Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2014 (S.I. No. 9 of 2014) and the Code of Practice for Inspecting and Certifying Buildings and Works.

The Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2014 came into operation on 1 March 2014. They amend the Building Control Regulations 1997 so that, for the works they cover, the building owner must assign a competent Design Certifier, Assigned Certifier and Builder. A commencement notice is lodged on the Building Control Management System with a design certificate, notices of assignment, undertakings and a preliminary inspection plan. At the end, a Certificate of Compliance on Completion is lodged with the plans, calculations, specifications and the inspection plan as implemented, and the building control authority checks its validity within 21 days.

The regime applies to new dwellings, certain domestic extensions and works that need a fire safety certificate, which takes in most non-domestic buildings. Since September 2015 the owner of a new single dwelling on a single unit development, or of a domestic extension, can opt out of statutory certification.

Article 20G provides for a Code of Practice for Inspecting and Certifying Buildings and Works; following it is prima facie evidence of compliance. The current Code is dated September 2016. It sets out the roles of each party and the inspection plan, and it is where ancillary certificates are defined. Designers provide ancillary certificates for their elements when the Assigned Certifier and Design Certifier require them. The Builder co-ordinates specialist subcontractors and ensures their certificates are provided. The completion certificate is lodged with a schedule of those ancillary certificates.

For a wayfinding package, the signage contractor's ancillary certificate normally confirms that the signs were designed, supplied and installed to the approved specification and the relevant Technical Guidance Documents. Floor identification, accessible signage and fire safety signs are the usual subjects. Certify only what you designed, made, installed or inspected, and be precise about it.

The 2014 Regulations have been amended several times. S.I. No. 365 of 2015 introduced the opt-out. S.I. No. 361 of 2024, S.I. No. 531 of 2024 and S.I. No. 56 of 2025 dealt with planning-exempt dwellings, fire safety remediation works and Part B alignment. S.I. No. 359 of 2026, in operation from 27 July 2026, aligned domestic extension thresholds with new planning exemptions. In England the closest counterpart for tall residential buildings, care homes and hospitals is the Building Safety Act 2022 gateway regime. There the Building Safety Regulator is the building control authority and a golden thread of information replaces a schedule of certificates.