Do the new health and safety rules apply for building a house?

Q I am building a new house and a friend of mine has informed that there are new Health and Safety Regulations. Do these regulations affect me and if so, what do I need to put in place/be wary of?

A The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations, often referred to as the construction regulations, were updated in 2013 and came into effect on August 1 2013 . These regulations apply to construction works on individual dwellings.

Under the regulations the obligations are applicable on all current projects and also on projects that started before August 1st 2013 only if they extend beyond August 1st 2014.

If you’ve established from the above that the Regulations apply to your project, the following terms are relevant:

Construction work – "The carrying out of any building, civil engineering or engineering construction work and includes construction, alteration, conversion, fitting out, commissioning, de-commissioning, renovation, repair, upkeep, redecoration, maintenance, cleaning, demolition, removal, site clearance, excavation, assembly and dis-assembly",

Project – "An activity which includes or is intended to include construction work." client – "A person for whom a project is carried out".

Your duties, as a client, under the regulations are as follows:

1. You have to appoint a project supervisor or supervisors: On every project where the work involves a particular risk, where more than one contractor is involved or where the project is notifiable to the Health and Safety Authority, you should appoint in writing competent project supervisors for the project. You should also obtain acceptance of those appointments in writing. The regulations allow you to appoint yourself as project supervisor, if you are competent to undertake the duties involved. You can appoint one individual or company as project supervisor for both the design process and construction stage, if they are competent to undertake the duties involved.

2. You have to ascertain the suitability of the project supervisor, designer and contractor appointees. You shouldn’t appoint them unless you are reasonably satisfied that the person or company is competent and can allocate appropriate resources to perform the duties imposed under the regulations prior to works commencing on the project.

3. Keep a safety file for inspection. In theory a safety file for the building in question should already exist, you simply add documents on the works being carried out to it. If a file doesn’t already exist then you start one by collecting documentation on the current works.

4. You should provide or arrange to have provided a copy of the prepared Safety & Health Plan to the project supervisor for the Construction Stage (PSCS) when appointed. HSA.ie

5. You have a duty to notify the Health and Safety Authority if construction work is planned to last longer than 30 working days or if the volume of work is scheduled to exceed 500 person days (that could be 50 people working for a ten-day period, 25 people working for 20 days each or one person working for 500 days). This notice should be in writing in an approved form, ie AF1 f orm or AF2 form that can be downloaded from the HAS website, hsa.ie.

From the above you will note that, in performing your duties, you will have to establish that any appointees are competent. The term “competent” has not been given a specific meaning in the regulations, but guidance on assessing competence is contained in “Guidelines on the Procurement, Design and Management Requirements of the Safety Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations 2006” and “Guide for Homeowners – Getting Construction Work Done Safety”, both of which are published by the Health and Safety Authority.

In appointing project supervisors, designers and contractors, the client is obligated to make reasonable enquiries to check that the person or company to be appointed has the ability to fulfil the responsibilities of the position concerned.

The extent of these enquiries will depend on the scale, complexity and the hazards of the project and may include enquiring about the following in respect of those being considered for appointment: membership of professional bodies, knowledge of design and construction specific to the project, safety and health qualifications and training, safety and health experience on similar projects, sufficient resources, experience in producing, developing and monitoring compliance with Safety & Health Plans, evidence of a functioning safety management system and evidence of regulatory compliance.

Although you have a duty under the regulations to assess competency, project supervisors, designers and contractors to be appointed are also duty bound and must, demonstrate to the client that they are competent and will allocate adequate resources to enable each to perform, as required under the Regulations.

Brendan McGing is a chartered building surveyor and chartered project manager surveyor and sits on the Project Management Professional Group Committee of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI)

Q I sit on the board of directors of the owners' management company for our block of apartments. We would like to take on a property management agent but are unsure of how to go about it. What do we need to check for before engaging with a company and what services will they provide typically?

A The best place to start is to contact anyone you know who owns an apartment and ask them about their property manager. This will allow you to investigate the quality of the agent instead of just getting a one to one sales pitch from potentials.

Some agents range from very affordable to more expensive depending on their level of expertise and their level of service.

A property manager is required to hold a category D licence with the Property Services Regulatory Authority (PSRA).The PSRA website will list all the property management agents that are currently licensed. A licensed property service provider will hold professional indemnity insurance and a minimum level of experience and qualification.

If you are seeking a highly competent agent it would be advisable to seek an agent that is a member of a professional reputable organisation in that field.Associations and societies require their members to undertake continual professional development and have codes of conduct that governs their members whereas the PSRA have yet to publish their code of practice for licence D holders.

A licensed property manager would traditionally provide four main services; financial management, asset management, professional services and company secretarial. All of these categories have many expansive sub-categories.

The letter of engagement is the contract that binds the property manager to the owners’ management company (OMC). This document is prescribed by the PSRA and can be downloaded from their website. Surplus services can be added to the appendix whereas the main body of the contract cannot be manipulated so as to ensure a market framework for contracts is maintained.

A development that is run by a competent property manager will benefit from streamlined management, pricing efficiencies and informed knowledge of the diverse issues facing OMCs.

It is advisable to investigate what services the agent contracts out to the open market and what are provided directly to the OMC by them.

For more information on the role of a property manager, the Property and Facilities Management Professional Group of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) has recently launched a guide to ‘Chartered Surveyors & Property Managers of Multi-Unit Developments (MUDs)’ which is available for free to download on scsi.ie

Paul Huberman is a chartered surveyor and sits on the Property & Facilities Management Professional Group Committee of the SCSI Send your queries to propertyquestions@irishtimes.com or to Property Clinic, The Irish Times, 24-28 Tara Street, Dublin 2. This column is a readers’ service. Advice given is general and individual advice should always be sought