Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 222: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if, in view of widely available civil engineering publications from 1987 (details supplied) all of which warned about the necessity to determine the heave potential of rock containing pyrites, he will explain the method by which the building regulations for structures were and are produced; and the reason testing of engineering fill was not required to screen for heave-inducing pyrite, which could have prevented the devastating structural damage now being experienced by at least 50,000 householders. [21533/11]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The legal requirements for the design and construction of new buildings are set out in twelve parts (classified as Parts A to M) of the Second Schedule to the Building Regulations. Technical Guidance Documents (TGDs) are published to accompany each part in order to demonstrate how compliance with the legal requirements can be achieved in practice. The onus is on the owner and the builder to ensure that all works undertaken are fully compliant with the relevant parts of the Building Regulations.

The key legal requirements relevant to the prevention of the use pyritic material in housing developments are set out in Parts D (Materials and Workmanship) and C (Site Preparation and Resistance to Moisture) of the Second Schedule to the Building Regulations.

Requirement D1 specifies that "All works to which these Regulations apply shall be carried out with proper materials and in a workmanlike manner". Requirement D3 defines "Proper Materials" as "materials which are fit for the use for which they are intended and for the conditions in which they are to be used". It is worth noting that the legal requirements outlined in Part D were applied in the judgement of the High Court delivered on 25 May 2011 in the case of James Elliot Construction Limited –v- Irish Asphalt Limited which found Irish Asphalt Limited liable on all counts for the supply of defective pyritic material. This demonstrates that the legal requirements outlined in Part D are relevant and enforceable where the use of defective pyritic materials in buildings is found to have occurred.

As mentioned in response to previous questions, most recently Question No. 91 of 19 May 2011, the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI), following an intervention from my Department, published a new amended Standard Recommendation on the use of aggregates as infill for civil engineering and road construction work. The new Standard Recommendation came into effect on 7 December 2007 and it addresses the quality standards of new homes and buildings insofar as problems relating to pyrite are concerned. TGD C (Site Preparation and Resistance to Moisture) was amended to incorporate the revised NSAI Standard Recommendation.

The Building Regulations are kept under ongoing review by my Department in conjunction with the Building Regulations Advisory Body. All proposals for new or amended requirements undergo a rigorous technical analysis and are subject to a comprehensive public consultation process, which includes the completion of a full Regulatory Impact Assessment, before they are signed into law.