Inconsistent planning regulations are pushing up the cost of building, the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) claimed today.
The institute's president, Mr Tony Reddy, called on the Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, to publish national planning charter and establish monitoring body to oversee its implementation.
Mr Reddy recognised efforts in recent years to address the issue such as the amalgamation of planning legislation into a single act and praised the work of some local authorities.
But he said: "The inconsistencies in the planning system are causing frustration and alienation among building professionals and ordinary people alike as well as imposing unnecessary extra financial costs."
Despite efforts to regularise the system, Mr Reddy said there were inconsistencies in "basic requirements" such as site notices and advertisements of planning
applications, leading to time and resources being wasted.
Among the inconsistencies Mr Reddy referred to was one local authority who declined planning permission because the site notice did not contain the words "site notice". Another authority invalidated an application because the signature at the bottom had faded and was illegible.
As an example of such inconsistencies, Mr Reddy referred to an application to one of Dublin's local authorities that stipulated that houses included balconies. They were told the balconies need not be mentioned in the public advertisement of the development.
However, an application for three houses lodged with a different Dublin authority by the same architect firm was rejected but it did not advertise the balconies.
"A number of planning authorities, or individual staff within those authorities, are acting as independent agencies without any effective management or oversight," Mr Reddy said.
A planning charter forum should be established for such inconsistencies to be analysed and if necessary changed, he added, saying otherwise such matters could end up going through the costly courts process.
He also said the development-control guidelines being developed by the Department of the Environment will not address the problem "unless there is recognition of the unacceptable practices of a small number of planning authorities".