Touching Down in Abu Dhabi

Yas Island



In response to J from Tip's comment below, Declan Scully writes:

Yes, I did work on the project in question in Ireland.

In relation to working in Dubai, I am strictly based in Abu Dhabi which is about 1 hour away from there. It is a great country to work in, the life style is good and I have no complaints.

Work visa’s, getting set up, accommodation etc were handled by the agency, MCR Personnel and my present employer, Higgs & Hill, so I had no worries there.

Comment:

I am interested in working in Dubai.
Did you ever work in a site office in Stradbally Co. Laois, for a company from Waterford?

J from Tip.



Original blog posted 18 June 2008

Working in Abu Dhabi

Quantity Surveyor, guest blogger and Carlow native Declan Scully gives his first impressions of Abu Dhabi

Four months ago I was sitting in an office in Ireland worrying about what the future held. With the rate of decline in the Irish construction market, I felt I had little control over whether I would have a job at all in the months ahead. This evening I write this after returning from a day’s work at the Yas Island racetrack in Abu Dhabi, which will host the 2009 Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

In April I came across an advert for a job in Abu Dhabi and applied to construction recruitment firm MCR Personnel. Within weeks my future employer, Higgs & Hill – a major international construction management firm –, interviewed me at a Dublin Airport hotel.

When I accepted the job, Higgs & Hill and MCR Personnel handled visa, accommodation, flights and everything else for me. I had very little do apart from give my notice.

It’s just over two months now since I arrived in Abu Dhabi, the largest of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and I am working as a QS with Higgs & Hill.

I usually work 8AM to 7PM, five or six days a week – not dissimilar to home. However being part of what is happening over here is incredibly exciting. It really has to be seen to be believed.

In the workplace there is great respect from the employer and between work colleagues. I believe this is one of the reasons why things get done. And, believe me, things get done!

Our site, like many others, works 24/7. The pace is incredible. The Yas Racetrack is a 12-month build. At home I can only imagine that a similar project would take nearly five years to complete.

As for the lifestyle! We work hard! But that is not to say we don’t enjoy ourselves. People make you feel right at home here. This is probably a good thing because 90 per cent of the residents are non-nationals. This great cultural mix adds to the excitement of the place. And, of course, anything I might want at home is also easily available here.

To any anyone who is toying with the idea of working over here, all I can say is give it a go. I don’t think you will be disappointed! Abu Dhabi is the most exciting place in the world where any construction professional could be at this point in time.

Construction job opportunities in the Middle East

The recent visit to Dublin of Khajeh Daloui, the Iranian government's deputy head of housing and construction, is another in a series of high profile initiatives aimed at attracting Irish contractors and construction professionals to take up construction jobs in the Middle East.

The fact that CIF's Director General Tom Parlon was also on hand to support the Iranian minister shows how important the Middle Eastern market is becoming to Irish building contractors looking to export their expertise.

In April Enterprise Ireland hosted the “Construction Opportunities in the Gulf States” seminar in Dublin where delegates heard high profile speakers from UAE and Saudi Arabia make presentations on construction product and services opportunities in the Middle East.

The Middle East now accounts for 30 per cent of all recruitment activity the goes through constructionjobs.ie. Construction professionals who have already taken up positions with firms in the region are finding themselves playing a key role in some of the world’s most exciting development schemes.

Touching Down in Abu Dhabi

This is the most exciting place in the world where any construction professional could be at this point in time




Yas Island



Quantity Surveyor, guest blogger and Carlow native Declan Scully gives his first impressions of Abu Dhabi

Four months ago I was sitting in an office in Ireland worrying about what the future held. With the rate of decline in the Irish construction market, I felt I had little control over whether I would have a job at all in the months ahead. This evening I write this after returning from a day’s work at the Yas Island racetrack in Abu Dhabi, which will host the 2009 Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

In April I came across an advert for a job in Abu Dhabi and applied to construction recruitment firm MCR Personnel. Within weeks my future employer, Higgs & Hill – a major international construction management firm –, interviewed me at a Dublin Airport hotel. When I accepted the job, Higgs & Hill and MCR Personnel handled visa, accommodation, flights and everything else for me. I had very little do apart from give my notice.

It’s just over two months now since I arrived in Abu Dhabi, the largest of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and I am working as a QS with Higgs & Hill.

I usually work 8AM to 7PM, five or six days a week – not dissimilar to home. However being part of what is happening over here is incredibly exciting. It really has to be seen to be believed.

In the workplace there is great respect from the employer and between work colleagues. I believe this is one of the reasons why things get done. And, believe me, things get done!

Our site, like many others, works 24/7. The pace is incredible. The Yas Racetrack is a 12-month build. At home I can only imagine that a similar project would take nearly five years to complete.

As for the lifestyle! We work hard! But that is not to say we don’t enjoy ourselves. People make you feel right at home here. This is probably a good thing because 90 per cent of the residents are non-nationals. This great cultural mix adds to the excitement of the place. And, of course, anything I might want at home is also easily available here.

To any anyone who is toying with the idea of working over here, all I can say is give it a go. I don’t think you will be disappointed! Abu Dhabi is the most exciting place in the world where any construction professional could be at this point in time.

Construction job opportunities in Dubai

They use ice cubes to work the concrete

Guest blogger and architectural photographer Gerry O Leary writes about the first time he set foot in Dubai

It is exactly one year now since I first set foot in Dubai, I had heard all the talk and reasons as to why I should visit and how much work I would get there etc. So I just went. Eight hours of Aer Lingus (who no longer fly to Dubai) later, I arrived in Dubai International Airport and was struck by its enormous size. Protected from the elements by the ever-running air conditioning, it really hit me that I was in Dubai when I was greeted by the wall of ‘oven-like’ searing heat on exiting the airport. The taxi driver assured me that 36 (at this ungodly hour of 3am) was not really hot saying, “it reaches 50 in July & August”

Next morning as I walked Sheikh Zayed Road (the Champs Élysées of Dubai) and so impressed was I that my chin was on the pavement at the sheer size and design of the numerous towers that delineated the street, one more impressive than the next. I took the day to look around the city with the assistance of a local resident. The place is rather disjointed with a number of what I called sub-cities such as The Marina, Burj Dubai, Bur Dubai (Oldtown) Jumeirah and Deira to name but some.

I had heard that one quarter of the world’s construction tower cranes were in Dubai; I had my doubts about this. But to my amazement, in every direction I turned the skyline was spiked with cranes too numerous to count. The entire city is one huge construction site. It just had to be seen to be believed. It is just phenomenal!

They work round the clock too, usually pouring concrete at night, to avoid concrete setting in the mixers during the hot daylight hours. One engineer in Dubai told me they use ice cubes of various size in the mix instead of water to prolong the workable time of the concrete – an ingenious idea.

I went to Dubai not just to have a look and be amazed but also to seek international assignments photographing beautiful architecture. As with any business venture I did my market research and came up with a target audience. I was aiming high and looked for the top tier of architects. I had the right product to sell and once I got passed the bureaucracy of the first few levels of marketers and assistants I got quality assignments.

Now I travel to Dubai for approximately one week per month (except for July and August) and photograph their most iconic buildings. It is dream territory for me, great weather, fabulous buildings and the money is not bad either!

To view Gerry's unique architectural images visit his website http://www.gerryoleary.com/

Visit our Middle East construction jobs page to find the latest construction jobs and engineering jobs in Dubai.

Construction jobs opportunities in the Gulf States

View of Dubai from the Burj Tower – The world's tallest building

On Wednesday, 30 April constructionjobs.ie was in attendance at the Construction Opportunities in the Gulf States seminar, hosted in Dublin by Enterprise Ireland.

The one-day seminar briefed Enterprise Ireland clients on construction product and services opportunities in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.

Speakers at the event included Jim Mongey, Enterprise Ireland Regional Manager Middle East & North Africa; Sheikh Nasser Mohamad H Almutawa Alotaibi, chairman of Samama Group of Companies (5th largest company in Saudi and Gulf Cooperation Council in terms of manpower) and Tom Barry, General Manager of Arabtec Construction (UAE's leading construction firm). There was also a presentation by the Saudi Binladen Group.

The seminar attracted representatives from a number of leading Irish contracting and construction materials firms.

At present the combined Gulf States have an estimated spend of $2 trillion on construction activities, with every new project out-scaling previous ones in ambition. The conference was told this level of activity was set to continue until at least 2030. From a jobs perspective, there is great interest in recruiting experienced construction professionals such as contracts and project managers, all engineers, architects and quantity surveyors to the region. But the list of required professions grows month on month. A quick browse through constructionjobs.ie Middle Eastern job opportunities will give an idea of the scope of construction professional job opportunities that exist.

Speakers at the conference encouraged Irish companies to visit the region to get a feel for the types of projects that are underway.

Constructionjobs.ie advises that construction professionals looking for construction job opportunities in the region should be researching European companies who have developed a presence in the Gulf region. A good place to start this research would be on constructionjobs.ie Middle East construction jobs page. From here you will be able to identify constructionjobs.ie contracting clients and construction jobs.ie recruitment agency clients that are already operating in the Gulf States.

For any contractor or materials supplier that wants to develop opportunities, visiting the market, accessing projects and building local credibility and contacts will be crucial to success as will building relationships and trust with local companies. Enterprise Ireland advises that above all, having a local presence on the ground will be essential to drive forward with potential projects in the future.

From an opportunities perspective the seminar presented a list of key services that could be filled by Irish companies. The list, as you see, is endless. But we have attempted to simplify it.

Key construction jobs opportunities in the Gulf States identified:

• Contracting
• Building supplies
• Consulting
• Project management
• Traded services
• Sustainability and Environment
• Energy conservation
• Water use and reuse - Desalination
• Health and Safety

For construction professionals considering a move to the Gulf region constructionjobs.ie advises one of the key criteria to being successful in applying for positions is to "Assess the scope of your own expertise and identify whether or not this expertise is available in the local market you are targeting." If not, great opportunities and premium salary packages may be on offer for the right job candidate.

Kuwait needs to reform working visa bureaucracy – Construction expert

A leading construction professional has called on the Kuwaiti Government to reform its “outdated” visa bureaucracy for skilled construction labourers and construction professionals and if it wants to benefit from an anticipated construction boom in 2008.

The deputy head of contracts and chief quantity surveyor with Gulf Consult, Azad Hossain, says that an acute scarcity of skill construction labour and competent construction professionals in Kuwait needs to be addressed before Kuwait can benefit from a number of development initiatives that have earmarked for 2008.

His comments come in the wake of a recently published Al-Mutakhassis Real Estate report that indicates that the establishment of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) common market and lower income tax on foreign firms would spark a development boom in the Gulf region.

The GCC is a common market comprising six Gulf Arab states, which was launched on January 1, 2008. The participating states are Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait. The agreement provides citizens of the six states with all the economic rights in each country, including ownership of real estate, stock, capital movement, taxation pensions and social security.

Further to this Kuwait Petroleum Company has released land for the development of 16,000 low-cost homes and a possible US$14bn railway and underground network point to massive development potential in the coming year. But poor access to competent construction professionals and skilled labour could have devastating effects on the success of these initiatives.

Azad Hossain points out: “Kuwait is unlike the United Arab Emirates, as while there is easy access to building materials, labour problems still exist because of visa procedures. The country is also falling behind in contractual procedures and contract practices”. He elaborates that the cumbersome bureaucracy and unfriendly investment laws have proved to be major obstacles facing businesses in the country, particularly in the construction sector. As a result Kuwaiti property developers have been turning to the wider GCC for opportunities.

UAE's new fourth International Airport to create 28,000 new jobs

The development of the new €2.2 billion ($3.2bn) Ajman International Airport, which will begin in 2008, will create 28,000 job opportunities as well as many new development opportunities and construction jobs, according to the airport area's master plan.

The work, being carried out by a Spanish consortium in a Build Operate and Transfer contract, will see the United Arab Emirates' fourth international airport built as part of an international "PlaneStation" concept that will include 30 airports around the world, bringing tourists and business travelers to the booming Middle East. The PlaneStation concept puts the Middle East as a central link in the world's first network of regional airports in a plan to open up new routes, avoid flight delays and at the same time generate new business and jobs.

Being constructed over six million square metres in six stages, Ajman airport will house a passenger terminal comprising arrival and departure lounges, a school for staff training, commercial region, office spaces and housing units.

The master plan for the airport also highlights a link by a new monorail to the seafront town of Al Zoura, which would give rise to a resort area featuring about 30 hotels, water front villas and shopping centres.

Amjin airport will be one of 11 airports to be built in the Middle East in the near future. Other airports either planned or already under construction include two in both Egypt and Iran, and new airports in Morocco, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

United Arab Emirates skilled construction jobs

If contractors are to meet new Green Building standards in the UAE, they will have to recruit greater numbers of skilled construction labour and be allowed longer deliver times for developments, a conference in the United Arab Emirates was told by a leading international formwork expert.

Geir Jensen, general manager of formwork specialists Doka Emirates told the conference that a lack of skilled labour could cause hold ups in meeting new sustainable building goals in the UAE, when regulations which stipulate that all buildings in the emirates must be constructed to international 'green' buildings standards come into force in January.

He stated that sub-contractors and contractors may struggle to meet the regulations as a result of construction skills shortages and tight deadlines set by clients. He said: "The current workforce can't be expected to do jobs fast-track as they're not skilled enough Until we have the skilled labour I feel we won't be able to do sustainable buildings." Jensen also pointed out that developers were setting impractical delivery dates for their projects.