Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 March 2014
259. Deputy Luke 'Ming' Flanagan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will confirm that under SI 9 of 2014, Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2014, one can no longer self-build or construct a house by direct labour; if he will confirm that only registered builders can now carry out such construction; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10258/14]
View answer268. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his views on the impact the building control regulations to be introduced on 1 March will have on persons who are planning to build their own homes. [10487/14]
View answer269. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his views on the claim that the building control regulations to be introduced on 1 March will add €50,000 to the cost of building an average house; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10488/14]
View answer285. Deputy Eric Byrne asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding SI 9 of 2014, Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10792/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 259, 268, 269 and 285 together.
I wish to state clearly and unequivocally that self-build and building by direct labour arrangements continue to be possible under the new Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2014, which came into operation on 1 March 2014. The Building Control Act 1990 places a statutory obligation on owners, designers and builders to design and construct buildings in compliance with the requirements of the Building Regulations. These statutory obligations apply to all sectors of the housing and construction market, including the self-build sector. The new 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.
In a self-build situation the legal responsibilities of both the owner and the builder will rest with the self-builder. An owner who intends to self-build will, therefore, prior to commencement, notify the building control authority that they are the builder and also sign and lodge the new form of undertaking by the builder. By signing the notice and the undertaking, the self-builder declares that they will ensure that they construct the dwelling in accordance with the design as certified; that they and any persons employed or engaged to undertake any part of the works will be competent to undertake such works; that they will cooperate with the inspection plan prepared by the Assigned Certifier (a registered construction professional who must be engaged during construction to inspect and certify the building); and that they will take all reasonable steps to ensure they will certify the works, in conjunction with the assigned certifier, on completion. An extensive public consultation process was undertaken in 2012 to inform the development of the new regulations. 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 new regulations will operate and their impact on building owners and industry stakeholders. This document remains available on my Department’s website.
In summary terms, the regulations may result in additional design, inspection, 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.
Owners will now be required to assign a competent registered professional to inspect and certify the works. For buildings where this would not previously have been the case, industry sources suggest this requirement could add between €1,000 to €3,000 per housing unit to the overall building costs although in reality actual cost will be decided by market forces.
