Verkís Consulting Engineers is the oldest

consulting firm A consulting firm or simply consultancy is a professional service firm that provides expertise and specialised labour for a fee, through the use of consultants. Consulting firms may have one employee or thousands; they may consult in a broad range ...

in Iceland and is one of the largest engineering firms in Iceland with around 300 employees. Verkís is a multidisciplinary consulting firm, providing services in all fields of engineering and related professional disciplines of consulting. Verkís offers

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

, consulting, management, operational and

EPCM Engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contracts (a type of turnkey contract) are a form of contract used to undertake construction works by the private sector on large-scale and complex infrastructure projects. Overview Under an EPC co ...

services. Core disciplines include geothermal and hydroelectric power and Verkís has participated in nearly all geothermal and hydroelectric projects in

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

as well as in several projects abroad. Other core disciplines include geothermal

district heating District heating (also known as heat networks or teleheating) is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location through a system of insulated pipes for residential and commercial heating requirements such as space heating a ...

, power transmission, buildings, transport,

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...

and industry. Ever since the early 1930s, Verkís has participated in the

of most of Iceland's biggest and most prominent construction projects, covering disciplines such as

civil Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a membe ...

and structural design,

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

, electrical HV, MV, and LV engineering,

systems engineering Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design, integrate, and manage complex systems over their enterprise life cycle, life cycles. At its core, systems engineering util ...

, automation and control. Sveinn I. Olafsson is the CEO and Gunnar Ingi Gunnarsson is the chairman of the board. The headquarters are in Reykjavík but in addition there are six branches around

History

Verkís traces its origin back to 1932, making it the oldest consulting company in Iceland, and has a firm background in the energy- and construction industry both in Iceland and abroad. Verkís was formed in 2008 by the merger of five well established Icelandic engineering consulting firms:

VST - Verkfræðistofa Sigurðar Thoroddsen

VST was established in 1932 and has over the years provided a wide range of services. Consultancy services in the building industry, energy and infrastructure has been the main area of activity and VST took part in most hydropower projects in Iceland. In recent years, VST has offered a variety of other services, especially within the aluminium industry, and also in the fields of project management, construction, safety and environmental management.

Rafteikning

Rafteikning was established in 1965 and has been one of the leading electrical consulting service firms in Iceland. The main focus of activity has been on power and control engineering and the firm has participated in the electrical design of several

hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, converting the Pot ...

and

geothermal power plants Geothermal power is electrical power generated from geothermal energy. Technologies in use include dry steam power stations, flash steam power stations and binary cycle power stations. Geothermal electricity generation is currently used in 26 ...

Fjarhitun

Fjarhitun was established in 1962 and has been a leader in designing district heating systems, utilizing the geothermal hot water in Iceland and has also participated in the design of many

. Fjarhitun has provided a wide range of services in other fields of

Fjölhönnun

Fjölhönnun was established in 1970 and has been active in the design of roads, bridges and similar structures and the structural design of buildings. The firm has also participated in many projects, providing supervision and project management.

RT-Rafagnatækni

RT Rafagnatækni was established in 1961 and has specialized in the planning, design and programming of control systems for power plants and other systems in the field of automation, measurements and communication. RT has also been providing services in field of electronics.

Almenna Consulting Engineers (Almenna verkfræðistofan hf.)

On 17 April 2013 Almenna Consulting teamed up with Verkís. Almenna Consulting Engineers Ltd. was founded in 1941 as "Almenna byggingarfélagið", it played an important role in modernising the infrastructure of the country as it took part in developing the country's first large hydroelectric power plants in the 1960s. In 1971, the company was reorganized as Almenna Consulting Engineers Ltd.

Management and Organisation

Verkís is divided into seven divisions, five of which are business segment divisions. In addition to the business segment divisions, there is an office support division and a branch office division. Each business segment division is split into discipline sections. The management team consist of the CEO and seven division managers. The board represents the owners of the company and has five members and two alternate members.

Services

Verkís provides consultancy services in most fields of engineering and related disciplines. The services offered includes:

Project Management Project management is the process of leading the work of a team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project documentation, created at the beginning of the development process. Th ...

and

, Cost Estimation and Planning, Engineering and Design, Project Controls, Feasibility studies, Inspection services,

Procurement Procurement is the method of discovering and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, Service (economics), services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. When a government agenc ...

, and Commissioning. Support functions such as Risk Assessment,

Quality Management Quality management ensures that an organization, product or service consistently functions well. It has four main components: quality planning, quality assurance, quality control and quality improvement. Quality management is focused not only ...

, Health Safety and Environment, and the development of Environmental Impact Assessments are also an integral part of the services.

Project Examples

Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Plant Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Plant ( is, Kárahnjúkavirkjun ), officially called Fljótsdalur Power Station ( is, Fljótsdalsstöð ) is a hydroelectric power plant in Fljótsdalshérað municipality in eastern Iceland, designed to produce annuall ...

Qorlortorsuaq Dam Qorlortorsuaq Dam is a hydroelectric dam near Qorlortorsuaq in the Nanortalik district of the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland. It has a capacity of 7.2 MW and it generates power for the neighbouring towns of Qaqortoq and Narsaq. ...

* Ilulissat Hydro Electric Project *

Hellisheiði Power Station The Hellisheiði Power Station ( is, Hellisheiðarvirkjun, ) is the eighth-largest geothermal power station in the world and largest in Iceland. The facility is located in Hengill, southwest Iceland, from the Nesjavellir Geothermal Power Stat ...

* Harpa Concert Hall * Reykjanesbraut Highway Project * The University of Iceland * Laugardalur Sports Centre * Harpa Reykjavík Concert Hall and Conference Centre * Hvalfjordur Tunnel

Branches

* Akureyri * Akranes *

Borgarnes Borgarnes () is a town located on a peninsula at the shore of Borgarfjörður in Iceland and is the largest town in the Borgarbyggð municipality with a population of about 3800 residents. It is a main junction in Iceland and the gateway to the S ...

* Egilsstaðir *

Húsavík Húsavík () is a town in Norðurþing municipality on the north coast of Iceland on the shores of Skjálfandi bay with 2,307 inhabitants. The most famous landmark of the town is the wooden church Húsavíkurkirkja, built in 1907. Húsavík is s ...

Ísafjörður Ísafjörður (pronounced , meaning ''ice fjord'', literally ''fjord of ices'') is a town in the northwest of Iceland. The oldest part of Ísafjörður with the town centre is located on a spit of sand, or ''eyri'', in Skutulsfjörður, a fjord ...

Patreksfjörður Patreksfjörður (, "Patrick's fjord") is an Icelandic village in the Westfjords with 721 inhabitants (2021 census). The town was named after Bishop of the Isles#List of known bishops of Iona, Patrick bishop in the Hebrides who was the spiritual ...

Selfoss Selfoss may refer to: *Selfoss (town), Iceland *UMF Selfoss, a football club based in Selfoss **Selfoss men's football **Selfoss women's football *Selfoss (waterfall), Iceland *Selfoss Airport Selfoss Airport is an airport serving Selfoss, a to ...

Subsidiaries

* Verkís Norway * S&M Verkís Greenland * Verkís Polska

Affiliated companies

* HRV Engineering, Iceland * GeoThermHydro, Chile * Raförninn, Iceland * Verkfræðistofa Suðurnesja, Iceland

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Verkis Engineering companies of Iceland Consulting firms established in 1932 Engineering consulting firms 1932 establishments in Iceland