McFarland Consulting are experts in structural durability.
We specialise in assessing and repairing ageing or damaged structures using advanced sensing technologies and provide tailored long-term remedial solutions.
McFarland Consulting Ltd are an award-winning specialist civil/structural engineering consultancy who focus on assessing, maintaining and extending the serviceable life of a wide range of damaged and deteriorating structures. Prof. Brian McFarland established McFarland Associates Ltd in 2000. The company rebranded in 2019 to McFarland Consulting Ltd as it entered its twentieth year in business.
Our flexibility and collaborative approach to working with clients has secured continuous repeat business and has helped build a strong track record across all industry sectors.
Our success can be attributed to our clients’ satisfaction with our flexible and responsive service, which continuously delivers added value in the form of safe, reliable and cost-effective solutions, while we maintain our core value of independence.
We are recognised experts in the fields of forensic engineering, non-destructive testing, structural health monitoring and the preparation of bespoke remedial solutions to repair damaged or deteriorating structures. We provide our services to a wide range of clients including government bodies, asset owners/managers, contractors, legal experts and fellow engineering consultants.
Our projects include commercial, industrial, multi-storey and heritage buildings, bridges, tunnels, rail, marine structures, multi-storey car parks, energy and power structures and water/wastewater infrastructure throughout Ireland, the UK and Channel Islands.
We recognise that providing our clients with a quality service whilst minimising our impact on the environment and ensuring the safety of our staff and others is critical to our business. We therefore operate and maintain an Integrated Management System, which is annually externally accredited to ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018. We are also SSIP Accredited as both a Principal Designer and Principal Contractor.
Pinpointing problems through innovation
SHM (Structural Health Monitoring) and Sensoring
Adding value and reducing environmental impact through asset life extention
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We specialise in structural condition and defect surveys. We also undertaken Non-Destructive Testing for a wide range of structural assets within the built environment using our in-house trained team. We produce fully interpretative reports that help our clients determine the nature, source, extent and significance of any identified deterioration. Our laboratory analysis is conducted by UKAS-accredited laboratories with whom we have long-standing supplier relationships.
Our Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) capabilities include:
We develop innovative Remedial Solutions based on bespoke client requirements for repair service life and available budgets. We produce detailed Repair Specifications, Drawings and Bill of Quantities. We often oversee ongoing repair works on site from a Client and Quality Assurance perspective.
We design, investigate and monitor Galvanic Anode, Hybrid Anode and Impressed Current Cathodic Protection systems within the Reinforced Concrete, Marine Metallic and On-land Metallic Application Sectors. These works are conducted by in-house ISO 15257:2017 accredited Cathodic Protection Technicians. Our Cathodic Protection designs and reports are approved by ISO 15257:2017 Level 4 Cathodic Protection Specialists.
Our project list includes Cathodic Protection Consultancy Services on Reinforced Concrete, Steel Frame (Regent Street Disease), harbour/marine and pipeline assets.
We undertake Structural Assessments of existing assets to determine their current residual capacity. In tandem with our Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) methods, we can determine the existing structural make up of elements and implement these findings to create Structural and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) models.
We supplement our assessments through load testing using a range of sensing technologies to determine actual structural behaviour. In the past, we have used Kentledge, Water Bags, Crane Ballast and a range of different sized vehicles to apply loads on to the structures to be assessed.
We undertake monitoring of structures using a range of sensors to determine actual strains stresses and movement. Our sensing systems include provisions for measuring strain, displacement, tilt, vibration and convergence.
We use innovative remote crack monitoring solutions to determine actual crack movements and their correlation with changes in temperature. We do not promote the use of crack monitoring using tell tales or physical measurements as these techniques often disguise actual crack movements.
We offer Expert Witness services to assist those involved in the process of construction and engineering litigation or arbitration. Our considerable experience in the investigation and cause of construction defects has led us to be called upon on numerous occasions to act as experts within our field.
We work closely with research bodies and institutions to understand and develop new ways of interpreting construction and material defects as well as the implementation of cost-effective innovative repair solutions. Because of our recognised expertise we are continually challenged with developing bespoke solutions for monitoring and repairing structures. We have numerous ongoing funded research projects and therefore employ full time research and development and Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) personnel to support these activities.