# What qualifications are required for signing off on house-build?



## Corner (25 Jan 2010)

Hi, what qualifications, specifically, are required in order to sign off at the various staged site inspections and issue compliance certification with the building regs for a self-build project? Must it be a structural engineer or architect? I have read the self-build FAQ's but cannot seem to locate the exact answer to my query. (Maybe ONQ will jump in and say I should read it more closely!)


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## mf1 (25 Jan 2010)

Just as an outside observer.............For what purpose? 

If I was buying a property, who would I expect to have signed off? 
If I was a bank and lending money to enable someone to buy the property, who would I expect to have signed off? 
If I was building the property, who would I expect to have to pay to sign off? 

I've only ever gone through the build/refurb. experience once and it was a real eye opener. At one stage, it felt as if we had a whole load of chiefs and very few injuns. In the end we had our architect to design, supervise and sign off, our builder to build and our structural engineer to confirm structural aspects. 

I would be happy that if we ever went to sell, that a purchaser would be satisfied with our planning/compliance documentation. So thats one aspect. The other aspect is - if I was building the house and living in the house, would I be happy? And the answer to that is  yes. 

Now, some people who post here seem to regard certification as a bit of a lark. That is, I suspect, until they have a problem and need it sorted. 

mf


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## onq (25 Jan 2010)

Hi Corner,

The below isn't dealt with in the FAQ.

The Architect's Directive 85/384/EEC entitled four kinds of persons to practise and call themselves architects:

People holding a Degree in Architecture from UCD
People holding a Diploma in Architecture from Bolton Street
People having the affexes ARIAI and MRIAI awarded by the RIAI.

In the Law Society News, in a piece dated 26th October 1994, the following list of persons whose certificates should be acceptable was published:

Back in IIRC 1993 the following were accepted as signees._"(a) Persons with a degree or diploma of degree standard in Architecture_
_ (b) Persons who have been in practice as Architects on their own account for ten years. This would include persons certified by or included on a list prepared by the Minister for the ENvironment as persons who in the Minister's opnion are appropriately qualified as described supra._
_ (c) Chartered Engineers._
_ (d) Persons with a degree in Civil Engineering._
_ (e) Persons who have been in practice on their own account as Engineers in the construction industry for ten years._
_ (f) QUalified Building Surveyors._
_ (g) Person from another jurisdiction in th European Union whose sualification is entitled to recognition in Ireland under the Architect's Directive._"​The Building Control Act 2007 makes it an offence to name oneself as an architect unless one is on the Register of Archtiects.

To the best of my knowledge this does not affect people providing architectural services but NOT calling themselves architects. If the contrary is found to be the case, you can expect to see war in the courts and the Dáil as people move to defend their means to earn a living.

I will be surprised to see this happenning as John Graby, The Minister and others have pointed out that the move to Registration is for the good of the public who are entitled to know that they are getting a professional service from someone styling themselves as an architect. I take this to mean that putting people out of business is not the intention.

The issue of who certifies the work can be determined by who administrates the contract, assuming there is one.
During the works, while the Quantity Surveyor recommends payments and the administrator, architect or engineer, certififies them.
There are several types of formal contract but by far the most popular in Ireland are the RIAI and IEI forms, the latter used for engineering work.
The naming issue aside, who certifies the amounts comes down to who your bank will accept as being competent to sign off on the various parts of the project.
I cannot see any bank refusing a certificate issued by any engineer of long standing in relation to a project, whether or not the work certified is covered by his/her qualification.

Where there is a significant element of design, or where there has been a designer involved previously, it is useful to have a person competent to review all levels of building detail certifying the works, which implies someone with architectural training. That having been said, I won't certifying foundation or structural work until the engineer has passed it.

The industry standard is for someone with an architectural qualification to issue the Opinions of Compliance with Planning and Building Regulations and include in the latter Schedule A Assurances - certs from other professionals, [incl the structural engineer], the contractors, sub-contractors, specialist suppliers, references to guarantees,agrement certs, etc. - this may also include BER Certificates.

For non-domestic work, the practice has grown up of including these certs in the Safety File, which ties things together.
The Health and Safety File deals with activities of designing, building, using and maintaining the building.
These in general don't impinge directly on the contruction details or their compliance.
As-Built Manuals and Service manuals are useful for ongoing safety in work.

I hope this clarifies matters, but if not, or there's any other issue you think I can assist with, post here and I'll try and respond or PM me if I don't respond in a timely manner.

ONQ

[broken link removed]


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## onq (25 Jan 2010)

mf1 said:


> Just as an outside observer.............For what purpose?
> 
> If I was buying a property, who would I expect to have signed off?
> If I was a bank and lending money to enable someone to buy the property, who would I expect to have signed off?
> ...



You appear to have done it by the book, mf1
I certified something back in 1999 and the certificate was accepted by the purchaser's solicitor and that was that.
Last year I was haunted by a solicitor asking me to re-issue the cert because a purchaser's solicitor wasn't happy with it.
Quite apart from not wishing to expose myself to liability, I checked the cert and found the solicitor did not seem to understand the cert I had issued.
There was some too-ing and fro-ing and in the end I decided he was being unreasonable and I issued a polite rebuttal pointing out his error saying that was the end of it as far as I was concerned.

This was the tale of a cert that was  correctly issued.
I pity people in the current climate if the house they're trying to sell is found to have been improperly - or inadequately - certified.

ONQ.


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## RKQ (26 Jan 2010)

onq said:


> _"(a) Persons with a degree or diploma of degree standard in Architecture_
> _(b) Persons who have been in practice as Architects on their own account for ten years. _
> _(c) Chartered Engineers._
> _(d) Persons with a degree in Civil Engineering._
> ...


This list was provided by The Law Society and is accepted by most Lenders. Each Lender has its own criteria based on the above list.

There is *no need or legal requirement* to retain an RIAI registered Architect. It is a matter of personal choice, so do get quotes from Building Surveyors, Architectural Technicians, RIAI Architects, Self trained Architects like Tado Ando(Experienced "GrandFathers"), Architectural Assistants, Engineers etc. 

Make sure your choosen _Certifier_ has full Professional Indemnity insurance.


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## Corner (27 Jan 2010)

Thanks to all posters! From what I read here, it seems that certifying and issuing opinions of compliance is left open to a wide range of professionals. When the IRRC 1993 mentions "Chartered Engineers" for example, is this referring to chartered engineers from any disicpline e.g. civil, structural, building services etc. that can sign-off?


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