BCR Blog | Building Control System - a change required

Date added: 12-12-2013

Phil Hogan, Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government decided to strengthen the Building Control System in Ireland in 2012 following the crisis at Priory Hall apartments in North Dublin where the residents were forced to leave the apartment complex due to the unsafe nature of the building.

The lack of Building Regulation Compliance of this project and others highlighted a general problem of an inadequate Building Control system and Building Regulation Compliance system in the Republic of Ireland, prompting the Minister to review the existing Building Control Regulations.

The Minister’s Department set up a public consultation in 2012 which received over 500 submissions and a comprehensive consultation process commenced involving all the stakeholders including the professional bodies and industry stakeholders.
The consultation process resulted in the introduction of the “Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2013” which introduces a new mechanism of compliance, certification and inspection coming into effect on 1st of March 2014.
The Minister also introduced the “Draft Code of Practice for Inspection and Certification” under article 20 of the Building Control Regulations and the purpose of this code is to provide guidance with regard to inspecting and certifying building works for compliance with the requirements of the Building Regulations.

It is intended by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government that this new legislation will be an important element in the pursuit of an improved culture of building control.

There are various aspects which will have a direct impact on professionals, such as engineers, architects and relevant members of the professional design team, together with owners, builders and building control authorities.