--- title: "Building Regulations Compliance" description: "Opinions on Compliance for a sale or remortgage, design and assigned certification under BCAR, and advice before building." updated: "2026-10-12" url: "https://www.petruf.ie/services/consulting-and-compliance/building-regulations-compliance" --- # Building Regulations Compliance > Opinions on Compliance for a sale or remortgage, design and assigned certification under BCAR, and advice before building. In Ireland nobody approves a building against the Building Regulations before it is built. The owner has to comply, the designers and the builder certify what they did, and the building control authority checks a sample. Compliance is something you show, not something you are given. Where the work is under BCAR we act as design certifier and as assigned certifier, and sign the ancillary certificates for the structure and the civil works. Where it is not, because the work is older, smaller or exempt, an Opinion on Compliance is what a buyer's solicitor and a lender will ask for, and we give those for the Building Regulations and for planning. Our opinions cover the structure, the drainage and the civil works we can inspect. On a whole house the rest is for the architect or surveyor, and every opinion says plainly where ours stops. ## What we do ### Opinion on Compliance with the Building Regulations For a sale or a remortgage where no BCAR certificate exists: an inspection, and a written opinion on the structure and the drainage. ### Opinion on planning compliance Whether completed work matches its planning permission, or falls within an exemption, read from the planning file and the site. ### Assigned certifier The inspection plan, the inspections, the ancillary certificates gathered, and the Certificate of Compliance on Completion signed with the builder. ### Design certifier The design certificate lodged with the commencement notice, against a design that has actually been checked. ### Ancillary certificates Certificates for the structure and the civil works we design, which the assigned certifier relies on at completion. ### Advice before design The scheme read against the Parts that apply to it, so a stair, an opening or a drain is resolved on the drawing rather than on site. ### Work done without certificates Existing work inspected, opened up where that is the only way to see it, and what has to be done where it falls short. ## The Building Regulations, Part by Part The regulations run from Part A to Part M, with no Part I, and each Part has a Technical Guidance Document showing one way to comply. Following the guidance is evidence of compliance; another route has to be shown to work as well. ### Part A: Structure Loading, ground movement and disproportionate collapse. **In our scope.** ### Part B: Fire safety Means of escape, fire spread inside and out, and access for the fire service, with separate guidance for dwellings and other buildings. ### Part C: Site preparation and resistance to moisture Preparing the ground, radon, and keeping damp out. ### Part D: Materials and workmanship Proper materials, used in a workmanlike way. ### Part E: Sound Sound insulation between dwellings and in some other buildings. ### Part F: Ventilation Air quality, and condensation in rooms and roofs. ### Part G: Hygiene Sanitary facilities, washing and hot water. ### Part H: Drainage and wastewater disposal Foul and surface water drainage, and wastewater treatment systems. **In our scope.** ### Part J: Heat producing appliances Air supply, flues and hearths for stoves, boilers and fires. ### Part K: Stairways, ladders, ramps and guards Stair geometry, handrails, and guarding wherever there is a drop. ### Part L: Conservation of fuel and energy Insulation, airtightness and energy performance, with separate guidance for dwellings and other buildings. ### Part M: Access and use Buildings that everyone, including people with disabilities, can reach and use. ## What you receive Each one says what it covers and what it does not. - A written opinion, with what was inspected and what could not be seen stated plainly - Photographs, and a note of anything that has to be put right before an opinion can be given - The design certificate and the preliminary inspection plan for the commencement notice - Inspection records through the build, and the ancillary certificates for the structure and the civil works - The Certificate of Compliance on Completion, lodged so it can be validated before the building is occupied ## The questions that come first ### Do I need a certificate of compliance to sell my house? Not by law, but a buyer's solicitor and a lender will ask for one for every extension or alteration. Where the work was under BCAR the Certificate of Compliance on Completion answers it; where it was not, an Opinion on Compliance is what is given instead. ### What is an Opinion on Compliance? A professional's written opinion, after an inspection, that completed work substantially complies with the Building Regulations, or with its planning permission or an exemption. It is not a statutory certificate and not a guarantee, but conveyancing relies on it where no certificate exists. ### What is the difference between a planning opinion and a building regulations opinion? They answer different questions. A planning opinion says whether the work matches its permission or falls within an exemption, and is read from the planning file. A building regulations opinion says whether it was built to the regulations, and is read from the building. A sale usually needs both. ### Does my extension need BCAR? Only if it is over 45 m², the threshold since 27 July 2026, or needs a fire safety certificate, and the owner has not opted out. A smaller extension still has to comply with the Building Regulations, and an Opinion on Compliance is how that is shown at sale. ### What does the assigned certifier do? Writes the inspection plan, inspects and coordinates the inspections while the work is built, gathers the ancillary certificates from everyone who designed or built part of it, and signs the Certificate of Compliance on Completion with the builder. The building cannot be occupied until that certificate is validated on the register. ### Does the council approve my plans under the Building Regulations? No. The building control authority validates the commencement notice and the completion certificate and inspects a sample of buildings, but it does not approve designs. Compliance is the owner's responsibility, shown by the certificates or, outside BCAR, by an opinion. ### Can an opinion be given on work that cannot be seen? Only a qualified one. Foundations, drains and steel hidden behind finishes are taken on the evidence available, and the opinion says so. Where a buyer or lender needs more, the structure is opened up at the point that matters and the opinion is given on what is found. ### What about work done before the Building Regulations? The first Building Regulations, of 1991, came into operation on 1 June 1992 and do not apply to work commenced before that day, nor to work carried out under the local building bye-laws that preceded them. Older work is not assessed against them; an opinion on it says so, and comments on the condition of what is there.