Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)

I move:

That Dáil Éireann:

notes that the inordinate political influence which major developers and big builders exercised in this State over many decades resulting in a wholly inadequate regime of regulation, supervision and inspection in the construction industry, has left a disastrous legacy of defective buildings and major fire hazards, only recently coming to light;

further notes in particular:

— that the Building Control Act 1990, subsequent building regulations and building control regulations, reliant as they are on self-certification by building contractors, architects and engineers constrained only by legally ambiguous concepts such as 'substantial compliance' with building regulations, are not and have not been fit for purpose; and

— that low inspection rates of buildings subject to commencement notices have been facilitated by successive governments since 1990, and that this has been further

compounded by the discarding of the clerk of works function under a Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats Government;

acknowledges that the above has resulted in:

— prioritisation of the interests of land speculators, developers, the construction industry and building professionals above the interests of families and individuals who purchased homes in good faith believing that the building regulations provided protection against bad builders;

— the run-down of the already inadequate building control inspectorate by failing to recruit competent building inspectors;

— housing developments throughout the State having been built with essentially no check on compliance with building regulations;

— tens of thousands of families and individuals who purchased homes during the period since the introduction of building regulations in 1997 being left with no recourse against contractors and developers who sold houses which are now presenting with major structural damage due to pyrite induced heave, which could have been prevented by mandatory basic testing of quarry fill for heave potential and that such testing is still not mandatory in 2012;

— fire safety being seriously compromised in many housing developments by faulty installation of fire stopping materials at party walls, roofs and in cavity walls;

— the issuance of fire safety certificates prior to commencement of building without further inspection by building control being required during the construction to confirm that fire retarding materials and construction complied with the design drawings and fire safety building regulations;

— permission to build timber frame housing and apartments up to four storeys high being granted without the necessary rigorous independent inspection of construction for fire

safety compliance;

— signatures confirming 'substantial compliance' with fire safety building regulations by contractors, timber frame subcontractors, architects and engineers employed by the developer being accepted as sufficient guarantee of fire safety compliance by the Dublin City Council fire officer in the case of the Belmayne development despite the fact that breaches of fire regulations identified were so serious that fire insurance was withdrawn;

— certificates being signed by architects who may not have visited the site confirming 'substantial compliance' with the building regulations to enable sale of housing units, leading to such disasters as that at the Priory Hall development;

— foul sewer pipe lines having been backfilled without any check on line, level or pressure test or post-construction camera survey of the sewer lines; and

— sound insulation being so inadequate in semi-detached, terraced houses and apartments that people can hear conversations through separating walls;

condemns the proposed Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2012 for:

— failing to provide any proposal for public inspection and remedial work to put right serious estate-wide defects including compromised fire safety caused due to failure of governments since 1990 to implement public building control on all buildings at all key stages of construction;

— providing such an inadequate mandatory certification of compliance with building regulations, including lodgement of design drawings and calculations prior to commencement of construction, that it would not have prevented the pyrite disaster; and

— placing the burden of inspection and certification of compliance and legal responsibility on individual professionals who could not possibly inspect adequately without a continual presence on site of a resident engineer or clerk of works, while placing no responsibility on the developer to fund such a necessary presence on site;

concludes that:

— the chosen inspection option demonstrates that this Government, like its predecessors, favours inadequate private sector checks rather than full inspection and approval of all buildings by local authority building control; and

— the penalties for serious non-compliance, which can lead to fatalities, are proposed to remain at the level of section 17(2) of the Building Control Act 1990, again reflecting the unwillingness of the Government to implement adequate sanction for offences at the behest of the construction industry's powerful lobby; and

resolves that:

— building control shall be a wholly public function, adequately staffed by competent building inspectors, involving inspections of all buildings requiring commencement notices and approval at all key stages of construction and with costs to be incorporated in planning contributions;

— there should be a systematic and thorough inspection regime across the State to detect fire hazards as a result of inadequate regulation or non-compliance with such regulation as exists; and

— Government, having failed to implement building control and thereby allowing sub-standard and defective building practices throughout the State, must accept responsibility for necessary remedial works to make buildings safe and fit for purpose as part of an emergency programme of necessary public works and where possible to subsequently pursue the responsible developers and builders to recoup the cost for the State.

Ba mhaith liom mo chuid ama a roinnt leis na Teachtaí Catherine Murphy, Richard Boyd Barrett, Seamus Healy agus Mick Wallace.

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