Mr. Pat Nestor:

I thank the Chair and committee members for the invitation to assist their consideration of the recent review of Part B of the building regulations. I am the senior building surveyor and head of building control in Dublin City Council. I am joined by my colleague, Alan Isdell, senior executive building surveyor and chartered surveyor.

Dublin City Council welcomes the introduction of the recently revised Part B of the building regulations and the accompanying revised Technical Guidance Document B - Fire Safety – Volume 1 Buildings other than Dwelling Houses. This follows the successful introduction and application of Technical Guidance Document B Fire Safety - Volume 2 Dwelling Houses, which was issued in 2017. These combined documents now provide clear and up-to-date guidance on the application of Part B of the building regulations across a wide range of building types.

The building control section of Dublin City Council carries out the statutory functions of the building control authority. We manage the submission of commencement notices and seven-day notices, applications for disability access certificates and dispensations or relaxations of the application of the building regulations to construction works. Our colleagues in Dublin Fire Brigade assess and determine applications for fire safety certificates and we work closely together on these matters.

Building control is part of the planning and property development department of Dublin City Council and, together with our colleagues in forward planning, development control and planning enforcement, a coherent and co-ordinated approach to the regulation of the development of the built environment is implemented in Dublin city, as is appropriate for a large urban local authority.

Our building control section includes chartered building surveyors, chartered building control surveyors, registered building surveyors and building inspectors along with an experienced administration team. As well as managing the statutory functions already mentioned, the inspection of active construction sites is a high priority in accordance with Dublin City Council policy.

We receive in the order of 1,200 notices of construction projects commencing within the city council area per annum. Projects are selected for inspection in order of priority. We aim to inspect 100% of new build multi-unit housing developments, as well as a large proportion of new builds and other works to schools, hospitals, nursing homes, places of assembly and other high risk projects.

For 2022 and 2023, the building control section carried out 2,690 inspections of live construction projects; 912 of these were focused on compliance of the construction work with Part B of the building regulations. My colleague beside me here, Alan Isdell, leads the team that focuses on inspecting works for compliance with Part B, including the conditions of the granted fire safety certificate. When selected for inspection, a site is visited by building control officers from the early stage of construction and then on a regular and recurring basis through to completion. This activity is primarily supportive and encouraging of the construction industry’s efforts to comply with the building regulations and it also allows effective enforcement of the regulations where this proves necessary. Where defects are discovered they are usually addressed promptly and it is only a very small number of construction projects which become such a serious concern that formal enforcement action is deemed necessary. At all times, responsibility for compliance lies with the building owners, the builders and designers.

Dublin City Council building control section made a detailed submission during the public consultation of the draft volume 1 of technical guidance document B on fire safety. This submission was informed by our experience through inspections carried out on site and we are pleased to see our submission informed the final published document. Section 7, on existing buildings, which supports the adaptive re-use of existing building stock, is particularly welcome.

Compliance with the requirements of Part B may be demonstrated by following the guidance in technical guidance document B or by using an alternative approach. A supplementary information note was also issued at the time when the new guidance document B volume 1 was published.

This supplementary information note provides guidance on alternative approaches for demonstrating compliance, allowing some flexibility in dealing with newer materials and innovative approaches that may arise in the rapidly advancing areas of new building technologies and modern methods of construction. However, it is quite challenging to demonstrate that the building regulations are complied with using alternative approaches.

The new technical guidance document B is much expanded, being in the order of twice the size of the current document, and provides guidance for a great range of non-complex building uses and provides a reference in the Irish context and greater clarity where different guidance was used previously.

In 2014, the building control amendment regulations introduced mandatory certification of a building's design, appointment of competent professional persons to act as assigned certifiers, appointment of competent builders, mandatory inspection during construction by competent professional persons and mandatory certification of the completed buildings or works.

The system is colloquially known as BCAR, building control amendment regulations, and is intended to ensure compliance with the requirements of the building regulations. The BCAR system emphasises record-keeping and accountability, leading to improved compliance and quality on site.

In the intervening ten-year period, there have been numerous revised technical guidance documents published, including Part L on conservation of fuel and energy, Part F on ventilation, Part M on access and use, and volume 2 of Part B on fire safety of dwelling houses. These new or improved requirements of the building regulations have been integrated into current building design and construction. Continued public oversight and vigilance is necessary and we recommend continued support for on-site inspections by building control authorities and continuing research and investment in new building technologies to ensure clear guidance in the use of innovative construction methods is developed.

I thank the Chair and committee members for their time and consideration on these issues.