--- title: "Consulting & Compliance" description: "Design and assigned certification under BCAR, and the reviews that establish whether what is already drawn can be built." updated: "2026-10-12" url: "https://www.petruf.ie/services/consulting-and-compliance" --- # Consulting & Compliance > Design and assigned certification under BCAR, and the reviews that establish whether what is already drawn can be built. Not every appointment starts at concept. A frame may be drawn, priced and part built by the time a question is asked about it, and the work then is proving what exists rather than designing what does not. We certify and review designs for projects across Kildare, Dublin and the rest of Leinster, from our office in Newbridge, and advise on the building regulations anywhere in Ireland. The same office handles the paperwork a sale turns on: Opinions on Compliance, declarations of identity and Land Registry maps for the solicitor, and expert witness reports where a structure ends up in dispute. ## What we do ### [Building Regulations Compliance](https://www.petruf.ie/services/consulting-and-compliance/building-regulations-compliance) Opinions on Compliance, design and assigned certification under BCAR, and advice before building. ### Declarations of Identity A declaration that the property on the ground is the one on the title, for a sale, a remortgage or probate. ### Land Registry Maps Maps drawn to Tailte Éireann's requirements for first registration, a transfer of part or a boundary correction. ### Expert Witness Reports Independent reports on structural defects and disputes for solicitors, insurers and the courts, with the engineer who wrote them available to give evidence. ### Construction Process Optimisation Streamlining construction processes by introducing innovative practices, technologies and techniques to improve overall efficiency. ### Federated Modelling Multiple discipline specific models brought together into a cohesive system, for improved collaboration and conflict resolution. ### Planning Permission Assistance Supporting the planning permission process, ensuring all necessary documentation and requirements are met for approval. ### Project Coordination Managing and overseeing all aspects of the project, to ensure that deadlines, budgets and quality standards are met. ### [Feasibility Studies](https://www.petruf.ie/services/consulting-and-compliance/feasibility-studies) The ground, the services, the access and the structure tested before the money is committed, with the abnormals named. ### Project Guidance Expert recommendations throughout the project, from conceptual design to completion, to ensure optimal efficiency. ### [PSDP and Design Risk Management](https://www.petruf.ie/services/consulting-and-compliance/psdp) PSDP appointments, preliminary safety and health plans and safety files, under the Construction Regulations 2013. ### Sustainability Consulting Advice on sustainable practices and materials, to ensure a project meets environmental standards and promotes long term sustainability. ### [Value Engineering](https://www.petruf.ie/services/structural-engineering/value-engineering) A design reviewed for the same building at less cost, before tender, with every alternative designed and signed for. ## The questions that come first ### What are the Building Control Amendment Regulations? Known as BCAR, and often as SI 9, they set out how compliance with the Building Regulations is certified in Ireland. They require named parties to take responsibility in writing at the start of the works and again at the end: a design certifier for the design, an assigned certifier for inspection and certification, and the builder for the building. ### What is a Certificate of Compliance on Completion? It is the certificate lodged at the end of the works, signed by the assigned certifier and the builder, stating that what was built complies with the Building Regulations. It has to be submitted to the building control authority and validated on the register before the building may be opened, occupied or used, so it sits on the critical path of handover, not after it. ### Who can act as assigned certifier? Only a registered professional: an architect on the RIAI register, a building surveyor on the SCSI register, or a chartered engineer on the register maintained by Engineers Ireland. They also have to be competent for the works in question, which is a separate test from being registered at all. ### What is the difference between the design certifier and the assigned certifier? The design certifier certifies that the design, as designed, complies with the Building Regulations. The assigned certifier is appointed for the construction stage: they plan and coordinate the inspections, gather the ancillary certificates from everyone who contributed, and sign the certificate on completion. One is about the drawings, the other about what was actually built. ### What has to be lodged with a Commencement Notice? For works inside statutory certification, the notice goes in with the appointments and undertakings of the design certifier, the assigned certifier and the builder, the design certificate, and a preliminary inspection plan. Works cannot lawfully start until it is lodged and validated, so it is worth treating the paperwork as part of the programme. ### Can a one off house opt out of statutory certification? It can. A declaration of intention to opt out can be filed with the commencement notice for a single dwelling or an extension, which removes the requirement to appoint certifiers and lodge the statutory certificates. Check with the lender and the solicitor first: many lenders discourage it, and some will not release funds without full certification. ### Can a building be occupied before the certificate is filed? No. Where the works are subject to statutory certification, the building may not be opened, occupied or used until the Certificate of Compliance on Completion has been submitted and included on the register. Planning the certification around the intended occupation date, rather than after it, is the way to avoid an empty finished building. ### What is value engineering, and when is it worth doing? It is going back through a design to find the same performance for less money: a different structural system, a simpler grid, less material in the same member. It is worth doing while the design can still absorb the change, which usually means before tender. Done after the frame is ordered it tends to save less than it costs to implement. ### What is a declaration of identity, and when does a solicitor ask for one? It is a declaration, made after an inspection, that the property on the ground is the one described in the title and shown on the Land Registry map. Solicitors ask for one on a sale, a remortgage or probate, usually when the boundaries on site do not quite match the map, or when the title is old enough that nobody has checked the two against each other in years. ### What is a Land Registry compliant map? A map of the property drawn to the mapping requirements of Tailte Éireann, which now runs the Land Registry, with the boundary marked on the current base map. It is needed for a first registration, for a transfer of part of a holding such as a site sold off a farm, and for correcting a boundary that the registered map has wrong. A map that does not meet the requirements is sent back, which holds up the sale behind it. ### When do I need an engineer as an expert witness? When a structural question has to be settled by somebody other than the two sides arguing about it: a defects claim against a builder, an insurance dispute, a boundary or neighbour case, or a claim that is going to mediation, arbitration or court. An expert's duty is to the court rather than to the client who appoints them, which is what makes the report worth relying on. It is best brought in early, before positions harden.