Board, Council and Committees

The Federation's Board comprises the President, Vice-President, Immediate Past President, Treasurer and the Managing Director.  The Board are the statutory directors of the Federation.  With the exception of the Managing Director, the Board are nominated and appointed from within the CEF Council and serve on a voluntary basis.  The offices are re-nominated annually at the AGM with Vice-President, President and Past-President serving 2 years in each position.   

 

 

CEF President - Gareth Loye, June 2026

Gareth Loye was appointed to the Board of Mascott Construction (Europe) as Chief Executive in 2015.

He was educated at the University of Ulster, graduating with a BSc Honours in Construction, Engineering and Management.

 Gareth is currently Chair of the CEF General Contractors Committee and was elected Vice-President in June 2024. 

 

 

 

CEF Vice President - Janet Deane, June 2026

Janet Deane is an accountant and director at Deane Public Works, a long-standing family-run civil engineering and construction company in Fermanagh.

She has worked with the business for over 25 years as part of the leadership team.

 

 

CEF Past President, Bryan Vaughan, 2024-2026

Bryan is Managing Director of Vaughan Homes, a family firm building private homes in NI for the past 35 years. He has 33 years experience in the house building industry.  

A Chartered Member of the CIOB since 2000, Bryan serves on the NHBC Regional Committee and is a former Board member of the Construction Industry Training Board.

Bryan is a past Chair of the CEF Private Housing Committee and has served on that Committee since October 2001. He was appointed to the CEF Council in April 2012 and previously served as Honorary Treasurer.

 

 

CEF Honorary Treasurer, Mark Kelly, June 2022

Mark Kelly is Finance Director of Kelly Brothers Ltd.  Mark is Chair of the CEF Social Housing Committee and was first elected Honorary Treasurer in June 2022. 

 

 

CEF Council Director - Peter Maguire, June 2026

Peter Maguire is Contracts Manager at Tracey Brothers Limited, where he plays a senior leadership role in delivering major construction projects

 

 

 

 

 CEF Council Director - Ian Lowry, June 2025

Ian is a director of Lowry Building & Civil Engineering founded in Castlederg, County Tyrone. Since then company has grown steadily to become one of the leading medium sized contractors in Northern Ireland.

 

 

CEF Chief Executive - Mark Spence, 2020

Mark joined the CEF in 2019 as Assistant Director having served 8 years’ as a director for one of Northern Ireland’s major contractors. His involvement with UK and Irish construction goes back more than 20 years to his role advising both clients and bidders on major PPP capital procurements for education, health and infrastructure.  Mark is a Senior Advisor to the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) and sits on the Procurement Board of the NI Executive. He is responsible for the running the CEF and delivery of services to members while leading engagement with the NI Assembly, Executive and procuring authorities as well as partnering with other professional bodies to represent the views of Federation members.

The Federation Council is the policy making body of the Federation. Members of Council are elected through direct nominations from the Federation's four specialist sector committees. The Federation Council determines the future strategy for the Federation and the operational details are then carried out through the sector committees.

The Council also nominates representatives to other outside bodies associated with the construction industry including the Joint Council for the Building and Civil Engineering Industry (NI).

Current Membership

The General Contractors Committee represents the interests of Federation members involved in general and commercial contracting in the private sector and in the delivery of public infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, and office accommodation.

This Committee liaises regularly with major government clients including the Department of Education, Department of Health, Construction Procurement Delivery (CPD) and the Department of Finance. These Liaison meetings involve discussion on procurement methods and workload programmes.

Current Committee Membership

The Housing Committee brings together members active in both private and social housing to provide a unified voice on planning, infrastructure funding and housing delivery The Committee liaises regularly with government agencies and statutory undertakers and other bodies that directly affect the provision of private houses, including the local councils, Department for Infrastructure, NI Environment Agency, NI Water, NIE Networks, NHBC, the Law Society and many others.

Current Committee Membership

The Civil Engineering Committee represents the interests of Federation members involved in civil engineering works. The Committee liaises regularly with Department for Infrastructure, Translink, NI Water, Rivers Agency, Construction Procurement Delivery (CPD) and the Strategic Investment Board.

Current Committee Membership

The Asset Management Committee represents members involved in facilities management, minor works, refurbishment and response maintenance contracts, supporting activity across local government, social housing, education, blue light services, health estates and other public sector organisations etc.

Current Committee Membership

The Health & Safety Committee represents the interests of Federation members in the industry wide area of health and safety.

The Committee liaises regularly with the Health & Safety Executive Northern Ireland (HSENI) and issues guidance and resources to assist members with keeping their workforce safe.

Current Committee Membership

The CEF People & Skills Task Force was set up in 2021 to pool resources on vital industry challenges including modern slavery, diversity, recruitment, mental health and a host of other topics.

The CEF ConstructZero Task Force was set up in 2021 to focus on the vital emerging agenda of carbon reduction and to assist members in achieving net zero by 2050 in line with CLC's Constructzero plan. 

The CEF Risk & Procurement Task Force was set up in 2021 to provide vital industry feedback on a host of procurement changes arising through Procurement Board and in general across the sector