More than 20 inspections carried out by planning
officials of an estate in Newbridge, Co Kildare, which has been at the centre
of growing concern about the safety of homes following a dramatic fire earlier
this year, failed to identify any major problems during its construction phase.
Kildare Co Council has revealed its building control
inspectors conducted in excess of 20 visits of Millfield Manor between 2005 and
2009 when a range of houses and apartments were being built by Barrack
Construction, a development company run by Kildare builder, Paddy Byrne.
“Only significant incidents or issues identified by
the inspector would be noted on the file,” said a council spokesperson.
However, documents released under the Freedom of
Information Act show only one short hand-written note was filed as a result of
building compliance inspections on Millfield Manor by council staff. It related
to an issue with cavity barriers in some units during a routine inspection in
December 2005. The council said the problem had been rectified within a
fortnight.
The estate is at the centre of a major controversy
following a dramatic fire on March 31 which completely gutted a terrace of six
houses in around 30 minutes. Fears about the safety of their homes have
increased for residents following the completion of a report commissioned by
the local authority after the recent fire.
The report, which examined the condition of 10
unoccupied houses in terms of compliance with fire safety regulations of
buildings, identified serious failings with the construction of housing units
in Millfield Manor. It found “numerous
deficiencies” in the timber-frame separating walls between houses. In
particular, such walls were inadequately completed at attic and lower floor
levels.
Surveyors found boards between the system-built
chimneys were not properly fixed, while there was inadequate fire stopping near
the roof. They also discovered deficiencies with the external walls of the
surveyed houses including the absence of cavity barriers.
The fire safety engineers said the recommended
remedial works to make the buildings safe would require the removal of roof
tiles and parts of chimney stacks.
“Given the number of faults that have recently been
identified, it’s extraordinary how the council could have conducted that number
of inspections and not have detected them,” said local independent councillor,
Willie Crowley.
Residents have estimated that the problems are so
extensive that it could cost each homeowner around €30,000 to make their
property safe, while also requiring them to find alternative accommodation
while such work was being carried out.
Crowley said residents were extremely disappointed by
the outcome of a meeting with council officials on Friday when they were
advised they would have to hire their own fire safety engineers to examine the
condition of their homes as the local authority had no responsibility to carry
out such work.
The
Sunday Times revealed last week that apartment blocks
at Millfield Manor have also been the subject of a number of fire safety
notices issued by Kildare Fire Service in recent years.
It is understood a number of parties including a
property management company are facing a criminal prosecution over the poor
standard of fire-resistant glazing in some apartment blocks on the estate.
Kildare Co Council admitted the level of inspection of
Millfield Manor by its fire safety officers was greater than for similar
developments based on a risk assessment.
Asked about the failure of the local authority’s
building inspectors to uncover any of the deficiencies highlighted in the
recent report, a council spokesperson said the building control code relied to
a significant extent on the statutory responsibility of practitioners in the
construction industry to design and construct buildings in accordance with
building regulations
“The random inspections undertaken by building control
authorities are essentially supplementary to this primary statutory
obligation,” she remarked.
The spokesperson said Kildare Co Council had exceeded
the target level of inspections – which was 12-15% of new buildings notified to
local authorities in commencement notices – during the construction phase of
Milltown Manor.
She also explained that a €400,000 bond, which
residents have called on the local authority to draw down to fund the repair of
their homes, only related to the satisfactory completion of public
infrastructure on the estate and could not cover any works to individual houses
or apartment blocks.
Meanwhile, it is understood that Environment Minister,
Alan Kelly has agreed to meet with residents of Millifield Manor over the
coming weeks to discuss their situation.
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