Construction Defects

Up to 100,000 Homes Affected

During the Celtic Tiger years tens of thousands of apartments were built and the Working Group on Defective Homes has estimated that – of those – up to 70% – around 100,000 – are affected by construction defects.

The defects largely relate to water ingress – or leaks – and fire safety defects. In relation to fire safety, the defects mainly consist of a lack of fire stopping – the material that stops the spread of fire from one home to another. Clearly this is vital in the context of apartment developments where – without proper fire stopping – fire and smoke can quickly spread from one home to another posing a major risk to the health and safety of residents.

In Breach of Regulations

The defects – particularly the lack of fire stopping – are in breach of the Building Regulations and occurred because of shoddy building and the weak system of enforcement and compliance building in Irish construction.

During the Celtic Tiger years there was no effective system of independent inspection of construction works to ensure it was being carried out in accordance with the Regulations. Those involved in the construction process self-certified that their work was carried out in compliance with the Building Regulations. It’s clear in relation to the vast majority apartments built during the '90s and noughties that this was not the case.

Costly and Time-Consuming

Rectifying the defects caused by shoddy construction is a very costly and time-consuming process. Costs vary from between €3,000 per apartment up to over €100,000 -- the Working Group on Defective Homes estimated in 2022 that the average cost of remediating defects would be €25,000 per apartment.

In early 2023, the Government agreed to fully fund the remediation of these defects at an estimated cost of €2.5 billion. The Construction Defects Alliance is working with the Government to implement its decision and we expect that it the legislation underpinning the scheme will be passed in 2025 with the scheme fully up and running in 2026.

Given the scale of the problem, it is likely that it will take up to 10 years for all the defects to be remediated.