The Gazette 1994

GAZETTE

M W H

APRIL 1994

N E W S

Mi n i s t er Hi gh l i ghts Benef i ts of Bui lders Gua r an t ee

In the course of a recent address at the launch of the House Building Manual by the National House Guarantee Scheme, the Minister for the Environment, Michael Smith TD, expressed the hope that those involved in giving professional advice, such as solicitors or estate agents, would as a matter of policy advert to the availability, or otherwise, of a guarantee in all new house purchases. The benefits of buying a new house covered by the NHBGS guarantee include monitoring of construction standards, the attractiveness of the guarantee to lending agencies, cover for the buyer for loss of deposit and a

they do fully meets the requirements of the Regulations. The law requires compliance and the absence of a certification requirement does not in

any way diminish builders' obligations under the law."

The Minister continued "with approximately 13,700 registrations last year, the vast majority of new homes built for private sale now enjoy the benefits of the NHBGS Guarantee. There is still a small number of new house purchasers who do not have this protection and I would expect that those involved in giving professional advice, such as solicitors or estate agents, would as a matter of policy advert to the availability or otherwise of a guarantee in all new house purchases". The Minister said that the scope of the guarantee had been improved in 1990 when the scheme was reviewed by the Guarantee Company in consultation with his Department. Purchasers now enjoyed deposit cover and indemnity against a broader range of building defects, backed up by the substantial reserves the company had built up. •

Michael Smith, TD, Ministerfor the Environment the Regulations is to promote good and caring building practice." The Regulations, he said, provided objective guidance as to what actually constituted good building practice. "In keeping with that approach the Regulations do not require certification of compliance by contractors. This does not, of course, in any way diminish the responsibility of builders to ensure that everything

means of redress in the event of structural problems arising after completion.

The Minister also said that the introduction of the Building

Regulations, which came into force a year and a half ago, was one of the most significant developments for the construction industry in recent years. "They brought into force for the first time a building code for the country as a whole. Put simply, the objective of

Submission on Companies

(Amendment) Act (Continued from page 77) 14. Provision be made for the

payment of leasing creditors' current entitlements as an expense of the court protection. 15. The inequitable benefit of the Revenue Commissioners whereby debt written down is treated as a taxable receipt in the hands of the company and liable to corporation tax be removed.

• At the parchment ceremony on 4 February were l-r: Eddie O'Connor who was admitted to the Roll of Solicitors, with his mother, Nancy O 'Connor; his father, P. Desmond O 'Connor (right) who has been in practice as a solicitor for 42 years and (second from right) Professor Richard Woulfe, Director of Education.

Company and Commercial

Law

Committee

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