Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 January 2014
509. Deputy Olivia Mitchell asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will consider amending S.I. No. 80/2013 - Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2013 to include architectural technologist in the schedule of those eligible to certify under this legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1247/14]
View answerNew Building Control (Amendment) Regulations will from 1 March 2014 strengthen the arrangements in place for the control of building activity, by requiring greater accountability in relation to compliance with Building Regulations in the form of statutory certificates of design and construction, lodgement of compliance documentation, mandatory inspection during construction and validation and registration of statutory certificates.
The statutory certificates of compliance must be signed by a registered professional i.e. a person who is included on the statutory registers of architects or building surveyors maintained in accordance with parts 3 and 5 respectively of the Building Control Act 2007 or on the register of chartered engineers established under the Institution of Civil Engineers of Ireland (Charter Amendment) Act 1969. Architects, Building Surveyors and Chartered Engineers are the construction professions typically involved in the design of construction works in Ireland and reference to these professions in regulation is entirely appropriate.
Depending on their personal circumstances it may be open to persons who are members of the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists (CIAT), and who possess the requisite experience and competence in the design of buildings, to seek inclusion on either of the statutory registers referred to which would enable a person to sign statutory certificates of compliance as provided for under the new regulations when they come into effect on and from 1 March 2014. There is no question of persons who are not included on the statutory registers being permitted to sign certificates of compliance.
In May 2013 CIAT presented a case for recognition of Chartered Architectural Technologists as a route to inclusion on the register of persons entitled to use the title of Building Surveyor in accordance with Part 5 of the Building Control Act 2007, based on benchmarking the competence of Chartered Architectural Technologists against existing routes to registration as a Building Surveyor. In June 2013 CIAT presented a similar case in respect of inclusion on the register of persons entitled to use the title of Architect in accordance with Part 3 of the Building Control Act 2007. The SCSI and the RIAI, as the registration bodies for the relevant professions under the Act of 2007, and as the competent authorities in Ireland for the purposes of the EU Directive on the recognition of Professional Qualifications, are currently considering the cases put forward by CIAT. Neither I nor my Department has any role in the assessment or validation of professional qualifications in this manner and cannot pre-empt the outcome in either case. However, should the SCSI or the RIAI as appropriate determine that the competence of the Chartered Architectural Technologists is equivalent to the requirements for inclusion on either register, it would fall to me as Minister to bring forward relevant suitable amendments to the Building Control Act 2007.
