Disability Access Certificate
The Department of the Environment made the Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2009 (SI no 351 of 2009) last year. All of these regulations are in force since 1 January 2010.
These regulations introduced a completely new system to toughen the provisions dealing with access for people with disability.
The new provision imposes a prohibition on opening, operating or occupying buildings unless a disability access certificate (DAC) has been granted by the building control authority in respect of the building. A breach of this prohibition will be an offence and render a person in breach liable to prosecution under the Building Control Act 1990 as amended.
The regulations apply to any new building (apart from new houses) and to an existing building where significant revisions or changes are made to it. There are exemptions, which are similar to those for a fire safety certificate.
While you do not need a DAC for a new house, Part M of the building regulations was extended to new houses in 2000: so, while you may not need a DAC, a new house must be designed and built so as to provide access for the disabled.
The procedure for making an application for a DAC is set out in the regulations and sensibly includes provisions for a revised DAC in the event that the design changes.
The procedure for applying for a DAC and the form of the certificate itself and provisions for appeals are broadly similar to those in relation to the fire safety certificate procedure. Oddly, it does not seem to be possible to apply for a DAC retrospectively.
It is the view of the committee that solicitors acting for tenants and purchasers of properties should treat DACs in the same way as fire safety certificates.
General Condition 36(b) of the Law Society Conditions of Sale (2009 edition) includes a warranty by the vendor that any development on the property that is the subject of the contract has been carried out in substantial compliance with the Building Control Act 1990. General Condition 36(d) provides that copies of, inter alia, all fire safety certificates should be furnished. A solicitor acting for a purchaser should ensure that, where appropriate, a special condition is included in a contract to provide that General Condition 36(d) shall be deemed to include a DAC. In any event, the architect or other party issuing one of the agreed forms of certificate of opinion on compliance with building control, required to be furnished under General Condition 36(e)(ii), will need to be satisfied that the DAC has issued where required, and that any conditions thereof have been complied with. In the same way that the agreed forms of certificate of opinion on compliance with building control do not make specific reference to fire safety certificates, they need not make specific reference to DACs. A solicitor acting for a tenant should ensure that the agreement for lease covers the production of a DAC in the same way as a fire safety certificate and the furnishing of an appropriate certificate of opinion on compliance.