BCAR 21-day deadline:
infrastructure and construction report
Fact or fiction?
In the recent case of Dromaprop Ltd v Leitrim County Council [2024] IEHC 234, the High Court confirmed several important principles relating to the role of a county council in the building regulations regime in Ireland. Certificate of Compliance on Completion
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On completion of a building to which the Building Control Regulations 1997 to 2024 (“the Regulations”) apply, a Certification of Compliance on Completion (“a Certificate”), signed by the Builder and the Assigned Certifier must be submitted to a Building Control Authority (“BCA”). The Regulations provide that on receipt of a Certificate, a BCA has 21 days to either: i.
invalidate the Certificate;
ii.
request further information, or
iii. validate the Certificate and place it on the register thereby confirming that the Certificate was properly 82
completed and signed by the required persons, and that there are no unresolved matters in relation to information requests, enforcement notices or conditions attaching to Fire Safety Certificates or Disability Access Certificates. Where the BCA does not validate or reject a Certificate or seek further information within these 21 days, the Certificate will be placed on the register automatically. Once a Certificate is placed on the register, a building may be opened, occupied or used.
Certification of Part of a Building The Regulations allow that for buildings that are completed for occupation on a
phased basis, such as apartment complexes, Certificates for each phase may be submitted separately at the completion of each stage. These Certificates should clearly identify the parts of the building or the particular works to which they relate. Where these Certificates are in order, the BCA should accept each and place it on the register thereby allowing that part of the building to be opened, occupied or used. In Dromaprop, the decision of Leitrim County Council not to register a Certificate was quashed. The applicant in the case carried out works on the Abbey Manor Hotel in Dromahair, County Leitrim for the purpose of converting it for use as accommodation. The applicant