The Fire Services Act of 1981, brought in after the Stardust fire at a nightclub in Artane that year, gave the fire brigade strong powers in the event of suspected safety issues. Under this legislation, if an inspector is not happy with a building’s safety they can make an application to the High Court to have it evacuated and made safe.
In most cases of missing fire-stopping or defective balconies, it is argued successfully that the damage became manifest the day it was built. This means that for most houses and apartments built during the Celtic Tiger, the time frame in which the builder is liable has run out – often before owners were even aware of the damage.“You or I are not experts; we could have a crack in our wall that we just think is an innocuous settlement crack, we just leave it.
But even if a discoverability test were introduced in Ireland now, such a law would not act retrospectively – meaning those who bought during the boom would still have no legal recourse. “That paper recommended bonding and possibly an industry levy. They looked at whether or not developers should have to put a bond in place, and they looked at whether or not a bond for a minimum percentage should be in place for all new housing, and that it would be half paid by the developer, half paid by the Government.
The regulations were designed to protect people such as John Gormley, though clearly they have failed the residents of Oak Grove.was notified of the problem at the Derrinturn estate, a senior engineer from its building control department visited the site and agreed with the developer that Town and Country Ltd would build one pillar as a structural support to all of the canopies in the estate and that this work would be carried out under the supervision of assigned certifier John Cross.
“It also affects the future resale value of the house as well as our insurance. We’ve contacted them umpteen times, we’ve begged, called, cried down the phone to them but we’ve got nothing.” “There’s no requirement in law as to how many inspections are carried out; they could do one at the very end or they could do one every week. It depends on the certifier,” Hegarty says.
, advocates for something similar. “It’s time now for a methodical system of risk assessing buildings across the country. The problem needs to be identified and quantified, and over time the works can be done.