The Building Regulations set out the legally enforceable minimum standards which a new building must achieve. Primary responsibility for compliance with the requirements of the Building Regulations rests with the designers, builders and owners of buildings. In general, building defects are matters for resolution between the contracting parties, the homeowner, the builder/developer and/or their respective insurers and in the event that the parties cannot reach a settlement by negotiation the option of seeking redress in the Courts is available .
Enforcement of the Building Regulations is primarily the responsibility of the local building control authorities who have strong powers to serve enforcement notices for non-compliance or to institute proceedings for breaches of regulatory requirements within a period of five years from the date the building has been completed.
There are no proposals to introduce a scheme similar to the pyrite remediation scheme to fund remediation works where an owner or a builder/developer has failed to meet their statutory obligations under the Building Control Acts 1990 and 2007.
The pyrite remediation scheme is a very limited scheme applicable to a restricted group of homeowners. It is a scheme of “last resort” where homeowners can demonstrate to the Pyrite Resolution Board that they have no other practicable option to remediate significant damage attributable to pyritic heave. The scheme was introduced having regard to the exceptional nature of the pyrite problem and the circu mstances in which it occurred.
