THE GOVERNMENT is being urged to establish a national building inspectorate as part of a stronger enforcement regime for the statutory building regulations in the wake of the Priory Hall debacle.
The Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland said the proposed inspectorate “could be staffed by redeployment from existing resources” at both central and local government levels.
Director John Graby said the institute had been engaging with the Department of the Environment about the need to strengthen the enforcement system since 2004 – a year before the Priory Hall scheme was offered for sale.
“This is as significant as the Stardust, which led to the introduction of the building regulations. It’s one of those turning points, where we say ‘enough is enough, let’s do it right’. Unfortunately in Irish society, it takes a disaster to make things happen.”
Although the building regulations had led to a “marked improvement” in standards, he said “enforcement has always been an issue to ensure that these improvements are as widespread as possible”. Mr Graby said “the aim of those enforcing the building regulations is that local authorities would inspect 12 to 15 per cent of all building sites, and we have been arguing for some time that this is simply not sufficient.” He pointed out that, in the case of most residential building projects – even large apartment schemes – “architects and other design professionals are not involved in the construction stage of the buildings concerned, where the problems happen”.
The best way to remedy this, he said, was for the design team on each project to carry out inspections during the construction phase and on completion to ensure building works had been carried out in line with the original drawings.
