Pyrite Resolution Act 2013

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Interpretation

2. In this Act—

“appeals officer” means a person appointed under section 26 (1);

“applicant” means the owner or joint owner of a dwelling to which this Act applies who applies to the Board under section 15 (1);

“Board” means the board established under section 8 (2);

“builder” means a person who has constructed a new dwelling and includes a person who is connected, within the meaning of section 10 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 , with the first-mentioned person as part of an arrangement in connection with the construction or disposal of the dwelling;

“building condition assessment” means a study of relevant information and a visual non- invasive internal and external inspection of a dwelling carried out by a competent person, under and in accordance with the standard for testing, to establish the presence or absence of visible damage that is consistent with pyritic heave and to quantify the extent and significance of such damage;

“competent person” means a person having sufficient theoretical and practical training, experience and knowledge appropriate to the nature of the work to be undertaken;

“damage condition rating” means the rating assigned to a dwelling following a building condition assessment under and in accordance with the standard for testing;

“decision maker” shall be construed in accordance with section 15 (6);

“developer” means a person carrying on a trade which consists, wholly or partly, of the construction or refurbishment of buildings or structures with a view to their sale and includes a person who is connected, within the meaning of section 10 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 , with the first-mentioned person as part of an arrangement in connection with the construction or refurbishment of buildings or structures with a view to their sale;

“eligibility criteria” has the meaning given to it by section 14 (2)(a);

“emergency” means any event or circumstance or combination of events or circumstances, arising out of or in connection with pyritic heave, that has occurred or may occur which—

(a) adversely affects or may adversely affect the structural integrity of a dwelling or any part thereof,

(b) results or may result in a risk to the safety of any person, and

(c) requires urgent action in order to eliminate or mitigate those adverse effects and that risk;

“establishment day” means the day appointed under section 8 (1);

“hardcore” means engineered infill material designed to support a ground floor slab of a dwelling and, as the case may be, an adjoining footpath;

“Housing Agency” means the Housing and Sustainable Communities Agency;

“Minister” means the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government;

“pyrite remediation” means works for or ancillary to the remediation of significant pyritic damage to dwellings and includes investigation of the damage and the design, specification and supervision of such works and activities connected with the foregoing;

“pyrite remediation scheme” means the scheme made under section 13 ;

“pyritic heave” means upward pressure to constructed works (including floor slabs) and lateral pressure to the rising walls in buildings, resulting specifically from swelling of hardcore due to oxidation of reactive pyrite;

“reactive pyrite” means pyrite in a form that is readily oxidised;

“scheme participant” means an applicant whose dwelling has been included in the pyrite remediation scheme;

“significant pyritic damage” has the meaning given to it by section 4 ;

“standard for remediation” means Irish Standard 398-2:2013 Reactive pyrite in sub-floor hardcore material — Part 2: Methodology for remediation works, published by the National Standards Authority of Ireland and any amendment thereto or replacement thereof as may be prescribed under section 14 (9)(b);

“standard for testing” means Irish Standard 398-1:2013 Reactive pyrite in sub-floor hardcore material — Part 1: Testing and categorisation protocol, published by the National Standards Authority of Ireland and any amendment thereto or replacement thereof as may be prescribed under section 14 (9)(a);

“verification report” has the meaning given to it by section 16 (2).