The company S. M. Jakobsen Consulting Engineer was established in August 1969 by its founder Sofus Martin Jakobsen. Sofus traveled from his childhood home in Klaksvík to the Polytechnic Institute at Nørrebro in Copenhagen to study engineering. After graduating, he worked at the firm Birch & Krogboe and then at Johannes Jørgensen.

After gaining experience, Sofus moved home to the Faroe Islands with his wife, Agnas Jakobsen, and sons. When he had established himself with his family in his home country, he founded the company: S. M. Jakobsen Consulting Engineer. The company’s purpose is unchanged from what Sofus had originally intended when he returned home to start a company that could offer consulting expertise adapted to the Faroese evironment. At the same time, he was among the pioneers in the Faroe Islands who engaged in consulting expertise.

To begin with, it was pipe systems, water supplies and environmental initiatives in particular that were on the agenda. The consultancy for the first few years mainly concerned the work areas of Plumbing and Ventilation, but as the projects became more numerous and the need for advice encompassed several other areas, several other work areas were added.

S. M. Jakobsen’s first task was the sports hall at Hálsi in Tórshavn. In addition to the sports hall, Sofus had many tasks throughout the 70s. Among the many projects can be mentioned the school at Sandoy, Tjaldursapotek and the radio house in Thorshavn. One of the major tasks at the company was to provide advice for the new water supply plant in Villingadal, which was to begin in 1984.

In 1982, the joint-stock company: A/S S. M. Jakobsen Rådgivende ingenierer was established, and this name was used for the next 32 years. The company is a family business, and in 1987 became
Árni Jakobsen, son of Sofus Jakobsen, employed in the company.

Increasing activity in the Faroe Islands in these years meant that when there were the most people in the office in 1989, there were 13 people, both engineers and technical assistants. The financial crisis in the early 90s also reduced the company’s activity drastically, and only a few people were left to work in the office. After the difficult years of the financial crisis, the company again had much to do. Bjarni Jakobsen, son of Sofus Jakobsen, started in the 90s and worked for several years in the family business. The company was given several tasks, including the expansion of the hospital in Thorshavn, the rebuilding of the insurance company and the construction of the Faroese television’s new headquarters, Sjónvarp Føroya. In addition to these projects, in 2002-2004, SMJ began designing the new headquarters for the telephone company Føroya Tele, and Árni Jakobsen was the project manager. In 2003, Árni Jakobsen took over the job as director of the company after Sofus Jakobsen. Later that year, Sofus Jakobsen died just before Christmas.

The company developed gradually, and in 2007 the company moved into larger premises at J.H. Schrødersgøta. In 2013, SMJ bought the company KJ-Elráð. This meant that, in addition to offering advice in the areas of plumbing and ventilation, SMJ now also became competitive in electrical advice. In the same year, fire consultancy was also implemented as offered expertise, from which the employees of SMJ could now further their education, in addition to the RM group becoming part of SMJ in the same year.

SMJ’s goal has always been to offer customers a quality-assured service while at the same time making an effort to add new knowledge to the already acquired expertise. The company has gradually expanded its consultancy horizons, so we can constantly offer consultancy in even more areas.

In recent years, SMJ has put a lot of effort into developing its knowledge within consultancy for the aquaculture industry. The diverse expertise among the employees at SMJ has helped to allow the company to provide advice on the interaction between biological and technological expertise.

In 2014, Pætur Jakobsen, son of Árni, was employed in the company, and he has been at the forefront of SMJ’s extensive experience in advising this industry. SMJ has participated in many large projects over the past years with fish farming companies, including tasks for the smolt plants at Strond, Norðtoftir and Viðareiði by Bakkafrost, and the expansion of the large production factory in Runavik. Around this period, the name A/S Sofus M. Jakobsen Rådgivende ingenierer was changed to SMJ Rådgivende ingenierer.

In 2018, Johan J. Joensen became part of SMJ, and he has had a central role in building a solid collaboration between SMJ and various partners in the fish farming industry.

In addition to the large projects within fish farming, SMJ has played an active role over the past few years, and the tasks have been diverse. Among the countless projects, mention should be made of the new hospital in Tórshavn, the district heating in the capital, the developments made by the electricity supply company SEV, and then the many public schools that have been built, the Glasir high school, in addition to the schools in Klaksvík, Tórshavn and Fuglafjørður. SMJ has had a significant role in all the above projects.

SMJ leads the way with the latest planning tools, including BIM (Building Information Modelling) solutions, where the projects are carried out virtually within the construction process. This allows the client and the advisers to make the right decisions as early in the process as possible and reduce the risk of unnecessary costs.

ICT, BIM, VDC, 4D, 5D etc. are abbreviations included in the digital part of the construction industry. To master the development in the digital construction industry, it is necessary to assess which system should be used in relation to the customers’ purposes. We have employees with these skills who work with the various systems on a daily basis and ensure that the projects are built on the basis of an updated basis in relation to the rapid digital development.

Because of the many tasks for which SMJ has provided advice in the Faroe Islands, this has led to foreign interest. In addition to the fact that SMJ currently provides advice within its respective work areas in the Faroe Islands, the company has also worked with projects in the neighbouring countries of Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Greenland. The company has two branches in the Faroe Islands, one in Tórshavn and one in Klaksvík, in addition to one in Copenhagen.

After having been day-to-day manager for a long number of years, and at the same time to take the next step in the generational change, it was decided in 2022 that Pætur Jakobsen and Johan J. Joensen became the new day-to-day managers of SMJ, all while Árni Jakobsen became the new chairman of the board .