ADJUDICATION
Interest for Late Payment
The High Court in Ireland addressed interest for late payment in adjudication decisions in a judgment in Finnegan Contracts Ltd v Killycard Developments Ltd [2024] IEHC 752.
We look at the outcome in our Insights blog: Construction Law Update: Interest in Adjudication Decisions
Court dismisses Application to Enforce a Decision
In Tenderbids Ltd t/a Bastion v Electrical Waste Management Ltd [2025] IEHC 139, the High Court dismissed an application to enforce an adjudicator's decision based on a finding that the payment dispute was never validly referred for adjudication. It is unusual for a Court not to enforce an adjudicator's decision. Our briefing on this judgment will follow soon.
STANDARD FORM CONTRACTS
JCT
The latest JCT Contracts Complete Edition is now available. The newest addition include Construction Management Contract 2024, the Management Building Contract 2024, and the Framework Agreement 2024. Information on key changes in the 2024 suite of contracts is available on the JCT website.
Office of Government Procurement
The Office of Government Procurement indicates that guidance to support the new Fee Adjustment Mechanism (to take account of inflation in consultants' contracts) is to be made available. Further information is available at Guidance and Tool to Support New Fee Adjustment Mechanism | Capital Works Management Framework.
The Conditions of Engagement – Fee Adjustment Factor will be published in Q4 2026 and then quarterly. The OGP indicates that this is the earliest date it can be published because of the periods for which tendered fees and hourly rates will remain fixed under contracts.
LEGISLATION
Building Control Regulations
S.I. No. 56/2025 - Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2025 come into operation on 1 May 2025. They amend the Building Control Regulations to align with amendments to the Building Regulations made by S.I. 108/2024.
The explanatory note indicates that, in addition to amending and introducing new definitions, the amendments expand the requirements to:
- lodge a commencement notice to include a material alteration to a storage building, where a Fire Safety Certificate is not required;
- obtain a fire safety certificate to include a material alteration to a storage building, where the building is being subdivided, or additional floor area is being provided within the building;
- obtain a fire safety certificate to include the material change of use, where an industrial building–normal hazard, industrial building–high hazard, storage building–normal hazard, or storage building–high hazard becomes so used; and
- obtain a disability access certificate to include storage buildings, where the building is being subdivided, or additional floor area is being provided within the building.
Spring Legislative Programme
In the Spring Legislative Programme, the Government lists the following for priority publication:
- Apartment and Duplex Defects Remediation Bill: The intent is to put in place a statutory scheme to establish supports for the remediation of fire safety, structural safety and water ingress defects in purpose-built apartment buildings, including duplexes, constructed between 1991 and 2013. Heads of Bill were approved in September 2024.
- Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Bill: The intent is to introduce amendments and additions to the Housing Acts in respect of social housing eligibility, specifically, making statutory arrangements for residency requirements, as well as amendments to the Building Control Acts. Pre-legislative scrutiny completed in May 2024.
The Government has listed the following for priority drafting:
- Heat (Networks and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill: The intent is to establish a regulatory model for district heating that ensures consumer protection and the delivery of a district heating industry, and to mandate all public sector buildings and facilities to connect to district heating where it is available and is technically and economically feasible. Heads of Bill were approved in October 2024.
- Energy Performance of Buildings Bill: The intent is to transpose the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EU/2024/1275). Heads of Bill are under preparation.
Other legislation in the Spring Programme includes:
- Building Standards Regulatory Authority Bill: The intent is to establish a Building Standards Regulatory Authority to strengthen the oversight role of the State in respect of the design and construction of buildings and the marketing and use of construction products. Heads of Bill are under preparation.
SUSTAINABILITY
Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism
The CBAM applies to certain goods being imported into the EU, including iron, steel, aluminium, cement, electricity, fertilisers and hydrogen. It is designed to apply the same carbon costs to those goods as would have been incurred had they been produced in the EU.
The Commission has now published legislation to simplify the operation of the CBAM. We look at the detail in our briefing: Omnibus Package: Revision of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism
Housing
The European Commission and the European Investment Bank Group are collaborating on a pan-European investment platform for affordable and sustainable housing. It is intended to progress:
- partnerships between the Commission and national promotional banks and international financial institutions for easier access to finance and advice,
- EU-wide rollout by widening the regional scope of EIB support with an emphasis on countries with less mature housing systems and large unmet needs, where an enhanced advisory component will complement financing,
- a value-chain approach, by opening up to new types of housing projects, and
- mobilisation of the private sector, by expanding the client base to include private promoters.
In Ireland, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage allocated funding to deliver 849 new cost rental and affordable purchase homes across ten local authorities.
This article contains a general summary of developments and is not a complete or definitive statement of the law. Specific legal advice should be obtained where appropriate.
