The dream of owning your own home becomes a nightmare when you are affected by serious building defects such as defective concrete blocks.

Dealing with the consequences of building defects

If you have already bought a home with building defects like defective concrete  blocks, your options can include litigation or claims against Structural Guarantee Schemes on your home – generally provided by Premier Guarantee or Homebond. Our own experience of helping those affected by the current controversy is that Premier Guarantee are honouring their policy in defective blocks cases whilst Homebond have taken a more negative approach and are difficult to work with. I have inspected over 220 houses in the past two years, but the number of houses affected is estimated to be in the thousands.

Taking matters into my own hands, I have initiated negotiations on a Government Redress Scheme similar to the Pyrite Redress Scheme set up to deal with that particular issue, and there is a local campaign group also lobbying for redress – the Mica Action Group. I have  assisted Donegal homeowners by reporting to the Minister for the Environment on the matter, and I have met with Senior Advisers from the Department of the Environment -which has now led to the setting up of a Government Independent Expert Panel to investigate this issue. I have already met with this expert panel in the presence of the Mica Action Group.

How homebuyers can avoid building defects

The defective concrete blocks issue is now affecting the housing market in this area because homebuyers are now hesitant to purchase. At HD McKay, we are doing more and more pre-purchase surveys as a result, because homebuyers want to avoid potential building defects issues. Also, solicitors and banks are insisting on these surveys prior to completion of the contracts. Find out more about Pre-purchase surveys here.

If you have any questions about defective concrete blocks, seeking redress or other building defects, then please call us on +353 74 9129243 or email damien@consultingengineers.ie