SOCOTEC Ireland joins Interim Remediation Scheme for defective apartments
During the Celtic Tiger period in Ireland, apartments and duplexes were built under a self-certification system with a lack of attention to quality. According to the Working Group to Examine Defects in Housing, 50-80% of buildings from the period may have defects, with up to 100,000 affected residential units.
The Interim Remediation Scheme was implemented in December 2023 to fix the fire safety defects in the apartments built between 1991 and 2013. The current scheme focuses on urgent fire safety remediation, with a full scheme to follow covering structural and façade defects.
Joining this framework is a natural progression for the team, who have been involved in similar schemes in the UK that we are servicing at a multi-disciplinary level. SOCOTEC are one of the seven consultants on the Building Safety Regulator Framework and have assessed over 750 Higher Risk Buildings in the UK for fire, façade and structural defects.
The Interim Remediation Scheme is temporarily in place until the Apartment and Duplex Defects Remediation Bill 2024 is passed. This bill will provide a legislative basis for the remediation of apartments and duplexes built during the two-decade period with fire safety issues and structural defects. This bill is currently in progress and has not been passed yet.
For buildings to qualify for the scheme, it must be an apartment or duplex built between 1991 and 2013 with fire safety defects caused by defective design, workmanship or materials in breach of the building regulations that applied at the time of construction, rather than defects caused by inadequate maintenance.
Due to the defects in buildings, there are issues with fire stopping and fire resistance, potentially leading to the rapid spread of fire between apartments, service risers acting as vertical chimneys, and escape routes not remaining usable for evacuation.
The Fire Services Acts 1981 and 2003 place legal responsibility on building owners and managers to maintain fire safety throughout the building's lifespan – this means the defects must be corrected.
To remediate the defects, a whole building approach will need to be taken. Each property will require a customised selection of measures, with fire safety as the priority. It is predicted that these measures will include implementing enhanced fire detection and alarm systems, enforcing clear escape routes, preventing the storage of combustible materials in the building's vicinity, checking doors are fire-resisting and self-closing, ensuring occupants are aware of fire safety measures and evacuation measures, and obtaining certification for existing fire safety systems.
SOCOTEC Ireland formally joined the Interim Remediation Scheme framework on 3 September 2026. This milestone strengthens SOCOTEC's role in supporting building owners, management companies and residents through the remediation process, drawing on the same multidisciplinary expertise already deployed on comparable schemes in the UK.
As a multidisciplinary business, SOCOTEC can provide assistance with all aspects of the remediation scheme: fire engineering, structural engineering, and façade engineering, with specific experience in complex occupied residential remediation.
“Joining the Interim Remediation Scheme framework is an important step for SOCOTEC Ireland, and a natural extension of the work our team already carries out on similar higher-risk building schemes in the UK.
Having assessed over 750 higher-risk buildings across fire, façade and structural disciplines as one of the seven consultants on the UK's Building Safety Regulator Framework, we bring proven, multidisciplinary experience to help Irish apartment owners, managers and residents navigate remediation with confidence and get their buildings safe as quickly as possible.”
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