Engineering Documentation Ltd Managing Director David Mullen talks about the company’s growth, the increasing demand for BIM, CAD and training services.

Engineering Documentation Ltd (ENGdoc) established in 2006, have their headquarters in the Westward Centre in Sligo Town where 15 people are currently employed. David describes: “Our staff cover both mechanical and electrical as well as structural and architectural. All of our drawing staff are highly trained and are either Autodesk Certified Users or Professionals with practical site experience as well.” Separate to the Sligo office, they also have a dedicated training centre which delivers courses in Revit, Navisworks, AutoCAD and Manual Handling. ENGdoc also has a satellite office in Stamullen, County Meath, which services the Dublin market.

Offering Solutions and Services

David came from a mechanical contracting background and initially ENGdoc offered solutions to M&E companies looking to outsource their Operation & Maintenance manuals and drawing requirements. “Rather than just provide an administrative service, we tried to offer a more hands-on and project specific solution which involved spending time on-site, red-lining drawings and then updating CAD files and handover documentation to reflect what was actually installed – rather than what should have been installed.”

“Already providing a drawing service to M&E contractors, we started getting requests to produce coordinated services drawings and cross sections which would be used during the pre-construction phase to verify that the design could actually be built. This was probably the main reason we ended up going down the BIM road.”

They then started compiling documentation, Digital Safety Files for main contractors – again focusing on-site visits to spot-check the information received from subcontractors and ensure it was a true representation of work undertaken. David says, “Combining the drawing and the documentation sides of the business was eventually what led us to our current BIM service offering and which allows us to take a very practical approach to supporting our clients – from design stage right through to handover and operation.”

Increasing Demand for ENGdoc Services

ENGdoc specialise in the 3D modelling and coordination of mechanical and electrical services. “From the early stages of a project, we provide BIM support either by carrying out point cloud surveys, modelling from drawings or scans, coordination and clash detection, right up to handover and ‘as-builts’. With our background in Operations and Maintenance manuals, we are also at home inputting asset information into models to ensure that both the non-graphical as well as the graphical elements of the model are complete and accurate.”

ENGdoc is an Autodesk Authorised Training Centre and offers training in Revit, AutoCAD and Navisworks. They work closely with their clients to tailor these courses to suit their particular needs. ENGdoc also offers bespoke BIM training and consultancy to companies looking at adopting BIM, either on a particular project or as an overall BIM implementation programme.

Currently, the majority of their work is on the east coast with a small number of projects west of the Shannon. “We are involved in a number of BIM projects within our region, but construction growth, in general, is still very focused on the Dublin region.” However, due to the nature of the services we offer, we are well placed to service the Dublin market remotely and as a BIM provider we are always seeking people educated and skilled in BIM.”

David told us about other services. “Aside from the BIM support, we offer general CAD services and building surveys. We also compile mechanical and electrical Operation & Maintenance manuals and Digital Safety Files. These services have been at the core of our business since we started and still form an important part of our customer base.”

Major ENGdoc clients include Celtic Anglian Water, Asgard Cleanrooms, Mercury Engineering, Winthrop Engineering, Vertiv, Kirby Group, and Sisk. ENGdoc has provided BIM support to service contractors on high-profile projects here and abroad – including, BMS Cruiserath; 1 Windmill Lane; BSH Mount Desert Care Village; MSD Netherlands; Allergan, Westport; Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank HQ; and a number of the Primary Care Centres Bundle.

Demand for their BIM and CAD services has grown. “The last two years have seen a big increase in demand for our services – both in terms of BIM, and in 2D CAD drawings, and this increase has seen us grow our workforce from 6 people to 15. We have also invested in new technologies such as our point cloud scanner which has opened up more work to us.”

CitA North West Region

A regular at CitA’s Dublin events, David was involved in establishing the CitA North West BIM Region in early 2016, and this has been a success. “As Co-Chair of the Region and with the help of local construction professionals and academics, we have a strong core of support and regularly attract about 80 people to our events in IT Sligo.” David says he we will be attending the 2017 CitA Gathering and he is looking forward to the event already.