Ms Sarah Neary:

An important point to note is that inspections carried out by building control authorities are probably more effective than they were prior to introduction of SI 9. When a building control officer finds issues on a site, he or she goes to a single point of contract, which is the assigned certifier. It is that person's responsibility to address the issue. The anecdotal evidence is that the issues are being addressed quickly . At the other end of the scale, when it comes down to the completion works, if there are loose ends or issues that have not been addressed through the process, that will delay the completion certificate being put up on the register, which can affect conveyancing and it would also be an offence to use or occupy the building. There is a very different regime in place now for building control authorities.

A question was asked about the inspection module. That module is an IT development in the building control management system, BCMS. When people lodge commencement notices, they will be asked for key information about the construction, the height of the building or key elements of the construction that would inform risk. A risk assessment will be carried out and then it will be a matter of whether it is a building that is flagged for inspection or the time such inspection should take place, for example, if there is a point at which the fire-stopping system or compartmentation should be examined. That is the level of sophistication towards which we are trying to move in terms of informing and supporting local authorities.