Queenstown construction company expands skills base with registered quantity surveyors

A Queenstown-based building company is making the most of a skills base fostered overseas and within New Zealand with three highly-qualified quantity surveyors (QS) on its staff.

Rilean Construction (South Island) has a successful 17-year history in high-profile Queenstown and boasts the only three registered QS’s in the town.

Director and shareholder Steve McLean became a registered QS in 1986 after starting work as a QS cadet in Wellington in the late 70’s.

UK-born Mick Moffatt has spent 16 years working as a QS in the construction industry in the UK and New Zealand, including ten spent as senior QS and now shareholder at Rilean.

He has experience in the commercial and residential sector and specialises in value engineering on projects that are over budget at design stage. He also has a strong focus on sustainable and environmental practices, and promoting green construction technology into mainstream construction.

And in 2006 they were joined by Tom Berliner, born and raised in Israel, who has worked successfully in three countries and is also a senior QS. Since joining Rilean he has worked on the Kawarau Falls, Novotel Gardens and Millbrook Resort projects, collectively worth over $30 million, and has considerable IT, communication and organisational skills.

For three years to 2010, Tom represented Otago on the board of the NZ Institute of Quantity Surveyors, taking a key role in event organisation, lectures and networking opportunities for NZIQS members.

A QS works alongside a project manager, client or funding bank on major construction projects, managing it from initial inception to final completion and handling estimating and cost control, the tendering process and full management of detailed and complex contracts.

“We’re absolutely unique in the building industry here in the Queenstown region to have such a strong depth of experience and knowledge in managing multi-million dollar large-scale projects,” said co-director Steve McLean.

“In the current challenging economic climate, while we are working on local projects such as the Queenstown Motor Group car dealership at Remarkables Park and a new re-fuelling station at Queenstown Airport, we also have staff working on other major projects throughout the South Island and some high-end residential work.

“Under the leadership of Mick Moffatt we’ve developed the Evolution Series of healthy, affordable and energy-efficient homes, and we’re quietly continuing to develop our skills-base even in the face of a construction downturn.”