26 June 2015
Our Ref: 2015/BCMS/Agents
RE: Technical Update: Common errors noticed in making BCMS (Building Control
Management System) submissions
A Chara,
As you may be aware, on the 1st of March 2014, new regulations namely the Building Control
(Amendment) Regulations 2014 relating to the Commencement and Certification of construction
works came into operation.
New Commencement Notice procedures apply. The Commencement Notice must be submitted
to the Building Control Authority [on-line https://localgov.ie/en/BCMS/] not more than 28 days
and not less than 14 days before the commencement of works, or a material change of use
occurs. In the case of any fire safety certificates which accompany the submission of a 7 day
notice, these must be submitted not less than 7 days in advance of commencement of work.
Please be advised that where the submitted file is incomplete and/or contains errors the
Building Control Authority will mark it as “incomplete”, once within the statutory
timeframe, and the owner/agent will be informed of the changes required. Having taken
regard to the extent of the incompletion and/or errors, the Building Control Authority may
invalidate the notice. You will then have to begin the submission process again,
including new forms.
The Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2014 and the Code of Practice for Certifying
and Inspecting Works provide guidance with respect to inspecting and certifying a Building or
works for compliance with the requirements of the Second Schedule to the Building
Regulations. Assigned Certifiers and Design Certifiers are strongly advised to familiarise
themselves with these documents and keep them at hand when they are submitting 7 Day
Notices / Commencement Notices. They can be downloaded from the Department of
Environment web page http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentHousing/BuildingStandards/
There is an obligation under section 3(5) of the Building Control Act 1990 that buildings be
designed and constructed in accordance with the relevant requirements of the Building
Regulations. Building Owners, Designers and Builders are bound by this legal requirement. In
undertaking building works, appropriate measures should be taken so that the work is in
accordance with the Building Regulations. Designers, Builders and certifiers should exercise
reasonable skill, care and diligence in the exercise of their duties. They and persons assigned
by them should be competent for the work they undertake.
Where works are carried out in accordance with the guidance in the relevant Technical
Guidance Documents, this will, prima facie, indicate compliance with relevant parts of the
Second Schedule of the Building Regulations. However, the adoption of alternative approaches
other than those outlined in the guidance is not precluded provided that the relevant
requirements of the Building Regulations are complied with.
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Common findings during validation process
1. Certification:
Certificates Required (Statutory Forms) -Signatures required:

Commencement Notice (Second Schedule Article 9): Must be signed by the owner
or N.B. in the case of a company, it must still be signed by an individual, e.g. a
Director of the company.

Design Certificate (Article 9): Must be signed by the Design Certifier who must be
an individual named on one of the 3 Statutory Registers. The Registration
Number of the individual must be provided and NOT the practice number.

Undertaking by Assigned Certifier (Article 9): Must be signed by the Assigned
Certifier who must be an individual named on one of the 3 Statutory Registers.
The Registration Number of the individual must be provided and NOT the
practice number.

Undertaking By Builder (Article 9): Must be signed by the Builder

Notice of Assignment (Builder) (Article 9): Must be signed by the OWNER or N.B.
in the case of a company, it must still be signed by an individual, e.g. a Director
of the company. .

Notice of Assignment (Certifier) (Article 9): Must be signed by the OWNER or N.B.
in the case of a company, it must still be signed by an individual, e.g. a Director
of the company.
2. Data: The Building Control Authority cannot accept Statutory Forms which are
not filled out completely or are missing pages.
Before downloading, please ensure that all required data has been entered, that all 4
parties (i.e. Owner/Director, Designer, Builder and Assigned Certifier) have properly
completed their customer accounts, and, that all pages of each of the forms have been
completely scanned into their respective pdf documents.
Please note: we require a contact number for the owner and the builder, preferably
mobile phone numbers as we need to be able to contact the parties who can
assist us with gaining access for inspections. All printed forms should be proof read
to ensure that none of the required fields are blank.
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3. Under no circumstances should you submit forms from a previous notice. The new
notice will be invalidated if the barcode at the top of the form does not match the new
submission number.
4. This Building Control Authority cannot accept Commencement Notices from other Local
Authorities.
5. The Building Control Authority cannot accept a 7 Day Notice for a dwelling or extension
to a dwelling. A 7 Day Notice application is only relevant to non-dwellings, for which a
Fire Safety Certificate is required.
6. The fee for a Commencement Notices is €30.00 per building. If the development is for
a dwelling and a garage (area greater than 25m²) you must also submit a fee for the
garage. Please note: The garage must be included as part of the development
description in the Commencement Notice Form.
7. Schedule of documents: Page 3 , question 6 of the Commencement Notice Form:
This section of the form is often left blank. It is understandable that it may not be
possible to complete electronically, and the Building Control Authority will accept it as
separate document which is added to the document list. The Schedule of Documents
should include a schedule of such plans, calculations, specifications and particulars as
are currently designed or as are to be prepared at a later date;
Note: Each document should have its own unique identifiable number.
8. Lodgement of Plans – Plans and Specifications and Inspection Plan ( Building
Control Regulations 2014 Code of Practice Section 5, 5.1)
The Design Certifier and the Assigned Certifier, before signing the Design Certificate and
the form of Undertaking by the Assigned Certifier respectively, should exercise
reasonable skill, care and diligence in checking that the documentation for which each is
responsible is appropriate for lodgement with the Commencement Notice.
In some cases certain aspects of the building or works may not be fully designed at
commencement stage, but each such incomplete aspect or design element should be
identified in the submission which accompanies the Commencement Notice together
with an indicative date by which it is expected that the outstanding design element will
be completed. In all cases, an appropriate level of plans and documentation should be
submitted to the Building Control Authority.
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Continued…
Plans and documentation required at commencement stage where the works involve a
new dwelling, an extension (to a dwelling) with a total floor area greater than 40 square
metres or require a Fire Safety Certificate will include:
(a) General arrangement drawings – plans, sections and elevations – prepared for
building control purposes; Not Planning Drawings. General arrangement drawings
include site layout and site location plan drawings, floor plan drawings (of each floor of
the building including any basement floors), section drawings (through significant
features such as roof/floors/walls) and elevation drawings (of all sides of the building).
General arrangement drawings show where the construction elements (e.g. walls,
doorways, openings/windows, columns etc.) are located. General arrangement
drawings should be dimensioned and appropriately scaled.
(b) A schedule of such plans, calculations, specifications and particulars as are currently
designed or as are to be prepared at a later date;
(c) The completion of an online assessment, via the Building Control Management
System, of the proposed approach to compliance with the requirements of the Second
Schedule to the Building Regulations (Parts A to M);
(d) The Preliminary Inspection Plan prepared by the Assigned Certifier; and may,
typically, also include:
(e) Drawings of particular details as appropriate;
(f) Drawings showing work that is below ground;
(g) General arrangement structural drawings showing the main structural
elements
(h) Specifications including materials and products; and performance
specification for elements that may be the subject of ancillary certification.
Note: Specifications, an Inspection Plan and General arrangement drawings are
frequently omitted with the submission of Commencement Notices.
9.
Other Documentation
Key documents as are appropriate should be submitted depending on the particular
building works involved. Structural calculations and site investigation reports do not have
to be submitted at commencement stage. However, they should be kept on file and
made available on request to the Building Control Authority. Requests for further
information should be provided to the Building Control Authority within two weeks of
being requested.
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10. The Assigned Certifier cannot take on the role of the owner, unless he/she is the owner.
11. The Building Control Authority cannot accept a Commencement Notice for a partially
completed development, whereby planning has been sought or granted for the
regularisation of a development. There is no provision in the current Building Control
legislation for a regularisation commencement notice to be submitted for dwellings.
Regards,
Building Control Authority
Kerry County Council
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