Hi All,
I am involved in our local club and we are developing 2 new pitches.
We have planning permission granted but now need to talk to pitch contractors.
Is there any Pitch Consultant firm out there that is able to work on behalf of the club to take it to construction stage.
It is very easy to go to a pitch contractor and say i want 2 x pitches to your standard but how can you compare like for like prices with another pitch contractor who may have a different spec of pitch/drainage design etc.
So is there a pitch consultant who can come - test the ground conditions and recommend such a type of drainage system for the specific site and prepare a set of tender documents for the pitch contractors?
Any help and info is appreciated.
Thank you.

gti (Westmeath) - Posts: 240 - 01/10/2018 14:18:20    2144586

You might not get a like for like price but the result needs to be the same. You want a pitch that is fit for purpose!
I have been involved in pitch developments before. What you need is to approach all contractors and get a quotation and detailed design from them. This should be available at no charge to yourselves. As part of the price make sure you include for a 24 month maintenance programme and a 12 month post opening defects period. You won't know how the pitch stands up until it has 1 year of action on it.
All contractors should submit you with a list of previous similar projects and contact details of the clubs involved. This way you can contact these clubs individually and have a look at their pitches and ask questions about their experience of the contractor and possible pitfalls that you can look out for.
Every pitch and ground condition is different. There is no one system suits all approach for a pitch so make sure that if you are looking at a completed pitch from a contractor and he is proposing the same system for your pitch, that the surrounding ground conditions are the same in both locations. You don't want to over drain decent ground or under drain poor ground.
Best of luck with your development. It's a big undertaking for any club but one that all clubs go through at various stages.

Tir Conaill Abu (Donegal) - Posts: 1671 - 02/10/2018 00:07:46    2144717

The last thing you need is a pitch consultant as most or all of them have little experience of these type of pitches and you do not want a Croke park which is mowed every day with heating and lighting to supplement grass growth. As Tir Conaill has said you get the consultancy done by the different contractors who will quote for you. I do agree that you should tie in the maintenance for 2 years (good contractors will include 12 months maintenance as part of the quote), A good contractor will spec the job by visiting the ground and checking the topsoil and subsoil. Be aware that when you are looking up their history you should check some of the smaller contracts that they have carried out. I am aware of some poor jobs being carried out also and the cheapest is not always going to be the best. I would say that one of the better ones is carrying out such activity for over 40 years. You should do a bit of homework and investigate some fields directly as no contractor is going to take you to a bad job. I wish you the best of luck and with the right contractor little supervision will be required.

browncows (Meath) - Posts: 2342 - 02/10/2018 20:02:24    2144827

my tuppence here,find a few local clubs who had same done recently,ask them who did it and were they happy with what they got.simple as.
our club last pitch development was about 15 years ago.

perfect10 (Wexford) - Posts: 3929 - 04/10/2018 12:45:48    2145109