Evaluating how Ireland has improved Building Regulations Compliance and Energy Efficiency

This paper reports a study of evaluating the revised Building Control System in Ireland to establish if they have improved Building Regulations compliance and energy efficiency in the construction of new buildings. The new system of accountability ensures how all involved in the design and construction process are responsible for compliance in a comprehensive mandatory certification procedure, ensuring the design team, building contractor and subcontractors all certify compliance that the work is compliant with the Building Regulations. The research is practice based among building regulation certifiers’ in Ireland to investigate the level of Building Regulations compliance since 2014 with the consequential improvements in energy efficiency. Research in Part L compliance has shown to be less than satisfactory, but since the new system was introduced, there is a high degree of accountability from both designers and constructors in the construction process. The findings suggest that the level of Building Regulations compliance have greatly improved, as certifiers are at risk of litigation from certification misstatement. Energy efficiency has improved in the construction of new buildings as Part L compliance is certified at design stage by the design certifier, construction is certified by the building contractor, sub-contractors and ancillary certifiers, and full compliance is certified by an assigned certifier who is responsible for overall compliance. The revised system provides responsibility on each certifier to detect and remedy non-compliant issues and the paper suggests a framework to assist certifiers’ in determining the risks to reduce the risk of litigation.