Document Type
Dissertation
Rights
Available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 4.0 International Licence
Disciplines
Construction engineering
Abstract
This research is an exploratory study to ascertain if there is a requirement throughout the Republic of Ireland to introduce a top-down Local Authority lead approach to Building Regulation Control similar to that currently utilised throughout the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland.
The system of Building Regulation Control that is in operation throughout the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland places on a requirement for Building Regulation Permission as well as Planning Permission and requires inspection of 100% of projects by either Local Authority Building Control or Approved Inspectors.
This dissertation document also focuses on the dwelling types that Building Control (Amendment) Regulations (2013) either does not apply to or can be opted out of that are listed below:
- Domestic extensions that are less than 40m2 in size
- New single dwellings
- Domestic extensions greater than or equal to 40m2
These dwelling types revert to the pre-BCAR system of self-certification and reliance on Opinions of Compliance whose combined laissez-faire approach to Building Regulation Control lead to such high profile fiasco's such as Priory Hall and Longboat Quay. Such examples lead to the introduction of the Building Control (Amendment) Regulations (2013) as it was deemed the pre-BCAR system was not fit for purpose. This document sought the opinion of Industry Professionals with respect to this two-tiered system of Building Regulation Control that exists within the Republic of Ireland at present.
Research was undertaken using mixed methods. Using quantitative methods, a survey questionnaire was sent to an indicative sample of Industry Professionals resulting in a response rate of 76.19%. Qualitative methods were then adopted by means of a series of interviews in an attempt to gauge the thought process from an indicative sample of survey respondents.
The findings show that there are major issues to be overcome if we are to prevent a re-occurrence of mistakes of the past. The conclusions drawn show that whilst there are issues with Building Regulation Control, vested interests and competence of General Contractors, all can be regularised by the adoption of a top-down Local Authority lead approach to Building Regulation Control similar to that currently utilised throughout the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21427/JHKX-P324
Recommended Citation
Harrington, S. (2017). Would the Republic of Ireland benefit from a top down Local Authority lead approach to building regulation control and is the current system unfit for purpose in respect of dwellings where BCAR does not apply or can be opted out of?. Masters Dissertation. Dublin: Techological University Dublin, 2017. DOI: 10.21427/JHKX-P324
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.