Author: Cormac Bradley BSc CEng FIEI MICE, construction manager, RPS Group (Ireland) Since my original piece on Building Control Amendment Regulations, or BC(A)R, and the role of the assigned certifier, readers of EngineersJournal.ie will have had the benefit of further insight on the implications of the new regime of building control from two other commentators – Mr Eoin O Cofaigh and Mr Jack Kavanagh. Ms Mairead Phelan has also written a piece from the perspective of the BCAs in ...

  Author: Dr Brian Motherway, chief executive, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland A report published earlier this year that suggests converting the Moneypoint generation station from coal to biomass would solve Ireland’s renewable energy issues is misinformed and risks creating false hopes. The report, prepared by UK consultants BW Energy for the Rethink Pylons campaign group, argues that this one action would enable Ireland to meet its 2020 renewable energy targets at a single ...

  Prior to the introduction of the Building Control Act 1990, building control legislation, from a national perspective, did not exist in Ireland. While the introduction of the 1990 Act introduced a level of regulation to the construction industry, reform of the system, from the perspectives of design, administration, inspection and certification of works, has been long overdue. The amendments to the 1990 Act, introduced by the Building Control Act 2007, did not sufficiently address the ...

  Author: Mairéad Phelan BE, CEng, FIEI, MBA, project manager of the Building Control Management System Prior to 1 March 2014 – in spite of the fact that compliance within the building industry was/is basically self-regulation or ‘light touch’ with limited independent inspection – the experience of the local authority (LA) sector was that many ‘builders’, ‘developers’ and ‘designers’ had no technical training, legal and/or professional advice regarding the science of construction. The ...

  Author: Dr David Connolly, associate professor, Aalborg University, Denmark As we move into the dark and cold winter months, it is very likely that you are reading this article with the aid of a light bulb and in the comfort of a warm building. These services and their abundance are iconic of the luxuries we enjoy in a 21st-century Ireland, but unfortunately, our appreciation for these essential services has not evolved as fast as our dependence on them. I studied mechanical ...

  Leicestershire-based aerial mapping specialist Bluesky, the company behind many of the high-resolution images of England and Wales currently used on Google Earth, has recently announced a new flying programme for Ireland. The aerial survey specialist already has a contract in the UK supplying geographic data, including aerial photography, to central government organisations such as Natural England, the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Environment Agency and ...