Irelands Building Control System needs Reforms - Essay Example

Ireland’s Building Control System needs Reforms Irelands building control system failed and needed reform. However, the new building control regulations place significant burdens on architects and designers Irish construction industry has been facing some critical issues over the last few decades ranging from overbuilt housing to the use of defective material and certification problems. The rise of these issues called the government to formulate and implement new legislation and regulations for the building control system. While responding to the requirements of the changing situation the Irish government has formulated new building control regulations that basically aim to put more responsibilities on the architecture and builder with the aim of improving the overall quality of the building in the country. There are contrary views regarding the effectiveness of the new reforms and building control regulations but overall these reforms have been viewed as a positive step towards the betterment and improvement of the building control system in Ireland. Building Control Regulation – Overview Ireland building control system has gone through a long phase of legislations and amendments to reach it current state. The legal framework for the Irish construction industry has been set out by European as well as Irish competition law. The primary legislation for the building control was first introduced in 1991. The regulations formed in 1991 that came into force in June 1992 for the first time. These regulations were superseded by the 1997 Regulations that were enforced in 1997. These regulations were basically applicable to the new buildings, all extensions made to the existing buildings, alteration in the use of material and any change in the building usage. These regulations give inspection authority to the Building Control Authorities under different sections of the act. Fire safety certificate was also made a necessary requirement for most of the buildings under this law. These regulations were basically aimed to assure the safety of the people in the building while maintaining the safety standards related with material selection, designing and building usage. The regulations formulated in 1991 and superseded in 1997 were basically focused on the provision of the health safety and welfare of the common people in and around the buildings. These regulations were application to almost all types of the constructions made within Ireland. They ask the builders to assure the safety of the people and to provide the people with disabilities and special needs with special arrangements that can allow such people to have an easy, independent and safe access to the buildings (Part M). However, it is also reported that despite these regulatory requirements, there are many buildings in Ireland where the children with disabilities face difficulty in their movements; especially at some schools buildings (OSullivan and MacPhail, 2010, p. 96). In 2007, there was a major development occurred in Ireland building construction landscape with the implementation of the Building Control Act 2007. It was passed by both houses of Oireachtas and signed by the Present. The act provides basic building regulatory framework by defining the building standards, workmanship, energy conservation arrangement and the provision of the facilities for the disable people to have an easy and independent access and movement inside and around building. It also insists upon Fire Safety Certification and commencement notices and authorizes the building control authorities to inspect the building and enforce the regulations. Failure of Building Control System Despite the fact that the building control legislations enacted in 1991, 1997 and later in 2007, all call the builder to follow several safety rules related with material usage, designing and building purpose but the situation got worst in Ireland along with time and there were many complains files against the buildings due to the use of defective material, improper arrangements for the disable people and lack of adequate fire safety measures. The buildings of many schools and other education institutes also fail to provide facilities to the students that are necessary for certain sporting activities and thus, these buildings fail to comply with their purposes. The wave of criticism got strong with each passing day and there were some high profile cases also registered in Ireland that indicate the existence of severe problems within building control system and call for some robust reforms to restructure the system in order to make it more effective and strict towards maintaining quality and safety standards in the buildings. The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government proposed the new reforms to the building control system and asserted that the new reforms will bring an improved and refined building culture in Ireland and after these reforms people will find themselves safer and facilitated in the buildings. New Reforms and Regulations – New Hopes In 2013, the Building Control (Amendment Regulations 2013 were passed. These are also called the ‘Regulations’ and have to be read in conjunction with the legislations that are already in practice. The new legislations and reforms will be pit in practice from the 1st of March, 2014. It is expected that the implementation of these reforms would bring significant and transformational changes into the building control landscape of Ireland. According to the main features of the new amendment, the builder and constructors are subjected to new commencement requirement and three compliance certificates. The amendment also designed new role for the assigned certifiers and also set out new penalties structure for the builders. The new reforms claim to have direct and very strong impact upon the functionality and working patterns of the professional associated with the building construction industry like engineers, architects, designers, building owners, builders and the authorities control the building construction and related matters. There are different types of views regarding the effectiveness of the new regulations. Some people foresee several benefits and improvement in the existing situation as a result of the new regulation however there is another school of thought that is opposing the implementation of these regulations. There has been a campaign also launched against the new regulations that is mainly lead by past presidents of the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland (RIAI). The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) is an important stakeholder in this regard. It was established back in 1839 as the sole and authorizes representation of the architects in Ireland. Under 2007 Act, it was directed RIAI act as the registration body for the architects while acting the main competent body for professional architect qualification assessment and recognition. After this act, no person in Ireland was allowed by law to use architect along with his name until and unless he is registered with RIAI (Chappell and Wills, 2013). After the implementation of the new reforms, RIAI’s former people presented their views that the reforms put some unnecessary pressure upon the architects due to which it could not be expected that the reforms will improve the situation rather they could make the things more complicated and positive changes could not be expected from these due to increased and undue pressure upon the architects and designers that could negatively impact their efficiency and productivity. While defending this criticism, the government representative and other authorities and related professional have highlighted the significance of the new forms and have demonstrated that now it has become impossible for the builders to deliver the buildings to the people or owner until and unless the building comply with all the requirements that are mentioned in the law because without getting certain certificate no building is allowed to start its operations or usage. Eventually, it puts pressure upon the architect and builder to make effective designs and use material that can easily meet the standards of the authorities and they can get certificates for their buildings. Minister Phil Hogan tells that the new reforms are not meant to undue pressurize or burdened the architects and designers but it is actually intended to put some responsibilities on their shoulders so that they can perform their duties with more sense of responsibility and eventually the overall quality of their work could be improved (Hogan, 2013) The new reforms put some significant burden on the architects and designers by introducing the concept of Assigned Certifier. The assigned certifier is the term refers to the person who is supposed to remain linked with all the activities that take place during the construction and completion of the building from the beginning till its end. They are supposed to get the approval of the design and then they have to monitor the construction process to make sure that the approved designs are put in practice and care has been taken that the design will comply with the regulatory requirements. They are also authorize to coordinate with the site inspectors and have to check the construction material and method that it meets the desired quality standards. The assigned certifier also performs the task of collecting all the required certification to facilitate the process of building construction. At the end they have to provide the complete set of certificates and other related documents to the building owner with the confidence that the building now complies with all the standards and regulations and could be regarded as complaint. The role of the assigned certifier has been viewed very positively by the construction industry experts and it is expected that the efficient performance of the assigned certifier will make it far easier for the building owners to get their building complaint. The assigned certifier responsibilities could be performed by RIAI registered architects, SCSI registered building surveyors and Chartered engineers registered at Institution of Civil Engineers of Ireland (Charter Amendment) Act 1969 (Hollingsworth, 2014). Another important feature of the new reform and legislation is the third party certification that the building control issues to assure that the building is fire compliance. This certification assures that the building has been installed with the effective and efficient working mechanism for the fire safety and proper equipment and process is used for assuring fire safety. The third party approvals is something that is first time introduced in Ireland through these new reforms however, there are still some doubts that the related parties will be convinced easily to acquire the third party approvals. This task, however, will become bit easier after the appointment of the assigned certifier who will be supposed to coordinate with all the involve parties and arrange for the third party approvals as well. The new reforms call for providing fire safety training and for up-skilling the professionals associated with the constructions of the building in Ireland so that they can work efficiently to assure the fire safety in the buildings. It is important that the people involved in the construction of the building and installation of the fire safety system must be well aware of the international fire safety standards and must have complete command and practice over the installation and use of the advanced fire safety equipment. For this, it is necessary that the government make some arrangements for providing training to the professionals so that they can learn the international fire safety rules and ultimately bring the Irish buildings to the international standards of safety and fire protection (Hollingsworth, 2014). Conclusion The entire discussion could be sum up with the conclusion that the Ireland building control system has been regulated through different legislation and amendments induced from time to time however, these regulations were not in practice in their true spirit therefore, the buildings in Ireland were often found uncompliant with the quality standards and safety requirements. The government has taken some significant steps during last years and finally they introduced new reforms in 2013 to be put in practice from March, 2014. These reforms are expected to change the scenario of Ireland building control system and it could be said that if the related authorities will succeed in proper implementation of these reforms and regulations, there is no reason that the Ireland building construction industry will exhibit significant and considerable progress and shortly the Ireland buildings will become able to reach international standards of safety and design. This is however, possible only through proper implication, practice and enforcement of the regulations. The government has to take some steps for practice of these regulations. The authorities should make some arrangements for international level training of the construction professionals so that they can closely review and understand the international safety standards and can also learn how to adopt and practice those standards in their own constructions. References Chappell, D. and Wills, A. 2013. The Architect in Practice. NY: John Wiley & Son Hogan, P. 2013. "New building regulations aim to set down a minimum standard of acceptability". The Irish Times. Retrieved online from http://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/new-building-regulations-aim-to-set-down-a-minimum-standard-of-acceptability-1.1623415 Hollingsworth, K. 2014. "Opinion: New building regulations will add costs but also peace of mind". The Irish Times. Retrieved online from http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/opinion-new-building-regulations-will-add-costs-but-also-peace-of-mind-1.1705395 Lovatt, C. and Smith, E.B. 2012. Construction Law & Practice: Jurisdictional Comparisons. London: Sweet & Maxwell OSullivan, M. and MacPlail, A. 2010. Young Peoples Voices in Physical Education and Youth Sport. London: Routledge. Read More