The professional indemnity (PI) market in Ireland is undergoing significant change. This also applies to those that purchase design and construct professional indemnity insurance. Brian O’Mara looks at the current state of the market, and revisits important steps every firm should take regarding their own renewal. There are two marketplaces for insurance of engineers' professional indemnity for Irish companies: insurers with a local presence, and those based in London - more commonly ...

The Grenfell Tower fire resulted in the greatest loss of life from a fire in Britain since the Second World War. A year on, we know that the fire’s rapid spread was at least partly due to the cladding that enveloped the building. Although a public inquiry is continuing, and we’re still waiting for the full results of forensic evidence, there is no doubt that changes are needed to prevent this catastrophe from happening again. This includes new regulation for high-rise buildings and the ...

Introduction Late in the evening of July 6, 1988, a series of explosions ripped through the Piper Alpha platform in the North Sea. Engulfed in fire, over the next few hours most of the oil rig topside modules collapsed into the sea. A total of 167 men died and many more were injured and traumatised. The world’s biggest offshore oil disaster affected 10 per cent of UK oil production and led to financial losses of an estimated £2 billion (the equivalent of $5 billion today). What ...

The Grenfell Tower fire occurred on 14 June 2017 at the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of public housing flats in North Kensington, in west London. It caused an estimated 80 deaths and over 70 injuries. The tragedy reminds us all, of the disastrous impact of fire spread in older buildings, especially where upgrade works may have taken place without consideration for how they affect existing fire performance standards. Time and time again since the tragedy, ORS has been asked, “Could this ...

  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 ...

  Authors: Kevin Fay, BSc (Eng) Dip Eng MIEI, contracts director, Gem Purcell Ltd and Jonathan Macauley, BEng CEng MIStructE MIEI, director, Design ID On 20 October 2014, the authors discussed the restoration of St Mel’s – one of the largest conservation projects currently under way in Western Europe – at an event jointly hosted by the Heritage Society and Structures and Construction Division, in association with the Institution of Structural Engineers, Republic of Ireland ...