merrion street

• Minister for Housing, Planning, Community & Local Government, Simon Coveney T.D. and Minister of State for Housing and Urban Renewal, Damien English T.D. announce Government approval
• for publication of the General Scheme of the Building Control (Construction Industry Register Ireland) (CIRI) Bill 2017

The Minister for Housing, Planning, Community & Local Government, Simon Coveney T.D. and the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Renewal, Damien English T.D., today (31st May 2017) announced that the Government has approved the drafting and publication of the General Scheme of the Building Control (Construction Industry Register Ireland) Bill 2017.
Welcoming the Government decision approving the drafting of the Building Control Bill, the Minister said:
“Public tolerance for incompetent workmanship has been well and truly exhausted; the establishment of a robust, mandatory, statutory register is critical for the development of a culture of competence and compliance in the construction sector and will complement the reforms which have already been implemented by the Government. I believe that the proposed CIRI register will help to deliver the quality of homes and buildings that people expect and deserve.”
The purpose of the Bill is to provide for a mandatory statutory register of builders, contractors and specialist sub-contractors, and subject to a limited number of exceptions, a builder will only be permitted to carry out building works in respect of which he or she is registered.
The Construction Industry Register Ireland has been operated by the Construction Industry Federation as a voluntary register since March 2014 and the Government committed to placing the register on a statutory footing in the Action Plan for Jobs and Construction 2020.
The establishment of CIRI as a mandatory statutory register is seen as an essential consumer protection measure which will give consumers who engage a registered builder the assurance that they are dealing with a competent and compliant operator. It will also provide a forum for the investigation of complaints against registered members and the imposition of proportionate sanctions.
The register will be self-financing and the registration fee charged may not exceed the cost of administering the register and must be approved by the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government.
Entry on the CIRI register will be open to all builders, whether sole traders, partnerships or registered companies, who can demonstrate that they are competent to carry out works in the category for which they are seeking to register.

NOTES FOR EDITORS
· Mandatory statutory registration of builders complements a number of key measures which the Department has put in place to strengthen the arrangements in place for the control of building activity.
These measures include revised Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2014 (S.I. No. 9 of 2014) and the development of the nationwide online Building Control Management System to enhance efficiency and consistency of building control administration.
Entry on the register will require, inter alia, the applicant to demonstrate the he or she possesses the requisite competence in the area of construction to which their registration relates.
Competence can be demonstrated by means of relevant work undertaken, educational qualification or employment of a construction professional with the relevant competence. The precise level of experience or education required in respect of each category of the register will be prescribed by way of Statutory Instrument in accordance with Head 6(2).
Day to day administration of the register will be delegated to the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) according to the same model that the administration of the statutory register of architects is delegated to the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland pursuant to the Building Control Act 2007.
The registration body will have delegated responsibility for the day to day maintenance of the register within the confines of the specific and limited parameters set out in the General Scheme.
· Independence from the registration body will be safeguarded by a number of provisions in the General Scheme including that the Admissions and Registration Board (the “Board) and the Appeals Committee must consist of a lay majority of Ministerial nominees and an independent Chairperson also appointed by the Minister.
· The General Scheme of the Bill can be accessed at the following link: http://www.housing.gov.ie/housing/building-standards/other/general-scheme-building-control-construction-industry-register-bill-2017
· The Regulatory Impact Analysis of the Bill can be accessed at the following link: http://www.housing.gov.ie/housing/building-standards/other/regulatory-impact-analysis-building-control-construction-industry-register-ireland-bill-2017