Astrid Madsen
All tradesmen who are not employed by a construction firm will have to register with the Construction Industry Register Ireland.
We cover:
- When the registration process opens
- Who is expected to register
- What to expect from the registration process
- Controversy around the register
The Construction Industry Register Ireland (CIRI) was put on a statutory footing this July, with builders and tradesmen expected to be invited to register from 2024.
The Department of Housing says the CIRI register is likely to be statutory from early 2025 for house builders and non-residential builders. Registration for various trades will happen after that.
Anyone who is prepared to provide works will have to register, apart from electricians and gas installers who are subject to their own regulatory obligations. Sole traders have to register but an employee of a company does not – the company must instead register.
Registered companies and tradespeople must abide to CIRI’s code of conduct, pay a fee to register, and fulfil competence criteria, among other obligations.
There is a provision for inspectors to ensure enforcement, alongside periodic reviews and audits of the registration body, which is part of the construction lobby group the Construction Industry Federation.
The CIRI bill was introduced in 2017 with the intent to get rid of cowboy builders. As a self-regulating body, CIRI can discipline its members but does not have much to do with quality control on site.
Detractors point out that ROI needs a building control authority with inspectors checking all self-build sites, similar to the Food Safety Authority checking compliance of food outlets.
Currently, building control inspectors are part of local authorities and are mostly concerned with inspecting commercial projects. While self-build sites are part of their remit, due to lack of resources self-builders rarely get a visit.
In NI building control inspectors check all self-build sites multiple times, at the key stages of the build.
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