Tel: 051 877 942
Mob: 087 249 1795
jcostello@costellosurveyors.ie
Our Expertise
We have over 40 years’ experience in the construction industry, including medical, commercial, residential, infrastructure and education.
Managing Director, John Costello, has been in QS consultancy throughout his career. Up to 2007, he was with Healy Kelly Turner & Townsend, starting there in 1978, becoming an Associate in 1980 and a Director in 1984. In 1985 he moved to Waterford to manage Healy Kelly Turner & Townsend’s Waterford office and has been in Waterford ever since.
In 2007, he established Costello Surveyors to offer specialist advice and consultancy services to the construction sector, particularly in regard to dispute resolution.
John has acted as conciliator, adjudicator, arbitrator and expert witness on numerous occasions. He has also guided clients in dispute avoidance and successfully aided them to reach an acceptable settlement by negotiation.
John's experience in construction covers all types of buildings, including hospitals, schools, public housing, residential, civil engineering and in particular marine ports, industrial and commercial developments. He has been responsible for a number of major projects, including the 420 bed Waterford Regional Hospital, the new port development in Waterford and a number of major projects in Waterford Institute of Technology. He also has extensive experience in mechanical and electrical services.
John’s qualifications include Dip. Arb, FSCSI, FCIArb, Accredited Adjudicator (Republic of Ireland), member of the Panel of Adjudicators under the Construction Contracts Act, 2013 and CEDR Accredited Mediator.
John’s other experience includes obtaining and managing QA accreditation, lecturing to final year degree students on the Quantity Surveying Degree course in Limerick and Waterford ITs, panel chairman of the APC assessment of aspiring Chartered Quantity Surveyors, and post-graduate training of surveyors and training of conciliators. He is active in the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland and currently sits on the Quantity Surveying Professional Group committee.
Our Commitment
Our first priority is to give a first class service to our clients. We recognise that the best advertisement for any service company is a satisfied client. We commit to:
- Giving sound and well-reasoned advice
- Providing clear advice using simple language
- Taking the time to ensure our clients understand the ramifications
- Respecting client confidentiality at all times
- Avoiding conflicts of interest
- Always having our client’s interests, both short and longer term, to the fore
Self Help
There are things that can be done when a dispute seems likely. A common-sense approach at an early stage can yield dividends. Try the following:
- Try all amicable ways to settle.
- Examine the strengths and weaknesses of your own position and your assessment of the other party’s position. If your view is not well-founded, the sooner you realise that fact the cheaper it will be.
- Get input from uninvolved personnel either within your organisation or from outside. It is usually hard for anyone who is close to the dispute to be fully objective; a considered viewpoint from someone who is new to the matter can be very useful in forming a realistic opinion of the strengths and weaknesses of your position.
- Make sure that emotion and/or personality differences are not the drivers in the dispute.
- Consider how the dispute can be narrowed; are there some points that can be settled by negotiation? If there are, and if these can be dealt with, the remaining points can become easier to negotiate.
