Charles Ward (Donegal, 100% Redress Party)
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83. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the tendering and procurement process currently in place for the appointment of building professionals to carry out building condition assessments under the enhanced defective concrete blocks grant scheme; the way in which tenders are invited, evaluated and awarded; the criteria used in assessing submissions; to provide a list of the successful tenderers appointed to carry out such assessments in County Donegal; the number of assessments allocated to each appointed tenderer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2557/26]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Under the terms of the scheme, where it is suspected that a dwelling has been damaged due to the use of defective concrete blocks in its construction, a homeowner should engage a competent building professional to carry out of a Building Condition Assessment report on their home as prescribed in Schedule 1 of the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Regulations 2023 (S.I. 347 of 2023).

The purpose of this report is to identify if the dwelling is exhibiting damage consistent with the use of defective concrete blocks containing excessive amounts of deleterious material and to quantify the extent and significance of such damage.

If the report concludes that the damage to the home is consistent with defective concrete blocks and the building professional considers that the damage to the home is likely to meet the damage threshold, the homeowner may then be eligible to submit an application.

This must be submitted, with the full application, to the relevant local authority, who in turn sends it to the Housing Agency for assessment. The Housing Agency acts as agent on behalf of the local authorities under the Scheme. The Housing Agency will assess the Building Condition Assessment report to determine if the dwelling has met the damage threshold.

The Housing Agency works with Chartered Engineers from an approved framework to help assess applications under the scheme. More information in relation to that framework can be sought from the Housing Agency via publicreps@housingagency.ie.