Mr. Alan Baldwin:

That is okay.

I thank the committee for the opportunity to speak on the proposed CIRI Bill. I am a chartered building surveyor and chairperson of the professional group on building surveying in the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland, SCSI. I am also the managing director of a private building consultancy practice that offers building surveying and design and project management services. I am joined by Mr. Alan Isdell, a chartered building surveyor, and past chair of the SCSI building surveying professional group. He is also a director of OLM Consultancy services. Mr. Isdell was involved in the stakeholders group in the development and implementation of the building control amendment regulations and has spoken on the subject in a number of forums.

The SCSI has been and continues to be very active in the publication of authoritative data for policy makers and Government officials.

For example, given the current housing and homelessness crises, the SCSI has published numerous reports on the property market and construction costs for housing in order that this issue can be measured and addressed in a targeted and systematic way. The society is also finalising its 2017 apartment delivery cost report, following on from its 2016 real cost of new house delivery report. The SCSI continues to raise awareness of building defect concerns in our built environment, particularly those within our multi-unit developments, as outlined in our recent submission to the Department and presented to this committee earlier this year.

During that committee meeting, we provided our views on the Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2014, BCAR, which we affirmed is a substantial improvement on the previous self-compliance regime. The SCSI believes greater consumer protection can be best achieved through ongoing review and improvement of the current regulations, such as improvements in the provision of latent defects insurance measures in residential developments. The certification process under BCAR is making significant grounds and with greater support of industry standards, further gains can be made. Accordingly, we welcome an increase in construction industry standards and we fully support the introduction of the Construction Industry Register Ireland, CIRI, on a mandatory basis for all those working in the construction sector impacted by the building regulations.

With the advancements made in building materials and new building products, we feel that industry practices and installation training were and still are, slow to keep pace with the new ways of installing innovative products and materials. This can be assisted by mandatory training and continuing professional development across the industry.

The purpose of CIRI is to provide a transparent regulatory environment to improve quality in our building stock and to ensure high-quality construction practices and products for the future in the public interest. The construction industry has suffered reputational damage prior to the introduction of BCAR. CIRI aims to address this by raising standards and practices to ensure we avoid mistakes of the past. Commitment to mandatory registration demonstrates a desire to stamp out non-compliant construction activities while exposing and eliminating non-competent builders from the industry.

As an industry, the construction industry must meet the demands of more rigorous building regulations, more complex and competitive procurement processes, the use of innovative and diverse technologies in design and construction processes, as well as increasingly demanding building contracts. Regular education, training and upskilling for all those in the construction sector are vital to ensure high standards are applied and maintained. This is particularly important in high-risk areas such as fire safety. With new products and building methods coming on stream annually, our current workforce must upskill regularly to maintain skills appropriate to new product installation requirements. We welcome the requirement for CIRI registrants to plan, record and verify the continuing professional development, CPD, activities of its personnel, with the principal focus on management and supervisory staff whose input is essential to achieving legislative and regulatory compliance. We believe that through CIRI, other policy directions can be supported such as professional indemnity insurance.

The establishment of a mandatory register should be regarded as a positive step forward in the Irish construction industry. It has been regarded as an integral component of encouraging public confidence in the construction industry and protecting consumers. A consumer who engages a builder from the register should have the assurance that the latter possesses a minimum level of commitment to best practice, competency and qualifications.

The SCSI wish to take this opportunity to reiterate our support and overriding requirements that it provides a fit-for-purpose process by providing flexible access to competent entities without sacrificing standards in the interest of consumer protection. From a consumer protection point of view, with the improvements made with the introduction of BCAR and the proposed implementation of CIRI, the SCSI is concerned that the level of latent defects insurance currently available falls short of what is required. While there have been improvements in recently introduced products, we believe this area requires significant improvement.

As the registration body for building surveyors and quantity surveyors under the Building Control Act, the SCSI would welcome the introduction of the CIRI scheme to ensure a competent workforce throughout the construction process, which will benefit the other professions involved and consumers.