Those residents, unable to move back into houses they still have to pay for, have spent nearly a year in legal limbo...
More than 2,000 developments begun during that period have turned into “ghost estates,” ...Others, built under a system that allowed developers to “self-certify” — meaning that they could unilaterally declare, with only minimal government oversight, that their properties complied with building codes — are now falling apart, even while residents live there.
— NYTimes
A look at how self-certification helped developers cut corners during Ireland's construction boom, leaving home-owners homeless and trapped in a legal bind.
2 Comments
self-certification.... crazy stuff.
Does anyone have experience with self-certification in his/her own city? What do you think of the process - does it leave a loop-hole for cut-corner construction, or is it a helpful way to cut through unnecessary bureaucratic red tape?
I found the article interesting; there are some parallels to what's happening here in Chicago, where quite a few boom-time condo developments have been found to be built with significant errors (some leading to building condemnation), leaving owners simultaneously bereft and holding the bag. Not sure what role (if any) self-cert played in those, though.
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