Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 February 2014
522. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will outline the new rules regarding certification required for persons building new houses; when these will be operative; his views on whether this will add to the cost of the construction of houses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8218/14]
View answerThe new Building Control Amendment Regulations will greatly strengthen the arrangements currently in place for the control of building activity by requiring greater accountability in relation to compliance with Building Regulations in the form of statutory certification of design and construction, lodgement of compliance documentation, mandatory inspections during construction and validation and registration of certificates. The statutory certificates must be given by the lead designer, who must be a registered construction professional prior to commencement and by the Assigned Certifier, also a registered construction professional, whose role is to prepare and implement an inspection plan during construction, so that the Assigned Certifier is in a position, in conjunction with the builder, to sign the certificate of compliance on completion.
An extensive public consultation process was undertaken in 2012 to inform the development of the revised building control regulations which will come into effect on 1 March 2014. Comprehensive consultation documents were published including Strengthening the Building Control System - A Document to inform public consultation on Draft Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2012 which sets out the context in which the reforms will operate and the regulatory impact of these for building owners and industry stakeholders. This document remains available on my Department’s website.
In summary terms, the arrangements being put in place for the control of building activity may result in additional design, certification and, possibly, insurance costs which must ultimately be borne by the building owner. Such additional costs would be justified by the enhanced quality and standard of design and construction of the building project concerned in light of several notable instances of non-compliant buildings which failed to meet minimum building standards. It is anticipated that the statutory inspection process will reduce the incidences of defective works on site and the resultant associated costs of carrying out remedial works will reduce accordingly.
