Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We are using BCAR now but if I have a problem with a property ten years on, I can look at the building owner, the assigned certifier, the design certifier, the auxiliary certifier and sub-certification. Where would I go with that claim, where would I start and how complicated will that claim be in ten years if we have all these different layers of certification and signing off? Would I be dragged through the mill, starting with the owner, who would drag in the assigned certifier, the design certifier, the auxiliary certifier and then the sub-certification of a lift installation, for example?

Mr. Baldwin stated that he had not seen a building control officer on a site, which is worrying. Mr. Hollingsworth stated there is no course or certification in Ireland for building control officers. With local authorities and building control, it is currently subdivided into three sections, with a fire officer looking at fire certification; the disability section looking after its issues; and building control itself. My understanding is that if a building control officer is fully educated and has the relevant skill set, he or she would control all of that. In other words, it would all come under one heading. This would mean that when somebody is dealing with a local authority, he or she would deal with one department and, possibly, one person.

I stated last week that the decision to remove one-off rural housing from the BCAR system and a number of extensions was wrong and it was done because of a concern about added cost of BCAR on one-off rural housing. We need to educate people about the value of building control for their own safety. An exercise must be done in that regard. We need to bring all developments under building control, whether it is an extension or one-off rural house. Every aspect of development should come under building control. As has been pointed out, planning permission is completely separate to building control. What is the view of the delegation on certification of rapid builds or modern technology now being used in building houses? Some of these are not rapid builds but there is modular building off-site where the structure is craned into and installed to a site. Is there any inspection of the manufacturing of those types of buildings or does this depend on supplier certification?