Social housing body faces €500,000 bill at Beacon block

A social housing organisation is facing costs of more than €500,000 to fix fire safety defects at an apartment block in Beacon South Quarter in Sandyford, Dublin.

Cluid owns one of the four apartment blocks in the south Dublin complex which is understood to require more than €10 million work to fix fire safety and other structural defects.

Up to 800 apartments at the development are understood to be affected by the defects which include “a large number of fire safety deficiencies”, according to a fire consultants’ report .

Owners of apartments in blocks A, B1, C and D at Beacon are being asked by BSQ Management Company Ltd to pay €9.1 million into a sinking fund for fire remedial works, while residents in blocks A and D are being asked for just over €1 million in relation to water damage.

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A report by Jeremy Gardner and Associates Fire Consultants found a large number of fire safety deficiencies which varied in seriousness but did not make any of the blocks “potentially dangerous buildings” that under fire regulations would require evacuation.

Cluid owns block B1, a block of 58 apartments also known as the Arcs. One of the smaller blocks in the complex, it is not affected by water damage, but does require €541,523 in fire safety work, according to BSQ Management Company Ltd.

Simon Brooke, director of policy with Cluid, said it was aware of the issues with the block, but said there was no tenant safety issue associated with the defects.

“Tenant safety is not compromised in any way. Work has to be done, and naturally we will make sure that the work needed is done.”

Management company

Mr Brooke said Cluid would wait until after next month’s agm of the management company to determine how the work would be funded.

Owners will be asked to vote in favour of the charges at the meeting on February 6th. Apartment owner Aoife Culleton said she would not be voting in favour of the sinking fund payments.

“We haven’t been given any information on how these costs have been broken down. I simply don’t have the €10,000-€15,000 that’s being asked for, and I don’t think many people would. I won’t be voting for it, and I don’t think we’ve been given enough information to vote.”

Ms Culleton said she expected those who built or signed off on the development to bear the costs of remediation.

“I would expect this to be covered by whatever insurance the builders had or any other professionals who signed off on these buildings. In my opinion whoever signed off on the fire safety of the building, this cost should go back to them and their insurers.”

Since March 2014 an “assigned certifier” – an architect, engineer or a surveyor – must sign a document guaranteeing that a property is built in accordance with building regulations. However, this system was not in place when Beacon was built.

Beacon South Quarter was built in 2005 by Landmark Enterprises. The company went into receivership in 2010, and, according to receiver Mazars, remains in receivership, although all apartments previously held by the company have been sold.

Attempts to contact Paddy Shovlin of Landmark were unsuccessful. Mr Shovlin was declared bankrupt in the UK in 2012.