In NI each local authority has a team of building control inspectors. Their role is to ensure your house is being built in accordance with the building regulations.
In ROI, fire and building control officers are usually the one and same person in a local authority, and they are mostly concerned with commercial buildings (which require a fire certificate). They rarely check self-build sites unless they are carrying out a spot inspection, which again, is rare.
What they do & don’t do
- Process your application.
- Validate your construction drawings and make suggestions where necessary before validating (this may lead to tweaks in the drawings/design).
- Make periodic inspections to check the house is being built according to the construction drawings.
- They are on call if you want them to visit the site, at any time, to check on any aspect of the build that pertains to the building regulations. They will provide advice as to changes/alterations to rectify any aspect that is not building regulations compliant.
- Issue the completion certificate, which you will need to file your claim for a VAT refund. This certificate may be issued before you move in or before the house is complete: its purpose is to certify all building regulations have been abided to and this can happen before any of the internal finishes are in place.
Qualifications
They are directly hired by your local authority and the inspector will be appointed to you through the building control application process.
How are they paid?
Through the application fee. There are no callout charges if you ask them to come check anything on site.
If you take out a structural warranty on your self-build, which usually provides 10 year defects cover (i.e. they will pay for repairs to rectify any structural issues), a surveyor from the warranty company will come inspect that the work is being carried out in accordance with the building regulations.
If you take out the policy after work has started, the surveyor will have to carry out a far more detailed survey which will result in a higher overall cost of the warranty cover.
What they do & don’t do
- The surveyor will carry out four to six inspections during the construction stage. The first site visit will be when the foundations are being poured.
- They do not supply completion certificates and are in no way affiliated to the building control functions of a local authority.
Qualifications
They are usually building surveyors and are hired directly by the warranty company.
How are they paid?
The cost of inspections is included in your warranty cover.
A certifier is often a qualified and experienced architectural designer, engineer or building surveyor.
Usually required by a mortgage provider to inspect the build as it proceeds, the certifier will report back to the bank on the satisfactory progress of the build, by issuing completion certificates. Money is only released when the bank receives the certifier’s confirmation, through your solicitor, that a particular stage is satisfactorily completed to the building regulations. The Professional Indemnity cover provides the bank with insurance should something become defective at some stage in the future.
In ROI, where there are no building control inspections (although surprise inspections by the authorities are possible, they are rare on self-builds), self-builders will often hire a certifier in the form of an independent engineer to check on progress – even if there is no mortgage. When filing for your commencement notice, you will be asked to either “opt in” or “opt out” of appointing an Assigned Certifier. The Assigned Certifier is a qualified professional you must hire directly, either affiliated to the RIAI, SCSI or a consulting engineering body. Self-builders usually opt out because of the additional cost and administrative burden, even when they hire a professional to project manage the build.
What they do & don’t do
- They inspect the work as it progresses, with at least four to six site visits at key stages but you will need to call them out much more often than that in practice.
- They do not project manage the build for you.
- They are in no way affiliated to the building control functions of a local authority.
- They will not design the house for you and even though you can hire the same person to act as the designer and the certifier, it’s more common to keep these roles completely separate to allow for thorough double checking.
Qualifications
Dependent on the profession they hold; always check they have adequate PI insurance.
How are they paid?
Fixed fee quoted at the start for a set number of inspections; about 20 may be required for a house although the bank will only generally require about five inspections for the purposes of releasing funds (for the stage payments).