgan McKinley survey released in summer 2021, pensions are still viewed by staff as an important aspect of staff attraction and remuneration packages. CERS can be very easily set up for your employees, giving you the flexibility to create a remuneration package that suits your own company.

Scheme members also have access to a member portal so they can view their fund value at any time and they can use the online projection tool when logged on to plan for their future.

By offering a single trust containing multiple employer pension arrangements, CERS offers economies of scale when it comes to costs and also when it comes to compliance with new IORP II regulations.

In addition, members of the Scheme enjoy death benefit cover and Income Protection cover with generous non medical limits and at very competitive annual costs for the sector.

CERS offers a transparent and competitive charging structure with no annual or monthly administration charges or trusteeship fees that are generally applied to Employers. To find out more about the CERS proposition please visit our website (www.cers.ie), or contact us by email (info@cers.ie), to discuss an arrangement that meets your needs.

Flexibility and Strength in Numbers

In order to survive in any industry for more than 50 years, it’s important to flexible.

The CERS Scheme was established by members of the construction sector in 1971 - then called the Construction Federation Executive Pension Scheme - to build a better future for members and their families. We have a long history of providing flexible pension arrangements and

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20

CONTRACTORS

BUILDING CONTRACTORS INCREASED TURNOVER BY €1.37BN LAST YEAR

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reland’s building contractors saw turnover increase by €1.37bn last year despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the global economy. The Construction Industry Federation published its annual Top 50 Contractors List which showed the firms secured a combined turnover of €11.37bn for 2020, a significant increase on the previous year’s total turnover figure of €10bn. A total of €7.12bn in construction activity was recorded in Ireland, up from €6.7bn the previous year.

Despite the lockdown restrictions in place last year, many of the contractors worked on projects that were deemed essential and did not shut down and accelerated the level of work once restrictions were lifted.

In 2020, the CIF Top 50 Contractors exported more than €4.25bn in construction expertise, €950m more than the corresponding figure for the previous year of €3.3bn. John Sisk & Sons topped the CIF Contractors List recording €1.5bn in turnover last year, more than €700m of that was carried out in Ireland with just under €800m internationally. The company which began building in Munster more than 160 years ago has been responsible for some of the country’s major infrastructure and building projects across a range of sectors including Croke Park and Páirc Uí Chaoimh stadiums, the LUAS Cross City project, motorways, data centres, hospitals and a wide range of office buildings.

Dublin-headquartered Mercury was second on the list with a turnover of €1.04bn, of which €665m was carried

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out internationally. The firm builds and manages complex engineering projects employing more than 6,500 people in over 15 countries. Their work includes engineering services for the National Children’s Hospital, the Aviva stadium and electrical works for the Air Traffic Control Tower at Dublin Airport.

Jones Engineering was third on the list with €750m in turnover equally split between Ireland and internationally.

The company provides mechanical and electrical services completing a range of projects in the data centre, life sciences, industrial and power sectors. They completed the Kelwin 2 battery storage project for Statkraft in Co Kerry and work with the HSE on most of the major hospitals in the country. PJ Hegarty & Sons are in fourth place with €564m in turnover followed by Winthrop Engineering with €560m in turnover.

The CIF Director General Tom Parlon said many of the association’s top 50 contractors are competing across Europe and the UK for big projects and winning them.

“They have earned their place in that space by being smart, quick and ambitious. Our industry is working and succeeding in world-class arenas and markets,” he said.

“There are ambitious plans by government to address Ireland’s housing crisis, infrastructure deficits and carbon emissions as part of a climate action plan. The construction industry and the CIF are poised, ready and willing to help deliver this.”

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NEWS

Dataplex seeks to expand data centre in Dublin

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rish data centre developer Dataplex has filed to expand data center in Dublin, Ireland. The company this month filed with Dublin City Council for permission to change the use of existing building space in a property on the Willsborough Industrial Estate in the Clonshaugh Business and Technology Park as well as extend it further.

The company has filed to change the use of warehousing and storage space within the existing building to data storage use and the construction of a 980 sqm (10,500 sq ft), two-story extension for data storage use. The site is currently a warehouse featuring a mixture of office space over three floors, partitioned warehouse/storage space, and data storage space on the ground floor. The company aims to expand the data centre from a current 1,256 sqm (13,500 sq ft) to a total of 3,843 sqm (41,365 sq ft) across two floors; 3,353 sqm on the ground floor and 490 sqm on the first floor.

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The site is listed online as a Vodafone data centre, while the owners in the council filings are listed as local real estate firm IPUT plc. It is unclear if Dataplex has taken over the site’s operation from Vodafone or is making changes on behalf of the telco. Last month Dubai-based conglomerate DAMAC Group – the private investment arm of Dubai billionaire Hussain Sajwani – announced it was investing in Dataplex, taking a stake that would reach up to 45 percent of the company. The partnership between the two companies will focus on brownfield projects involving retrofitting existing structures and larger greenfield projects, with a specific focus on hyperscale and wholesale colocation customers. The companies, along with Dataplex investor Chirisa, have also acquired a land parcel in Abbotstown for a greenfield 70MW+ data centre and industrial campus development in Dublin.

Main Contractor Cork Office

Melbourne House, Melbourne Business Park, Model Farm Road, Cork T: +353 (0) 21 4874930

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Design & Build Dublin Office

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CSA Contractor

Unit A8, Block A, Centre Point Business Park, Oak Drive, Dublin 12 T: +353 (0) 1 4019757

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Limerick Office

Fit-Out

Ducart Suite, Castletroy Commercial Park, Plassey Park Road, Limerick T: +353 (0) 61 574162

www.visioncontracting.ie info@visioncontracting.ie

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WESLIN CONSTRUCTION

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eslin are a Building and Civil Engineering company based in Dublin 15. They celebrated their 20th Anniversary in 2020 and are proud to be a business built on a solid foundation of tradition, high standards and expert craftmanship. Under the management of Aidan Boyle who has been the Managing Director since the company’s inception, Aidan’s hands on ethos and approach has seen the company work with and enjoy repeat business with all its corporate and private clients.

Weslin has been working with repeat business Clients for many years. Building and developing relationships has always been a cornerstone of the company’s approach and represents a large portion of the business. Some of the repeat clients Weslin have worked with over the years are Bank of Ireland, Dublin Port Company and Euro Car Parts Ireland Limited.

Weslin currently has a number of projects ongoing. These include two projects for Euro Car Parts Ireland Limited. The first which includes fire upgrade works and rear yard resurfacing and groundworks at the Dublin Headquarters in Santry. The second is the refurbishment of their existing 2-storey car parts warehouse and distribution centre in Waterford to include M&E and structural alterations. Both projects are due to be completed in early 2022.

Weslin has been working with Bank of Ireland for a number of years and have completed numerous refurbishments and fit-outs in branches around the country. The latest project to be handed over to the client is the strip out of the existing fit-out of the Second Floor of the Baggot Plaza offices, and the complete refurbishment of the office space.

Current works for Dublin Port Company includes

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works to the Port Operations building, the Port Centre building and the refurbishment, upgrade and fit-out of the Seatruck and P&O Ferries offices. All works in Dublin Port are expected to be completed by mid 2022.

Weslin has recognised that their clients are looking at fire upgrade projects more frequently in recent times.

Through consultation with key Clients they decided to set up a division called Weslin Fire Core Services to cater specifically for fire upgrade works, both as part of ongoing projects and for more specific stand-alone projects. They joined the ASFP Ireland (Association for Specialist Fire Protection) and several of their key management staff have achieved qualifications from the Institution of Fire Engineers for fire upgrade installations.

Weslin have completed several projects in this area and are currently on site on several more.

FIRE CORE SERVICES

FIRE PROTECTION & CORE DRILLING

After the difficult months of COVID, business is brisk once again for Weslin Construction and Aidan Boyle is looking to the future with renewed optimism.

Website: www.weslin.ie Contact number: 01-8261122

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INVESTMENT

QUINTAIN’S €500M INVESTMENT IN ADAMSTOWN GETS UNDER WAY

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rish housebuilder Quintain has turned the sod on its €500 million urban hub investment in Adamstown, west Dublin, commencing construction on a 279-unit apartment development aimed at the build-to-rent market. UK grocer Tesco has also signed up as an anchor tenant at the development.

Called The Crossings, Quintain’s first phase of development at the new urban centre in Adamstown will include 279 apartments and more than 91,000sq ft/8,500sq m of space to house two major supermarkets, 20 retail units and five restaurant outlets, along with a multi-storey car park.

Quintain is the housebuilding unit of US private equity giant Lone Star, which has accumulated a massive Irish landbank.

Construction of the apartments has a completion date of mid-2023. Planning permission for a second phase of 185 apartments has been granted and further phases are planned for submission in late 2021 and early 2022.

Quintain has a buyer lined up for the first tranche of its buy-to-rent scheme but Eddie Byrne, joint managing partner with the developer, says “it’s too early to say who it is”.

New urban centre Getting this forward funding is key to the construction of such a developments, he says. “You really need to be able to have a buyer lined up in advance.” The Crossings will form an integral part of a new urban centre at Adamstown, which, over the next four to five years, will see the construction by Quintain of almost 1,000 residential units, mostly apartments/duplexes, with a “very small number of houses”.

On the retail side, Tesco has signed a lease for a 40,000sq ft/3,700sq m store, which is set to open in January 2023, with a second leading supermarket anchor store set to open at the same time.

Bannon has been retained as agents for the leasing of the retail units, which will serve an estimated potential shopping population of more than 100,000 people drawn from Adamstown, and the neighbouring suburbs of Lucan, Celbridge and Leixlip. To date, Quintain and its affiliates have built 1,000 homes in Adamstown, with over 85 per cent occupied by first-time buyers, launching developments such as Tandy’s Lane and Somerton.

Earlier this year it received planning permission to construct 235 new homes at Aderrig in Adamstown, to include 159 houses and 76 apartments. The scale of its total investment in the area is expected to be north of about €3 billion.

Green open space In June, Quintain completed and transferred ownership to South Dublin County Council of Tandy’s Lane Park, which will provide local residents with easy access to green open space. Another 27-acre green open space – Airlie Park – is set to open by the end of the year and will include a cricket pitch and Astroturf pitches, while a two-acre village green will provide a centre piece for The Crossings development.

Michael Hynes, joint managing partner with Quintain Ireland, said, “This investment will contribute to the social fabric of the area, and is supported by the handover of Tandy’s Lane Park to South Dublin County Council. We are very confident in the strong level of demand there is to live in the area, which will be boosted by the new amenities we are delivering.”

Quintain owns 220 acres in the Adamstown/Lucan area, where it plans to develop up to 5,000 new homes and 250,000sq ft of commercial space. The company’s broader land portfolio covers 460 acres of prime assets in Ireland at Adamstown, Clonburris, Portmarnock, and Cherrywood.

Adamstown was launched in 2005 as Ireland’s first new planned town since Shannon, Co Clare, in the 1960s.

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PIPELIFE

PUT YOUR TRUST IN PIPELIFE 50 years of proud Irish Manufacturing and supporting Irish jobs.

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ormerly Quality Plastics (QPL), Pipelife was established in 1970 and since then has been committed to producing quality plastic goods for the construction, agriculture and plumbing sectors. Specialising in the extrusion of polyethylene (PE) pipes, Pipelife offers industry leading products for the heating & plumbing, water pressure, electricity, cable ducting, gas and agricultural sectors.

Pipelife Ireland Ltd is part of the Pipelife Group which is one of Europe’s leading producers of plastic pipe systems. The group employs almost 3,000 people in 29 manufacturing facilities in 28 countries, including 60 employees in their Irish plant based in Cork.

Drawing on 50 years of manufacturing experience from our production plant in Cork, Pipelife has been to the forefront in developing innovative products. Being a leader through continuous innovation and providing solutions that address the challenges that plumbing professionals face every day is who we are.

As heating solutions have become more complex we have continual

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PIPELIFE

ly invested in new expertise and technology to ensure we stay to the forefront of this evolution. Every Pipelife home heating solution is fully designed in-house by our experienced design engineering department and is supported by our extensive field service support/engineering team. All our solutions come complete with detailed design drawings, top quality components and an unrivalled expertise built up over many decades.

We provide full design indemnity insurance on all our heating solution systems so you can rest assured our system will deliver on what we promise, providing you with a home heating solution you can rely on for decades to come, safe in the knowledge we will always be there to support you if the need ever arises.

Pipelife Renewable Training Academy

To keep our customers up to date with our product selection Pipelife Ireland now offers extensive product training at their new Renewable Training Centre in White’s Cross, Cork and our new Distribution Centre in Mulhuddart, Dublin 15. The courses are free to attend and are led by members of their Technical Team who have a wealth of practical knowledge and installation practices, and also feature a unique tour of the Pipelife manufacturing facility at our Cork factory where visitors are given the opportunity to see first-hand where our products are designed and manufactured.

The free courses are available to installers, service engineers, plumbers, merchants, architects, local authorities and BER Assessors. By offering a valuable insight into each of our heating technologies, those who attend our courses are equipped with the best product knowledge and installation techniques, ensuring that our customers are fully satisfied.

Pipelife has always had a strong focus on providing a great service to all our customers and with the launch of our new Renewable Training Centre this will allow us to support them with hands-on product training and installation techniques. We are also proud to be a registered training provider with Engineers Ireland.

Pipelife – Our Reputation, Your Peace of Mind!

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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND SMART CONSTRUCTION

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n the past, “artificial intelligence” conjured up visions of futuristic science fiction robots. Today, AI is the technology behind digital assistants like Amazon’s Alexa. Consumers can enjoy the convenience of AI on their smartphones. Now, artificial intelligence is entering various industries with promises of lucrative commercial applications. An industry benefiting greatly from AI is the construction industry. Using artificial intelligence in construction sector helps construction companies be more productive. AI also improves the quality and safety of those projects. McKinsey predicts that AI in the construction sector will be modest at first. In their report, the research company notes that a monumental shift is coming in the near future.

“Stakeholders across the project lifecycle, including contractors, operators, owners, and service providers, can www.civilandconstruction.ie

no longer afford to conceive of AI as technology that’s pertinent only to other industries,” – McKinsey. Construction companies must modernise operations to solve the problems facing the industry today. Problems include low profitability rate, schedule delays, cost overruns, and safety issues. Digitisation is the future of the construction industry. Companies that quickly move to upgrade their technologies will gain a distinct advantage. With artificial intelligence, the construction sector can tackle current issues and avoid past mistakes. There are many ways AI can help the construction industry flourish.

Eliminate tedious tasks by integrating AI into your project management workflow Tedious and time-consuming tasks plague the construction process. A project manager needs to organise the project, assign work, and keep track of employees.

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Often these tasks are completed manually resulting in wasted time and resources. Artificial intelligence can efficiently handle all these mundane tasks with few or zero errors. Another application of AI is automating task delegation. With data on employees, an AI system can automatically assign tasks based on experience, skills, and availability. This simplifies the process and allows employees to focus on productivity.

Optimise project design phase with AI-powered insights Currently, construction design is rather outdated and slow to take advantage of modern technology. Consequently, it’s slowing down the building process. With ai in building design, you and your contractors can glean insights from building data, material data, and the data they collect from the environment, for example, to identify the best way to design and develop a project.

Capture and analyse job site data You can use ai construction equipment to autonomously capture 3D scans of your construction sites. You can then feed that data into a deep neural network that classifies the progress of the various aspects of your project. This allows your management team to handle small issues before they become major problems. In the future, algorithms will use “reinforcement learning,” an AI technique that lets algorithms learn based on trial and error, to assess endless combinations and alternatives based on similar projects.

Geospatial AI and Drones for land survey and mapping Geospatial Information Systems (GIS), Drones, and Geospatial AI (GeoAI) significantly reduce the time it usually takes to gather accurate survey maps and aerial images of a job site. Drones can be used for tracking the project updates and tracking issues at a job site. This offers richer insights for improving decision-making and keeping projects on track.

Increase Productivity with AI-Driven Vehicles

Some companies are beginning to offer self-driving construction machinery that can perform repetitive tasks, such as welding, bricklaying, pouring concrete, and demolition, more efficiently than people. For instance, autonomous or semi-autonomous bulldozers are being used to do excavation and prep work. These bulldozers can prepare a job site to your exact specifications with the help of a human programmer. Not only does this free up your employees, who can concentrate on the actual construction work, it also enables you to complete the project more quickly.

Speed project delivery with offsite construction Increasingly, construction is relying on offsite factories staffed by autonomous robots that piece together parts of a building, which are then assembled by employees at the construction site. Autonomous machines in an assembly line can complete structures, such as walls, more efficiently than your employees. Since the autonomous machines are doing this work, your employees can complete more high-value tasks, such as plumbing and installing the HVAC and electrical systems.

Improve workplace safety Every construction project has some risk. And the larger the project, the bigger the risk, in part because multiple subcontractors in different trades are working side-by-side on a job site. If you’re a large construction company, you can use AI and machine learning tools to monitor and prioritise risk on your job site. By using artificial intelligence in construction safety, you can rate subcontractors based on a risk score and assign priority to certain issues so your project manager can work closely with high-risk teams to mitigate any problems. Additionally, the Internet of Things (IoT) is automating job sites to make them safer. Wearable sensors can identify the location of your workers and provide alerts if one of them slips and falls, for instance.

Automate site activity monitoring By automating your activity monitoring, your business will be able to make smarter decisions based on hard data. www.civilandconstruction.ie

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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

With AI, you can capture, track, and classify anything that goes in and out of the job site whether they be vehicles, equipment, or people.

Tracking what happens on your job site means you can gather additional insights. For example, you can use this data to provide alerts and notifications to trigger rapid responses. This is crucial to preventing safety hazards, monitoring cost and materials, and ensuring employee productivity. Data collected from the job site can be accessed by stakeholders for the real-time updates. Construction companies can use drones for data collection.

Make sense of big data with machine learning and data analytics Machine learning systems learn from the endless amount of data they are exposed to every day. As such, every job site becomes a potential data source. As time goes on

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and more data becomes available, machine learning makes the data analytics systems “smarter.” With the help of AI and machine learning, you can analyse the data generated from images captured via drones, mobile devices, and security sensors, for example, to glean insights that will help your company operate more efficiently.

Adopting Smart Construction Solutions AI in construction is increasing throughout the industry as part of a larger shift toward smart construction technology. In fact, McKinsey called artificial intelligence “construction technology’s next frontier,” and predicted that it will play a more significant role in digital technology in construction. That means if you want to succeed in the sector, you have to quickly come to terms with how artificial intelligence in construction will affect the industry and your company.

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CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGIES

CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGIES

In this month’s ConstructionTech, columnist Carol Tallon chats to Autodesk’s Marek Suchocki and Kirby’s Mark Danaher about the role of data across Ireland’s construction sector and increased industry adoption.

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he AEC sector is one that typically learns by doing; expertise through experience. This month, Construction Tech explores the gap between daily practice and best practice when it comes to digital adoption, and finds out what the wider industry can learn from the leaders in this space.

Harnessing the Data Advantage Marek Suchocki, speaking about Autodesk’s recently published report on ‘Harnessing the Data Advantage in Construction’: “We interviewed over 1000 candidates across Europe and looked into the way that data was being used within project teams across the regions to gain insight into trends or patterns that are emerging in relation to data acquisition, data quality, and data use.

We looked at a wide range of data collected on construction projects, including data during the planning processes, activity sequencing, progress monitoring, and snagging after installation. The report also identified analogue and traditional CAD or paper-based approaches with a view to figuring out how those processes might be replicated using a digital-enabled workflow. Critically, we then looked at the value to decision-makers of digitising the process and how insights afford decision makers better opportunity to make judgments and assess risks.”

When comparing the ‘data advantage’ through digital adoption across various regions, there is a demonstrable degree of maturity emerging from Ireland and the UK which, according to Marek, may well be attributed to the UK Government’s BIM initiative over the past decade.

“We used the foundation of BIM, so it was really changing the demand side and the industry had to align. In the Irish and UK market, there are quite a few substantial businesses - both from the design project management and construction side - meaning they perhaps have more capacity to commit to a change rather than SMEs.”

Technology laggards vs. best practice: How large is the gap?

“The gap is maybe 25 percent between the bestin-class and the worst. However, we have to respect that this report is based on a sample size of 100 per country. In reality, no country has made a huge leap forward, although the UK and Ireland are arguably in a front-running position.” Marek explains.

Speaking about the Kirby experience, Mark Danaher of the specialist contractor explains that just five or six years ago, the company was completely paper-based. This me-

ant everything done onsite was tracked by Excel checklists, which had to be marked up and filed at the office, where access was limited.

“As the specialist contractor, we are the intersection point of all of the data so we now have a whole digital construction department. This enables us to receive data from the main contractor and then refine that for integration with our own generated project data. We went digital a number of years ago in order to manage 3D Models and drawings, so we are digital from the design stage. Initially, we started with safety and quality as the two most important elements to digitise. Have we fully digitised across all of our projects?

No, but we have digitised projects for our key clients who are tech companies and we move with them.”

Quality in, quality out Quality in, quality out (QIQO) dictates that the output or insights of any analytical model are only as good or as accurate as the data being collected. When asked about quality data collection, Mark explains that the Kirby team operates on the IPD, or integrated project delivery, model that prioritises early contractor engagement to encourage stakeholder buy-in. This buy-in ensures better quality input from the pre-construction stage.

Measurement “Hyperscale data centres account for a significant portion of our business at the moment. On the first data centre we did, we tracked how long it took to do quality control checklists in the field, snagging in the field, document control and all of our drawings and model coordination manually and paper-based.

For this, we just measured the time everything took.

So we surveyed all of the site crews in different areas and we monitored how long it took them to do a QC checklist the old way including filing it and then having to go looking for it.

Then, using BIM 360 (now the Autodesk construction cloud), we timed the very same activities and workflows, and we monitored them digitally. The labour hours saved by use of BIM 360 were significant, including loss of information, looking for information, capturing the information and instant access to live data for the senior management team. By way of example, on our digital snagging, we saved 2,000 hours of time across two projects. We saved a further 1,000 hours on our digital QC audits. We also saved about 1,000 hours by digitising the red lining process (handover of final 2D drawings that reflect all installation changes).

So 4,000 hours were saved across two projects, on average, just on those three elements.”

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CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGIES

“

So traditionally, if an operations director have been evidenced on previous projects. How can we tackle those? How can we focus on those? Start came to site, he would ask ‘How many with a more structured and smaller-focused approach open snags do we have on this project at until you can get the buy-in from all involved. Focus the moment internally? And you would see on the data quality and then expand that into adjawhite paper being thrown up into the air, cent areas in order to get that wider benefit.” filing cabinets being opened, guys scratching their heads. Now, before he comes Foster a culture of innovation to site, he opens his form. He looks at the live snags and he asks the loaded question.

Marek: “At Autodesk, we are constantly working with our customer base to truly understand the issues faYou know, when everyone has the data. Isced and the challenges to be overcome. We have cusues are resolved before they become a stomer success teams who engage the industry and problem.

Advantages of a data strategy for contractors Marek: “A data strategy is more than just acquiring a piece of software or set of tools. It’s actually seeking to establish that there is a culture within the whole project team to capture quality data. The technologies do some of that for us because they themselves are structured, but we then have to organise the way data has to flow from the lowest tiers of the supply chain, up to those who are effectively aggregating the information and reporting. From a data strategy perspective, it has to start from the top of each engaged organisation.”

Where to start?

Marek: “Start small. It’s the old “How do you eat an elephant?” conundrum. You do it piece by piece and concentrate on the key priority areas. For example, whether it’s a health and safety challenge that the organisation has been facing, or perhaps there are lots of snags. There may be certain repeat things that

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we provide direct and indirect training through our partner network. Our approach is to show the benefits and eliminate the fear or risk of investing in new technologies.”

Mark: “The most successful approach for us has been to pilot projects on certain sites and then use that experience to show other site teams the advantages of engaging with new software and new systems.

When efficiencies emerge, we have other site teams requesting access to the new technology and training. In a way, you need to prey on people’s natural curiosity; work with them and show them what you’re trying to do, rather than dictating changes. At the end of the day, these tools really help our teams and it makes their audits easier.”

ConstructionTech columnist Carol Tallon is the CEO of Property District and advises innovators, investors and members of the traditional industry on urban planning, property, construction and smart city technology trends through Proptech Ireland. www.propertydistrict.ie

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DYNAMIC CONSULTING

THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY AND THE SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES

There are many issues to the supply chain today that is having an impact to many industries, most notably construction is being heavily impacted in the procuring materials and labour to projects.

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between 2010 and 2016. 245 Construction apprentices qualified in 2016.

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ith rising material and labour costs within the construction industry all too often profitability is being eaten up. These issues are also threatening the delivery of the target of 33,000 homes a year that need to be built, to take pressure off the housing market.

Labour With the current pandemic we have seen the additional costs in adhering to new operating procedure in dealing with covid. Evidently there are challenges within the industry today with the shortage of resources, the industry seems to have a difficulty in attracting people into it. Noticeably, there is a gender gap within the industry. Currently, the CSO estimates that only 5.5% of the workforce across all construction related sectors are women. The CIF survey estimates that approximately only 1 in 10 employees in their organisations are women.

The skilled labour we had pre covid have now emigrated back to their own home countries. Countries like Poland are now experiencing an increase in construction activity.

Poland has one of the largest growths in the construction market in the EU. There are not enough apprenticeships being completed each year to meet the demands we have within the industry. The proportion of qualified apprentices who completed construction apprenticeships fell by 28.5%

Materials The price agreed pre-COVID-19 and pre-Brexit for the cost of the materials has significantly increased thus gravely affecting profit margins.

International trade was adversely affected following a global pandemic, its reduced raw materials and manufacturing output which resulted in a restriction of supply and a substantial increase in prices.

The blockage of the Suez Canal was also a significant shock to the global supply chain that scattered containers and jammed supply chains from Asia to Europe and beyond, thus putting further increases on freight costs.

Supply chains between Ireland and the UK operated under the principles of the Customs Union and Single Market. Brexit has also a major impact on the price and supply of building materials, with price increase, delays in shipping, unfamiliar taxes and dealing with additional bureaucracy resulting in increased costs and longer lead times.

The costs of building materials have been experiencing an unprecedented increase since the beginning of 2020, with many in the industry believing prices to continue at a higher level for a considerable time to come. Usually, across a 12-month period, suppliers and contractors might experience price increases of 3% to 5%.

Contractors surveyed by Turner & Townsend predicted material prices increase by 6.8 per cent over the next 12 months Before Covid-19 and Brexit, the price of timber had www.civilandconstruction.ie

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DYNAMIC CONSULTING started to rise, local shortages of timber associated with manufacturing disruptions caused by Covid-19 and extreme weather, have sent some costs soaring by up to 60%.

Solution Apprenticeship and upskilling can go a weighty way to addressing the gaps that exist. Irish construction needs to employ more women if it is to have a sustainable future. The CIF have worked tirelessly the last few years with the initiative “Building Equality” this tackles and addresses the gender imbalance in construction.

Working together and with Government, the industry should aim to increase the proportion of women in the workforce to 25% by 2030. Attracting people in through the introduction of technology and ensuring stability with the industry.

The Construction industry was relatively slow to take up and embrace innovation and technology. As of 2021, millennials range in age from 24 to 40 and make up a majority of the current workforce, Millennials have adapted to a tech-driven lifestyle. Technology is revolutionising the construction industry. It can deliver efficiencies across construction businesses, linking what happens onsite with the back office to provide real-time information, which can help contractors deliver projects more profitably. The newest members of the workforce, Gen Zers are between the ages of 23 and infancy and are the first true tech natives, having never known a world without the internet as it exists today. Within recent times there has been a wide range of technological advances such as Augmented Reality, drones and BIM. Along with embracing and adopting technology is embracing new methods of construction, this can have so many advantages. As an example, Insulating Concrete Formwork (ICF), this is an innovative, sustainable, high performance building system. It allows fast construction of flexible buildings with low running costs and a long

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life. ICF is very lightweight, eliminating the need for heavy craneage, and significantly reducing the risk of personal injury on-site. There is less site traffic, less personal (which was a noteworthy advantage when social distancing was introduced) less teleporters, less waste (product is recyclable), less loading on scaffold and very little site noise. Whilst precast concrete has a lead time of three months and huge upfront costs pulling on cashflow, ICF can be delivered within 5 days of order.

Project teams should have a strict project specific procurement strategy.

The Procurement Manager, Project Manager, Quantity Surveyor & Site Manager should compile a Procurement Schedule and review weekly with key dates identified e.g. for the signing off drawings, ordering of materials and placing of orders. Site programmes should identify the key dates for the procurement of subcontractors and materials.

Teams should ensure detailed cash flow forecast and projections along with developing consistent and reliable relationships with Supply Chain members with favourable Contract Terms.

Karen Muldowney is Managing Director of Dynamic Consulting, Dynamic Consulting is a professional organisation providing Bid Management, Tender Management, Sales and Marketing Plans, Talent Management and Business Plans to Start-Ups, SME’s and Large Organisations.

Tel No: +353 (0)1 563 8718 Mobile No: +353 (83)486 8878 Website: dynamicconsultinggroup.ie Email: k.muldowney@dynamicconsultinggroup.ie

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JONES ENGINEERING

SUPPORTING THE CIF ANNUAL CONSTRUCTION SAFETY WEEK At Jones Engineering, we are proud to once again, support the CIF annual Construction Safety Week.

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he goal is to eliminate accidents at work, to drive continual improvement in safety and health performance, to celebrate best practice and to reinforce and promote the importance of safety, health and overall wellbeing in work and in life.

As our EHS Manager Declan Grady put it, “CIF Safety Construction Week provides an invaluable platform to highlight areas of safety concern within our industry. It is an opportunity to refocus and double down on our commitment to strive for an injury free workplace. It is also a time where different facets of the construction industry can work together to share experiences and best practices, which has never been as important as during the unprecedented circumstances and steep learning curves we have experienced throughout the last two years.”

The topics the CIF has chosen to focus on this year will be covered in themed toolbox talks and events on our sites throughout the country over the course of the week.

Our projects are located across Ireland, Europe and the Middle East and as such we extend our CIF Safety Week www.civilandconstruction.ie

events beyond our shores. Some of our teams are working in harsh conditions such as extreme heat environments reaching temperatures of +50 degrees celsius and arctic conditions reaching sub-zero temperatures of -40 degrees celsius with very few daylight hours. On these projects we are now utilising an Employee Assistant Programme with PepTalk which allows for supports to be made available to staff on site and in particular in relation to their mental health and wellbeing. We chose PepTalk because they are passionate about delivering sustainable, long term behavioural change for employees through a market leading, technology focused wellbeing solution.

Historically, construction health and safety has always prioritised the more immediately obvious physical hazards and their impact on site safety. But attitudes are thankfully changing, as people realise that the silent issue of mental health is just as dangerous and potentially fatal. We have signed up as a Company Supporter to the Lighthouse charity. Lighthouse have recently launched their ‘Help Inside the Hard Hat’ campaign to raise awa-

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reness of poor mental health within our industry. ‘Help Inside the Hard Hat’ provides a huge range of pro-active support and resources for our construction community including a 24/7 Construction Industry Helpline, free app and mental health training. We would encourage everyone in the industry to take advantage of these fantastic resources.

Our goal is always to ensure our people return home safe to their families at the end of every day. Safety has always been the number one value for Jones Engineering. Priorities can change but values do not.

Throughout the week, the Working at Height 3M Mobile demonstration unit which will be providing awareness training to a number of our Irish sites. We have also arranged a selection of webinar events and socially distanced video screenings of the bespoke videos we have created with theatre-based learning company Theatre at Work.

The online webinars are very interactive, and facilitate energetic discussions based on the roleplayed scenes.

We are emphasising a focus on behavioural based safety training for both craft and management.

Some sites will also be running competitions including safety quizzes and word searches and there will be safety colouring competitions for children of staff members. www.civilandconstruction.ie

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SURETY BONDS

THE COST OF CONSTRUCTION

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ecent history has shown that construction firms are not too big to fail even though they may have annual revenues ranging from millions, hundreds of millions to several billions of Euro. The industry has regularly witnessed smart leaders making what appear to be the same fatal mistakes others have made before them. Frequently cited mistakes are; unrealistic growth, over expansion, unfamiliar new markets or entry into new types of construction, volume obsession and bad contracts or poor project selection.

While helpful, this list of mistakes provides insufficient clarity regarding the causal roots of failure, more often it is a combination of factors. The way work is procured is partly to blame, in large the construction industry is different from the way most businesses work. The developer/employer wants a building and wants to know exactly how much it is going to cost before the project is built. Increasing complexity of projects, fluctuating materials costs and labour concerns all conspire to make this a dangerous get-work practice for contractors. While

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the predominance of this method is changing with new delivery methods, it is easy to see how contractors still get into trouble.

Throw in the mix of Brexit, Covid, labour shortage, shipping/container shortages and competing global demand and contractors face the perfect storm. While there are many in the industry who would deem these inflationary costs as temporary my own feeling is that they will last for the next several years before they start to plateau towards the end of 2023 or early 2024. According to the SCSI the national annual commercial construction inflation is now rising at the rate of 8.3% that is double pre-Covid levels.

What is the impact for contractors; the first is squeezed profit margins or even losses on existing live contracts, the second issue is supply shortages are resulting in significant delays which further hit the bottom line when penalties such as liquidated damages kick in. Finally the big question is whether contractors can stand over prices

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SURETY BONDS

they have issued on tenders over the last three to twelve months, in most cases the answer is a resounding no.

To add to the complex nature of contracting public and private owners are shifting greater risk onto contractors through onerous contract terms with non-traditional project responsibilities. Public Procurement contracts under the value for money policy look for cost certainty but shifts the risk to the contractor. The additional risks are evident in the evolution of project delivery systems that have surpassed design-build projects to more challenging methods of integrated project delivery (IPD), gap financing and PPP’s. In these hybrid risk-sharing approaches, attention to the potential expanded and longterm exposures to risk must be identified and addressed.

Contractors must be alert to new risks, resist or at least address these new risks whenever possible, and keep costs low to stay profitable. The financial consequences of the risk-shifting can hit general contractors and subcontractors hard, particularly in the current environment.

The need for cost certainty with fixed price contracts will impede the commencement of many Public Procurement projects that were tendered for over the last twelve months. While it is easy for project owners to blame contractors for the delays and additional costs, it is imperative for project owners to make the right choice of contractor in order to mitigate and manage risk on

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construction projects by selecting the most suitable contractor who will ensure timely project completion even if it means paying a premium to attain completion of a successful project. While cost is a primary factor it should not be lowest price race to the bottom, we need to look at the long-term cost and value of a contract.

It is my opinion that it is time to change the public procurement rules that dictate construction projects, price should not be the determining factor to winning a successful bid. There are other methodologies that are used in the private sector for example contracts such as “measurement contracts” or “cost reimbursement contracts”, these determine the contract sum by calculation using the contractor’s actual labour, plant and materials costs, to which a previously agreed percentage addition is made to the costs to cover the contractor’s overheads and profit, profit can be a negotiated fixed sum or a percentage of the contract. While this is only a suggestion and many will disagree with me, without change there will either be a significant increase in the cost to carry out future public procurement contracts or as we have seen in 2017/2018 failure by contractors to complete their contracts which adds to overall cost.

Colm McGrath – Managing Director Surety Bonds

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APPOINTMENTS

Topcon promotes David Bennett to lead UK & Ireland subsidiaries Regional Director Topcon Positioning Group has promoted David Bennett to UK and Ireland Regional Director. His new role will see him responsible for overseeing the GB and Ireland Subsidiaries.

Dave joined Topcon in 2013 as the Business Manager for Topcon Great Britain’s positioning business with responsibility for expanding the business and increasing Topcon market share in Great Britain. Following successful business growth, the positioning business separated from the eyecare business in 2018, and Topcon Positioning Great Britain was established as a limited company. This resulted in Dave’s promotion to the role of Managing Director.

Dave has helped develop a strong team that have raised the profile of Topcon in Great Britain and increased Topcon’s market share.

Andreas Strunk, European Subsidiaries Vice President, said: “I am extremely proud of the team and all they have achieved so far. This change will further contribute to strengthening the European Subsidiaries organisational structure. I look forward to more great results and I wish David the best of luck in his new role.”

Topcon Positioning Group, always one step ahead in technology and customer benefits, is an industry-leading designer, manufacturer and distributor of precision measurement and workflow solutions for the global construction, geospatial and agriculture markets.

Topcon Positioning Group, including Topcon Agriculture, is headquartered in Livermore, California, U.S. (topconpositioning.com, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook). Its European head office is in Capelle a/d IJssel, the Netherlands. Topcon Corporation (topcon.com), founded in 1932, is traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (7732).

John Sisk & Son appoints new CEO John Sisk & Son, the international construction and engineering business, today announced the appointment of Paul Brown as its new CEO with effect from 1 January 2022, taking over from the current CEO Steve Bowcott, who has been in the role for six and a half years.

Speaking on behalf of the board of Sicon (the group holding company) and the Sisk family, Chair Gary McGann said: “We are pleased to appoint Paul to this role and are very fortunate to have someone of his calibre and experience to take up the leadership of the company. We are very grateful for Steve’s commitment and his service to Sisk since his appointment in 2015 and as his term comes to an end, the Board believes that Paul has the skills and qualities to continue to deliver our progressive strategy as the leading Irish Construction Company.”

Paul is currently Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the entire UK construction business and for the Group Civil Engineering business. Over his 25 years in the industry, Paul has developed strong leadership skills enabling him to lead effective teams and to develop strong and lasting customer and colleague relationships.

Commenting on his appointment Paul said, “I am honoured to lead our business into the next phase of its development, building on Steve’s great work and that of my colleagues. I want to thank the Sicon Board, the Sisk family and all of my colleagues for their support and look forward to working with them towards the continued success of the company.”

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JJ Rhatigan Appointed As Lead Contractor For Major UK Development In Maidenhead HUB and Smedvig have appointed JJ Rhatigan & Company (JJR), a leading building contractor in the UK and Ireland, as the main contractor to deliver the first phase of The Landing project in Maidenhead, which is being funded by the build-to-rent operator Get Living for £155m.

JJR has now started construction on site, with a first phase completion date expected in Winter 2024.

The 3.5-acre mixed-use scheme is set to revitalise Maidenhead town centre, giving a much-needed boost to this key commuter hub. The first phase will deliver 429 new homes alongside 23,000 sq ft of ground floor retail space and extensive new public realm.

This is HUB’s second partnership with the Irish construction giant, which is currently on-site completing a £53m mixed-residential scheme in Abbey Wood, Greenwich, and marks JJR’s further expansion into the UK residential sector.

“This is our biggest contract so far in the UK,” explains Ger Ronayne, Chief Executive Officer of JJR. “It significantly builds on our continuing success in the UK market as the business expands and meets the market challenges head on, to deliver exciting projects across both England and Ireland.”

Designed by award-winning architect Studio Egret West, the mixed-use development, known as The Landing, will also deliver 104,000 sq ft of office space and another 15,000 sq ft of ground floor retail and leisure space in two further phases. A new Garden Square including soft landscaping, trees and seating areas will create a green destination in the heart of the town.

The Landing site – a key part of Maidenhead’s wider regeneration that includes the £500m redevelopment of the towns shopping centre – is also adjacent to Maidenhead station, where Elizabeth Line trains will arrive in 2022, and will provide a much-needed link between the refurbished station and the town centre. Damien Sharkey, Managing Director at HUB, said, “This is a landmark deal for HUB,

being both our ninth forward funding deal and our largest to date. The scheme we will now deliver is particularly important for Maidenhead, based on designs developed through extremely close consultation with the local community as well as strong collaboration and support from the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead. We are very excited to now start construction on this fantastic new place that will bring beautifullydesigned, well-connected homes, employment opportunities and community facilities to the town centre. We are happy to be working alongside JJR for the second time, with their reputation in the industry for construction excellence.”

Rick de Blaby, Chief Executive Officer at Get Living, said, “This is a momentous project for Get Living, being our seventh neighbourhood of large scale, but this time in a regional town rather than London or one of the UK’s large cities. With JJR starting construction, HUB’s vision for The Landing is being realised. It is our responsibility as long-term owners and custodians to ensure we provide a place for people not just to call home and put down roots, but to create a centre stage for the community to build and thrive, just as HUB’s team and the Council have envisioned.”

JJR has recently won a raft of awards for their work, including Project of the Year (over £25m) at The National Building & Construction Awards for Carolyn House in Croydon, as well as International Building Project of the Year at the Irish Building & Design Awards.

Established in 1952, JJR is a Tier One Main Contractor operating throughout Ireland and more recently (since 2012) in the UK, focusing on Greater London and the South East. JJR prides itself on not only delivering sites on time and to the highest quality, but also in operating in an environmentally conscious manner.

Ger Ronayne, CEO of JJR, concludes, “We would like to wish Damien Sharkey and all his colleagues at HUB every success with the development and we look forward to working with them over the next couple of years to bring phase one of The Landing to completion.”

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TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

MANAGING SAFETY EFFECTIVELY IN A COVID WORLD The global pandemic has created unprecedented challenges for effective safety management. It has presented sites and site managers with new hurdles to overcome, to ensure physical distancing on-site, maintaining effective communications in safety, design and construction and rescheduling and reorganising works to meet critical timescales.

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he industry has reacted positively to these challenges, with the implementation of on-site health regimes and virtual meetings as a means of reducing physical interaction being swiftly introduced to building sites in Ireland and globally.

Virtual communications has been further enhanced by advances in virtual safety audits and inspections, which has worked well, albeit with some limitations.

Virtual audits cannot totally replace on site safety in design audits While technological advancements have, for the most part, allowed contractors to continue construction during COVID times, not everything can be accomplished virtually. On-site inspections and audits are essential to many functions and the Project Supervisor (Design Process)(PSDP) and designers, including architects, need regular site visits to identify potential safety issues and comply with statutory obligations. Core PSDP safety www.civilandconstruction.ie

issues include temporary works designs, interaction of various works elements and ongoing buildability issues.

For the architect, as well as other designers, accessibility for future maintenance operations remain important, to ensure that the risk assessment and assumptions made in earlier design remain valid. Risk assessment in both design and construction remain ‘Live’ throughout construction and handover and therefore need to be periodically reviewed and updated as required.

Safety in Construction challenges remain Challenges in construction safety remain, with works scheduling and delivery of materials in particular creating logistical difficulties. On-site safety regimes have been reorganised to achieve preparation although this is not feasible for certain works. Where possible, operatives have been organised into ‘pods’ using the same

53 crews to assist in overcoming these challenges.

There has also been a huge increase, and reliance, on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and many contractors are reporting rising “PPE fatigue”, resulting in reduced compliance and misuse of PPE. The use and wearing of PPE has also presented additional risks on site, whereby wearing a mask (mandatory on many sites) causes safety glasses to fog up, creating an additional risk of slips and falls and a drop in awareness of other risks around them (although new safety wear, for example, using fine mesh instead of glass for safety glasses is helping to address this issue).

Virtual Safety Auditing The acid test for any safety management system, design and construction is effective auditing. Audits examine all parts of a work activity; from planning and forecasting, interactions with other works and trades, and compliance with stated procedures. An effective audit involved a combination of checking for compliance, as well as a deeper evaluation of how well things are really working.

COVID-19 has seen a huge increase in the use of virtual safety audits and, some limitations aside, they have been generally effective. The ability to increase the number of audits conducted has been a key benefit to virtual audits, as have reduced costs associated with conducting an audit, and increased stakeholder attendance. Audit planning and completion is reliant however on the people involved and their understanding of what needs to be viewed and how it should be communicated, so the choice of auditor is critical.

On site safety auditing allows the auditor to highlight on site issues which may not always be captured by a camera, for example, rough and uneven ground, proximities around operating plant, even unsafe behaviours which cease when a camera is seen approaching.

A common problem with auditing is an over-reliance on single metrics; where an auditor may record an issue as a single occurrence, rather than identifying that it is the result of a deterioration in other areas, for example plan-

ning and management. This issue can be heightened by virtual safety auditing, where the audit is limited by the ability to record and live-stream the site effectively. If the camera can’t see it, neither can the auditor.

Other limitations to virtual safety auditing include what the persons leading the audit considers important or relevant. They may not consider other fundamental issues including on site co-ordination and interaction with other elements.

Conclusion COVID-19 has changed how we view, plan and manage health and safety in construction, and this shift has highlighted a number of opportunities which, upon more detailed assessment, could improve processes and efficiencies both on and off-site; • A greater emphasis on offsite fabrication; expanding the nature and scope of what can be constructed away from the site • Focus in design specification for material off loading and handling, transport on site; transport options in design • Increased evaluation of risks in design safety analysis. This is led by the project PSDP. • Increased contact with contractors in regard to buildability options. This already occurs but can be more practical particularly in the detail of what is being specified • Acknowledging how off-site fabrication options may impact on the physical site, layout and accessibility • Agreement of how virtual reviews and be improved particularly in regard to BIM and other modelling options.

A combination of digital technology, innovative and collaborative work practices and adherence to solid safety principles has for the most part enabled designers and developers to deliver safety in construction. The impact of COVID-19 in delivery of safety services has been significant, changing fundamental aspects of safety management, however whether these changes will be permanent remains to be seen.

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INFRASTRUCTURE

INDUSTRY WELCOMES STRONG COMMITMENT TO INFRASTRUCTURE AND HOUSING BUT WARNS OF SYSTEMIC BARRIERS TO DELIVERY The CIF has warned that underspending of the capital budget will undermine economic recovery as industry reports drop-off in public sector project commencements at today’s budget. Recent research by Construction Information Services found that the value of public sector projects in Q2 and Q3 2021 was down by approximately 40% and 30% respectively from the same period in 2020.

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he Construction Industry Federation has previously warned that a drop-off in public sector commencements and Departmental underspending will undermine the delivery of the essential housing and infrastructure envisaged in the budget.

“Today’s budget demonstrates the Government’s commitment to housing, infrastructure, and climate change.

Significant funding has been allocated this year in these areas however without removing systemic barriers in the system in planning, procurement, and in how state utilities operate, a large proportion of this investment could be undermined. Construction companies are on the front line of delivery of these commitments. Unfortunately, they are reporting a slow-down in the commencements of public sector projects. This can only partially be explained by Covid and industry restrictions. It’s vital that the commitments at national level made in the NDP, Housing for All, and today’s budget are matched by action at a local level by the State’s agencies and in www.civilandconstruction.ie

removing systemic barriers in public sector procurement, the planning system, and in how utilities engage with contractors and home builders. Companies are reporting a significant slowdown in public sector infrastructure projects. Minister McGrath has highlighted that only 38% of the State’s capital budget is spent by August, following a major underspend in 2020.

Recent research by EY/DKM, found that in Ireland, every €1 billion invested leads to an additional €1.85bn economic uplift and 1,200 jobs with about €600million circulating in the economy in profits and wages. Globally, Governments are investing in infrastructure with a view to restarting their economies after Covid.

CIF Director General, Tom Parlon, “Now is the time to capitalise on historically low-interest rates to support companies in delivering increased housing, the national retrofit scheme and critical economic

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and social infrastructure. The €165 billion committed by central Government in the NDP can yield huge returns to the State, but this can be undermined by inefficiencies in the system. Planning, public-sector procurement, and complications with utilities all add significant costs and delays in advance of the construction phase of housing and infrastructure. The CIF is working extensively with the Government to modernise its public procurement system with a view to the more widespread adoption of more effective contracts such as NEC. This reform is necessary to ensure that we meet the ambitious social housing targets outlined today and in the Housing for All strategy and in the commitments outlined in the NDP. Equally, the commitment to increase Irish Water’s operating budget by €1.6 billion will not have the impact on housing delivery and our water infrastructure unless it is tied to changes in how IW engages with contractors on the ground.”James Benson, CIF Director of Housing, stated; “To ensure housing delivery, zoned land tax must only be applied to any land when the viability of building is allowed for and considered. Placing tax on land that is unviable in terms of homebuilding will be counterproductive. The tax must only apply where it is viable to build, and the land is serviced with essential infrastructure including water, roads and other utilities. These issues render much zoned land unviable in terms of homebuilding in the past and these issues much be addressed before the tax of 3% should be levied. Anything else will have the unintended consequence of removing available zoned land from that available for homebuilding. The Iri-

sh Homebuilders Association welcomes the continuation of the Help to Buy scheme but again requests that the scheme, which has enabled the building of thousands of starter homes, to be placed on a permanent footing for at least three years.”

The CIF’s budget submission provides proposals the state and industry should focus on to improve the delivery of construction in Ireland. These are: • Building the Infrastructure for Ireland 2040 • Housing our Growing Population • Cultivating People, Skills and Capacity • Transitioning to a Climate Resilient society & Enhancing Productivity The CIF has also warned that ensuring the industry has sufficient employees across all functions, trade, and roles now and in the future, is critical to the delivery of the Government’s ambition in housing and infrastructure. The CIF estimates that industry will need to recruit approximately 1000 people per month for the coming years to deliver Housing for All and the NDP. As a result, the CIF is calling on the Government to increase SOLAS’ budget to ensure they can support the expanding industry on recruiting and upskilling employees. The CIF was also calling for the Government to modify the Apprenticeship Incentivisation Scheme that has enabled SMEs to recruit apprentices over the past year, and they await details of the announced grant for employees taking on apprentices.

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T

MERCEDES GLC DE HYBRID he Mercedes GLC 300 de is a diesel plug-in hybrid that brings Three-Pointed Star quality to the growing segment for premium-badged upper mid-sized luxury SUVs. The Mercedes-Benz GLC premium compact SUV was introduced in 2015. In 2019, the SUV was given a facelift for the 2020 model year. The GLC SUV includes two plug-in hybrid options, a petrol/electric and a diesel/ electric option. The GLC 300de we drove mates a 2.0-litre diesel unit with a 90kW electric motor that when fully charged is able to achieve up to 43.5km of WLTP-rated all-electric driving at speeds of up to 130km/h. If overall efficiency isn’t a priority, the GLC 300de can also be quite powerful, thanks to a total output of 306hp, enough to dispatch from 0 to 100km/h in 6.2s en route to 230km/h. There’s a substantial 400Nm of torque on offer and our test vehicle comes with 4MATIC 4WD and the powertrain works through a 9-speed auto gearbox which works with the usual ‘Dynamic Select’ ‘Eco’, ‘Comfort’ and ‘Sport’ driving modes that alter drive response, steering feel and ESP settings.

The Mercedes-Benz GLC range starts off with the 194hp 2.0-litre turbodiesel rear-wheel-drive GLC 220 d model, which has a starting price of €54,425. That model comes with a standard interior and exterior, according to Mercedes.

You can upgrade to a model with an Exclusive interior for €56,449, or one with an Exclusive interior and ‘Off Road’ exterior for €59,554.

Standard equipment includes 18-inch alloys, an electric tailgate, LED headlamps, a three-spoke sports steering wheel, synthetic leather seats called Artico upholstery, analogue instruments with a 5.5-inch colour digital display between them, keyless start, rain-sensing wipers, live traffic information for the navigation, a reversing camera and the smallest MBUX screen in the centre of the dash, controlled by a trackpad between the front seats.

Upgrading to the Exclusive interior gets you heated front seats, improved cabin trim, ambient cabin lighting and velour floor mats. The Off Road exterior pack adds cutaway bumpers which offer better approach angles when driving over rough terrain plus a lower protection panel finished in silver, heat-insulated glass and slightly raised-up suspension The very popular AMG Line version starts at €60,763, which includes 19-inch wheels, visible exhaust pipes rather than under bumper on standard models, an AMG-style grille and exterior body kit, cross-drilled brake discs with upgraded calipers, and sports suspension and steering. The interior gets AMG-style contrast stitching, aluminium trim and piano-black lacquer. The GLC 220 d has CO2 emissions varying

“The GLC 300de we drove mates a 2.0-litre diesel unit with a 90kW electric motor.” www.civilandconstruction.ie

Words: Anthony Kelly

Pics: Ford

MERCEDES GLC DE HYBRID

With the brand’s rivals offering plugin models Mercedes needed the GLC 300de to compete effectively in the upper mid-sized premium SUV segment

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MERCEDES GLC DE HYBRID

from 151g/km for basic models, up to 170g/km depending on the choice of wheels and optional equipment.

The next step is to upgrade to a 4Matic four-wheel-drive model, which starts from €57,090 in standard form; €59,114 for the Exclusive interior; and €62,299 for the Off Road exterior. The 220 d AMG Line 4Matic starts at €63,508. CO2 emissions run from 156- to 190g/km.

Following this is the more powerful 300 d model, which uses the same core 2.0-litre diesel engine, but has 245hp. That starts at €62,040 for the standard variant, rising to €71,025 for the AMG Line. All versions of the 300 d come with 4Matic four-wheel drive as standard.

There are petrol options too - a 258hp GLC 300 4Matic with standard interior starts at €71,825, rising to €76,820 for the AMG Line version. CO2 emissions are reasonable at 171-190g/km for this engine. If it’s power you desire, you can go for the €84,985, 367hp turbo V6 GLC 43 AMG model, with 4Matic and more than 191g/ km of CO2, or the 510hp twin-turbo V8-engined Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S, with its €140,520 price tag.

For plug-in hybrids. These start at €66,420 for the petrol-based GLC 300 e, which has CO2 emissions of 5180g/km, and 320hp or €62,843 for the diesel 300 de (50g/km) as tested here.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION

Model

Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 de 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged diesel with 90 kW electric motor

400 Nm

306 hp

230 km/h

6.2 seconds

€140 per year

1.9/100km

From €54,425

Conclusion

The Mercedes-Benz GLC 300de is an SUV ideal for family buyers with a green element. It would be possible to run this vehicle all the time on electricity if you were only driving short distances and plugging in appropriately. Even if you don’t, you still get a capable luxury vehicle with plenty of room for the kids in the back and the right badge on the bonnet if those sorts of things mean something to you.

“There’s a substantial 400Nm of torque on offer.”

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INVESTMENT

ASTRAZENECA TO INVEST $360M IN NEW MANUFACTURING FACILITY IN DUBLIN, CREATING 100 JOBS

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ánaiste & Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar TD and IDA Ireland recently welcomed the announcement by global pharmaceutical and biotechnology company AstraZeneca that it is to invest $360M in a new manufacturing facility in Ireland, creating 100 jobs.

The new facility will be located at the 41 acre Alexion Campus in College Park, Dublin. It will serve as the next-generation active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) commercialisation and manufacturing facility for small molecules, positioning AstraZeneca’s global supply network for future growth.

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment, Leo Varakdar TD said: “This is fantastic news. Ireland is a world hub for life sciences. We’ve worked hard to create a welcoming environment for companies seeking to invest here and we are so happy that AstraZeneca has chosen Dublin to locate its new manufacturing facility with 100 new jobs in the IDA College Park campus in Blanchardstown as a result.”

IDA Ireland CEO Martin Shanahan said: “It’s great to see AstraZeneca establish its first manufacturing facility in Ireland. It will be a considerable addition to the well established life sciences ecosystem here. Competition for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is more intense than ever and all investment is hard won. This investment, creating

100 highly skilled jobs, including scientists and engineers, is most welcome and will be of substantial benefit to the local economy. I wish the company every success with its plans here.”

Pascal Soriot, Chief Executive Officer, AstraZeneca, said: “This is a tremendously proud moment for us all at AstraZeneca and I am delighted that we are bringing this very significant investment to Dublin which, with the support of the IDA, will create highly skilled jobs, nurture the country’s dynamic life sciences sector and allow for the development of high value-added medicines.”

Pam Cheng, Executive Vice President, Global Operations and IT, said: “The future manufacturing of APIs for our medicines includes compounds with highly complex synthesis, requiring next generation technologies and capabilities that can respond quickly and nimbly to rapidly-changing clinical and commercial needs. This significant investment will ensure the AstraZeneca supply network is fit for the future.”

The investment programme is expected to significantly reduce commercialisation lead times, costs, and introduce more sustainable manufacturing processes, contributing to the AstraZeneca’s Ambition Zero Carbon programme.

The industry-leading, future proof design of the plant will permit the addition of capability to manufacture a wide range of medicines. www.civilandconstruction.ie

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MAGPLY COLLABORATION

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MAGPLY COLLABORATION

Coversure Ltd t/a Surety Bonds is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland

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MAGPLY COLLABORATION