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Are local authorities ignoring government BER advice?
Construct Ireland this week wrote to every local authority in the country to ask whether they follow Department of Environment advice to request building energy rating calculations at an early stage in the construction of every dwelling. The advice is designed to help ensure homes comply with Part L of the building regulations, which deal with energy efficiency.
Last year, the department told Construct Ireland that only eleven of the country's local authorities follow this "best practice", which was suggested in a circular letter sent out by department officials in 2009. The letter read:
"There is a possibility that some completed dwellings with be found by Building Control Officers (BCOs) to be non-compliant with Part L. This presents a practical difficulty in that remedial action may be difficult and expensive to achieve. In order to avoid such a situation, it is considered that best practice from an enforcement point of view would be for BCOs to ask for the Deap calculations at an early stage in the construction process. It will be readily apparent from the Deap calculations as to whether the design of the proposed building is fully compliant with Part L."
Deap the Dwelling Energy Assessment Procedure is the software used to calculate building energy ratings, and to determine whether a building is complying with Part L of the building regulations. The local authorities that follow this "best practice" typically issue letters to individuals when they submit a commencement notice (which states that construction is about to start). These local authorities require the individuals to submit a draft BER and Deap calculations showing how the proposed building with comply with Part L of the regulations.
In February, Construct Ireland will be publishing a list of each building control authority and whether it issues such letters, as part of an in-depth investigative article on this issue. In November, Construct Ireland revealed that the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) has possessed a draft report (PDF) for over six years which showed that new Irish houses failed to meet energy efficiency, ventilation and fire safety regulations during the building boom. This came following a high profile series of examples of building failure, including at Priory Hally, Balgaddy in west Dublin, and tens of thousands of pyrite infestations. The Department of Environment has a target that 12-15% of new buildings by physically inspected by local authority building control officers.