Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Construction of new build social housing units on local authority lands follows the Capital Works Management Framework (CWMF) which includes four pre-construction stages, as follows -

• Stage 1 – Capital Appraisal
• Stage 2 – Procurement of Integrated Design Team and development outline design
• Stage 3 – Statutory Approvals including Part 8, DAC and Fire Safety, detailed design/tender documentation preparation
• Stage 4 – Tender and Contract Award

As local authorities develop each stage, they are required to provide an updated cost plan and supporting documentation so that the Department, as the funding authority, can review and confirm funding approval. These reviews are required to ensure projects achieve value for money.

An overall target programme of 59 weeks from submission of a valid Stage 1 Capital Appraisal to the award of the construction contract, was agreed with the CCMA Housing Committee and is set out in Housing Circular 2/2018. This target of 59 weeks is the expected timeline for projects of a straightforward nature. The range of local authority social housing projects includes many that are large and complex and require additional time for detailed design and statutory approvals. The 59-week target programme is broken down as follows:

-	Responsible	Target Weeks
Stage 1 – Capital Appraisal Approval, allowing LA to develop proposal	DHLGH	4
Stage 2 – Procurement of Integrated Design Team, develop outline design	Local Authority	12
Stage 2 – Approval-in-Principle	DHLGH	4
Stage 3 – Statutory Approvals include Part 8, DAC and Fire Safety, detailed design/tender documentation preparation; Public consultation can form part of this phase.	Local Authority	18
Stage 3 – Pre-tender Approval	DHLGH	4
Stage 4 – Undertake Tender	Local Authority	10
Stage 4 – Approval to Proceed (including approved budget)	DHLGH	3
Contract Award	Local Authority	4

Accordingly, the target times for both the Department and the local authorities to prepare design, achieve statutory approvals, develop tender documentation, carry out tendering, award contracts and to assess and confirm funding approval for these stages, is as follows -

Target weeks for LA Pre-construction Processes	44 weeks
Target weeks for DHLGH assessments/ approvals	15 weeks

Local authorities have options that allow them to deviate from using the above 4-stage process to achieve funding approval for social housing construction projects, depending on the size and the chosen procurement strategy for individual projects. For example, with projects below €8m and 25 homes or less, local authorities can avail of a single stage approval which takes approx. 4 weeks with the Department. In such instances, local authorities will still need to develop the design, achieve statutory approvals and run a tender programme.

Local authorities also have the option of combining Stage 2 and Stage 3 when ‘Design and Build’ projects are advanced and there is also an option to simply notify the Department if a Stage 3 proposal has been prepared by the local authority within six months of the Stage 2 approval and when the budget is at or close to the previously approved level, thus removing the requirement for the Department to provide a Stage 3 approval.

There were 69 projects completed in 2022 that used the CWMF 4-Stage Pre-construction Programme which were funded in 2021 and 2022. The times taken for these projects within the overall programme, both by DHLGH and by the local authorities, were as follows:

-	No. of Projects Approved within 15 weeks	Average Approval time by DHLGH
DHLGH Approvals	16	22

-	SHIP 4-stage (including Design & Build) Projects Completed in 2022	Average in Weeks
DHLGH time	Average Department Approvals	22
LA time	Average LA Preconstruction processes	104
DHLGH time	Stage 1 – Capital Appraisal Approval to develop proposal	6
LA time	Stage 2 – Procurement of Integrated Design Team, develop outline design, prepare Part 8 documentation	34
DHLGH time	Stage 2 – Approval-in-Principle	6
LA time	Stage 3 – Statutory Approvals including Part 8, DAC and Fire Safety, detailed design/tender documentation preparation; Public consultation can form part of this phase	41
DHLGH time	Stage 3 – Pre-tender Approval	6
LA time	Stage 4 – Tender	20
DHLGH time	Stage 4 – Approval to Proceed (including approved budget)	4
LA time	Contract Award	8

Local Authority	Total weeks to Contract Award	Total for Dept. Approvals in weeks	Total for LA Preconstruction process in weeks
All	127	21	106
Carlow	24	10	15
Cavan	157	33	124
Clare	103	22	81
Cork City	No CWMF 4-stage Project Delivered in 2022
Cork County	136	21	115
DLR	No CWMF 4-stage Project Delivered in 2022
Donegal	217	22	195
Dublin City	140	16	123
Fingal	88	16	72
Galway City	No CWMF 4-stage Project Delivered in 2022
Galway Co	122	28	95
Kerry	97	18	78
Kildare	No CWMF 4-stage Project Delivered in 2022
Kilkenny	No CWMF 4-stage Project Delivered in 2022
Laois	215	30	185
Leitrim	114	23	91
Limerick	153	33	120
Longford	No CWMF 4-stage Project Delivered in 2022
Louth	No CWMF 4-stage Project Delivered in 2022
Mayo	95	16	79
Meath	190	10	178
Monaghan	95	15	79
Offaly	124	14	111
Roscommon	No CWMF 4-stage Project Delivered in 2022
Sligo	72	21	51
South Dublin	115	22	93
Tipperary	153	32	121
Waterford	113	24	89
Westmeath	181	17	163
Wexford	128	18	110
Wicklow	88	17	71