Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Under the current regulations, in terms of pre-2014 buildings and certification around that, the contractor and contractors’ design team were fully responsible for ensuring quality and certifying that the buildings were constructed in accordance with the works requirements and building regulations at the time.

Since then, under current regulation, an independent assigned certifier is appointed. The assigned certifier gathers and relies on ancillary certificates, which must be provided by the contractor. Responsibility for the design and execution of the works in compliance with the building regulations remains with the contractor and the design team for the build contract. What we have now is independent certification and inspection on site, which reflects the concerns that many people have in terms of reliance on contractors and their design teams in their entirety pre-2014. Now, it seems we have seen in some cases the results of this in our schools, although many good schools were also built in that period by many good builders.

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