The Gazette 1988

GAZETTE

SEPTEMBER 1988

c ommon areas to a manage- ment company, con t r ol of wh i ch is handed over to the a p a r t me nt o w n e rs in t he development. In this way the people most concerned have control of their own destiny. These management companies (if the problems w i th engineers can be resolved) are now going to be faced w i th substantial expense wh i ch for many would represent a large capital burden. It is hard to see that such owners would have any redress against the original developers. A person or company who has taken an ordinary rack rent lease of all or part of an office building to wh i ch the Bill applies wh i ch makes him or it responsible for repairs may find t h ems e l v es in t he s ame position as apartment owners. Solicitors are advising clients taking leases in any building wh i ch may be affected by the provisions of the Act to think again. •

lettings are on a full repairing basis. Also included in the definition is any person, who either alone or w i t h others, manages any part of a building. The penalty under the Act for failing to furnish a Certificate is a fine of up to £1,000. The penalties for furnishing a false or misleading Certificate range from a fine of up to £1,000 and/or imprisonment for up to twelve months or a fine of up to £10,000 and/or a term of im- prisonment for up to three years, depend i ng on the nature and seriousness of the offence. Regulations have to be made for the Act to operate and these are presently being prepared by the Department of the Environment. The main implications of this Act are extremely serious and we see t hem as follows: 1. Impasse w i t h chartered engineers The Association of Consulting Engineers has not been able to agree a f o rm of Certificate for use in connection w i th this proposed legislation and has advised their members not to co-operate unless a f o rm of certificate which is satisfactory to t hem can be agreed. No other class of professionals are permitted to give Certificates. Unless the engineers break ranks in order to accommodate their clients the legislation will be unworkable. Both engineers and architects we have spoken to are severely critical of the Act and the assumptions upon wh i ch it is based. 2. Properties wi ll become unsaleable Solicitors are already advising clients not to buy apartments in blocks of five stories until this has been resolved. Diffi- culties might also arise in connection w i th borrowing on the security of such properties. Anyone trying to dispose of the entire or part of a multi-storey building of five stories and upwards will undoubtedly be confronted by a prospective purchaser making a preliminary enquiry as to whe t her the Act has been complied w i th or not. 3. Substantial expense for apartment owners The normal system for the sale of flats adopted by developers in Ireland is to transfer the

as a storey. The Act applies to all such buildings whe t her residential apartments, office blocks, hotels etc. The Act will also apply to any multi storey buildings in the course of construction or to be built in the future. The Act w i ll require Local Authorities to list all buildings of five storeys or more built since the relevant date. They must establish the ownership, notify the owners and require t hem to submit a Ce r t i f i c a te f r om a c h a r t e r ed engineer (with a specified type of experience) stating whether the building is constructed fully or partly in any of the following forms: — precast conc r e te floors and masonry walls; — precast concrete floors and precast concrete columns; — precast conc r e te floors and precast concrete panels. If a chartered engineer's Certificate is furnished confirming that the building is not constructed in any of the forms mentioned above, then there is no need for any further action by the Owner. If however, a building is built in one of the above forms then the building must be assessed by a chartered engineer. Buildings wh i ch are identified as being in one or other of these c a t ego r i es w i ll require to be as ses sed in r espect of t he ir robustness when compared to a number of codes of bu i l d i ng practice. Alternatively, assess- ments are to be made of the possible risk of accidental damage to the buildings (principally from gas explosion) and to remove the cause of the risk where possible. The obligation to furnish the Certificate does not arise until the owner is served w i th a notice by the Local Authority requiring the Certificate to be furnished. The A c t se ts out v a r i o us confirmations which the Certificate should contain. In layman's terms the main point intended to be cove r ed by t he Ce r t i f i c a te is confirmation that the building has been constructed in such a way so as to ensure that in the event of an accident the resulting damage is not disproportionate to its cause. The definition of " o w n e r " in the Act is very wide in that it includes a Lessee of a building or any part of the building who occupies the building or part of it under a repairing Lease. Most commercial

4. d i f f i cu l t i es in getting lessees to undertake obligations to repair

LAW SOCIETY TIES

£6 . 00 each

Contact: Accoun ts Dept., Blackhall Place, Dublin 7.

ISLE OF MAN Messrs Samuel McCleery Registered Legal Practitioners in the Isle of Man, of Derbyhaven House, Derbyhaven, will be pleased to accept instructions by their resident partner Mr. S. McCleery from Irish Solicitors in the formation and administration of resident and non-resident Isle of Man Companies. Irish Offer London Offer. I0M Offer 26. South Frederick St.. Tel: 01 831 7761 Tel 0624 822210 Dublin 2 Tel 01 760780 Telex. 297100 Telex. 628285 Fax 01 764037 Fax 01 831 7485 Fax 0624 823799

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