Daniel Ireland works on the commercial and Blue light team, conducting a wide range of surveys and assessments on various building types, from historical landmarks to modern warehouses, for both public and private sector clients.
Q: What made you choose to work at Make?
I had been looking for Building Surveying opportunities in the east midlands area following graduation from a masters in Building Surveying in 2020. I had been working in Property management, which had been great experience from the perspective of conducting maintenance management work, but it lacked the diagnosis involved in assessing building defects and specifying a remediation strategy involved in Building Surveying, which prompted me to look for other opportunities. I have a long-term goal of becoming a chartered surveyor and I was looking for an RICS regulated firm where I wasn’t just a number on the payroll. Having worked for large organisations in a previous part of my career I didn’t want to join a really large firm at this stage in my Building Surveying career.
Make Consulting had been recommended to me by a couple of recruiters who praised their working culture and expertise in commercial surveying services and the success they had achieved with APC candidates. Having met with members of staff twice at interview I was successful. I was really pleased, having met senior members of staff I understood I would be a good fit for their organisation and I had the intuition I would be well supported. This has proven to be the case.
Q: Talk us through your journey with Make so far?
I work on the commercial and Blue light team, I have been given the opportunity to work on numerous dilapidations surveys, assessment of condition, defects diagnosis, a varying range of building types, from 17th century grade 2 listed buildings to 20th century portal frame warehouses. For a range of clients including public and private sector. I am given plenty of autonomy within this work, with the required level of chartered supervision and APC support that has enabled me to develop good surveying skills within inspection and report writing. I am now working to support others within the department and I am financially managing one of our larger clients submitting fee quote proposals to their procurement system.
Q- What is it about the position/sector that made you select this career route?
I had always been attracted to practical work, starting out in site maintenance after my first degree. I have developed houses in my spare time. I used to manage the provision in an education centre that focused on sustainability, construction and conservation. I enjoyed managing and developing the site to support the growth in the provision. Building Surveying has enabled me to formalise these experiences and has enabled me to develop further expertise. I will be continually learning as a surveyor developing specialist skills as I go.
Q. What is the best thing about working at Make?
The people are great, there is a lot of skill and expertise in the room at any given moment. If I feel out of my depth there is always somebody who can help. We are well supported as employees and well rewarded for our hard work. I do feel valued in the role that I carry out.
Q- What does a typical day look like for you?
No two days are the same, this likely sounds like cliché, but I can be on the south coast of England trying to get into a security shuttered pub with the alarm going off. I could be in a social house where the door is missing and the there are loads of traps I could fall through in the floor. I can be exploring rooms formed under railway arches. Producing a financial management plan working in the office for the disposal of a property the next day, meeting with building control and structural engineers regarding a dangerous structure, the next. It is quite a diverse role.
Q-What do you like most about your role?
The fact that I am doing what I trained to do. A lot of graduates have to diversify after graduation to find employment. There is a great opportunity for the progression of knowledge and skills in the role I undertake considering where I am at within my career progression.
Q- What do you find most challenging about your role?
Where there is an identified danger within a building and there are multiple stake holders involved where I have to take charge and mobilise a number of workers from multiple organisations in a timely and safe manner to mitigate risk.
Q- What have been your biggest achievements during your time with Make so far?
Bringing in new work to the firm from existing clients and developing relationships with clients so that they contact me directly regarding problem buildings. Bringing in a new client to the firm having being personally recommended to them by others that I work with within the industry.
Q- How have Make supported you with your progression so far?
I am on the APC Building Surveying pathway. My skills knowledge and experiences within Building Surveying have developed well with the right amount of exposure to differing work experiences.
Q- Where do you see your future career taking you over the next 5-10 years?
I would like to have achieved chartered status with RICS and I wish to continue working onsite carrying out the role of a Building Surveyor.