9~12. Archiving of Records; E-lodgements; Professional Ethics; Insurance

9. Archiving of Records

Arrangements should be put in place by the Assigned Certifier and the Builder to ensure that records relating to the full service they provided to individual projects are retained for a minimum period of 6 years after completion. This should include ancillary certificates, plans, calculations, specifications, documents and records of inspection. A significant amount of these records may form part of the Safety File provided for under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations 2013, in which case these records do not need to be retained separately.

Arrangements should be made by all relevant parties for their transfer into safe keeping in the event of the holder of any relevant records ceasing to trade.

10. E-lodgements

The online Building Control Management System hosted by the Local Government Management Agency has been developed for use by all building control authorities as the preferred means of administration of building control functions. Owners, builders and professionals who seek to make paper-based submissions after 1 March 2014 will be required to pay an administrative charge to cover the cost of scanning and uploading their submissions. Statutory notice periods and validation timelines may also be affected.

11. Professional Ethics

Once a client has engaged a certifier for a project or preliminary negotiations are in progress, the professionalism with which that project is handled will be guided by the codes of conduct of the appropriate registered professional bodies.

These codes of conduct are publicly available from the relevant professional bodies.

12. Insurance

There are various types of insurances that are provided in the construction industry. Apart from general insurances such as employer’s liability and public liability insurances there are other insurances including professional indemnity insurance, and latent defects insurance policies provided by insurers who specialise in construction related insurance. The provision of guidance in relation to insurance is an important matter for consideration but it is outside the scope of this Code of Practice. Owners, and homeowners in particular, who commission works should generally satisfy themselves as to the adequacy of the insurances held by contractors or professionals they may wish to consider engaging. Often the level and scope of insurance cover held by other parties to a construction project will have a bearing on the willingness or otherwise of other industry practitioners to become involved.