CIAT General Business Meeting

On Saturday last I made the early morning trip to Dublin to the CIAT General Business Meeting. The attendance, wasn't as bad as I expected although, it was still only 5% of the actual membership of the Irish Centre. So much for people’s interest in an Institute and one wonders why they are members at times.

As part of the meeting the President Mark Kenneth made a presentation. I have to say that Mark was very down to earth. The presentation was very interesting and informative. As one guy said the kind of thing to help boost moral in the current climate. It wasn't just talk there is substance behind it: Mark informed us that the practice documentation is now ready for use by ROI Chartered members and have referred another matter to the Competition Authority. More reasons to have my POP Record completed sooner rather than later.

All that went forward were re-elected to the committee along with two new members, officers will be decided in the coming weeks at the new committee’s first meeting.

IATGN/Tegral CPD Event

Last night I headed to WIT for the IATGN/Tegral CPD event and added two more hours to the CPD record. The attendance was by no means great, however this could have been attributed to the timing, as the evenings get long people rather be in the garden than travelling to meetings.I think the lads inthe IATGN recoknised this too. The fact that so many AT's are no longer working too didn't help matters either I guess.

One reason I like attending events like these, is the social side and the chat with fellow AT's whom I don't often see. At the last event back in March I met a guy whom, I was in collage with in WIT that I hadn't seen in almost 14 years and again last night I met one guy whom I hadn't seen in 16 years, whom I was in collage with, in Carlow RTC as it was then. This I feel is the real benfit of a graduate network and something I would hope will not be lost going forward.

The presentations/ topics covered on the night were made by Bobby O'Neill of theTegral and were very informative, I had past experience of the Slating presentation, however I did pick up a few things, or a few items were refreshed in my mind. The second part of the presentation was on rainscreen cladding and while general was very informative and is something I will be looking into further, particularly as a method of weathering external insulation type construction.

Saturday sees me in Dublin for the CIAT General Business meeting and an opportunity to meet a few more fellow ATs.

CPD Events and meetings

CPD is back on the agenda with a number of events planned in the coming weeks. First up is an IATGN organised event on Wednesday next in WIT: Tegral Building Products will be making two presentations, one , their excellent CPD event relating to slating and the second rain screen cladding. Something for both the domestic and the commercial orientated AT there.

Then on Saturday 25th its off to Dublin for the CIAT General Business Meeting and an audience with the CIAT's President Mark Kenneth, where I am going forward for re-election to the CIAT Centre's Committee. It will be interesting to see what kind of attendance will be there.

In May, I am scheduled to attend the CIAT organised course in relation to the role of PSDP (Project Supervisor Design Process). This course will be of assistance in allowing me undertake the role of PSDP and expand the range of services that can be provided by the practice. It is also hoed to hold a POP record workshop on the Tuesday evening of that event, which I also plan to attend.

Positive vibes

Despite yesterday's budget, there appears to be some pick up in work, or definitely the office seems busier the last few days with clients coming and going. A number of projects are progressing to their next stage; planning applications to be lodged, fire safety certificate applications to be made and construction drawings to be prepared. We even received a positive decision from An Bord Pleanala.

Planning Decisions and invalidations

We received another positive decision from a planning authority on Friday last, it seems as if the penny has finally dropped in local government. The conditions were even favourable for a change.

Well maybe not as the ever increasing list of petty things giving cause for invalidations continues. I got a call from a planning authority to inform me to expect the return of the application as it has been invalidated due to a number of petty things, which won''t have been considered as items to invalid an application 6 months ago. In the course of the conversation I was advised to address a number of building control related items, which although they didn't invalidate the application, the local authority would be seeking them to be addressed even though they don't have a material effect on the planning application. Planning Authorities have now assumed the role of the Building Control Authority by all accounts... I wonder will they be issuing Opinions of Compliance with Planning and Building Regulations also.

Progress or is it?

Yesterday's pre-planning meeting was positive, the planner liked the proposals and would welcome the redevelopment of the site, however (there's always one) we were advised to engage with the DEHLG as the building is on the NIAH although no longer a protected structure. I suppose one has to welcome the fact that the planner was helpful and flagged to us that we should engage with the Department prior to making the planning submission, sometime that would properly not have happened in the past... watch this space to see how the development progresses.

At the same meeting, we took the opportunity to run by proposed revisions to a recently permitted development, prior to compliance submission. The planner was favourable towards the revisions, so we will now be submitting the revisions formally, and avoid the repeat of a high profile case which occurred recently in Cashel. Its positive news and allows me to proceed full steam ahead with preparing the Fire Safety Certificate application and working drawings now, for this project.

Pre-Planning Meeting

Later this morning I'll be attending a pre-planning meeting with the local planner to discuss proposals for the redevelopment of a property in town, known as Anglea's The site has been subject to two previous planning applications in the past, neither of which got any further that further information stage.

The fact that the property has been deleted from the list of projected structures in the past few months should help the case, in progressing the development this time. The building has been altered on a number of occasions in the past which has effected the structural integrity of the building. None of the walls are tied together. There is also evidence of movement, one only has to look at the crack in the picture. The original roof has been long removed, indeed there is evidence to suggest that the building has been shortened in the past too. The detail of the windows further suggests that the building has been altered overtime, so a redevelopment of the building at this time, is another stage in the life of the building.

Our proposal, is to partially demolish the building and reconstruct this in a contemporary style to distinguish the new works form the original... of course this is dependant on how we get on with the planner this morning.

Planning Applications and decisions

Just putting the finishing touches to two "huge" (not ! ) planning applications this morning: A retention application for a coffee shop measuring 30 sq . m and an application for a replacement domestic garage.

The coffee shop application, is a result of planning enforcement, which is a big thing at the moment, in many of these case the first part should seek a Section 5 Declaration or referral, where a warning letter is sent out, prior to replying for retention. It was not an option in this case as there is not parent permission. The decision f the planning authority will be interesting.

The application for the garage is a straight forward application, although an additional hassle on the clients, has they have had the garage uprooted, due tot he recent flood relief works in Clonmel.

Friday did bring some positive news in that the planning authority granted permission for a development... admittedly reducing the floor area by 230 sq. metres, in reducing the development by a floor.

Friday was also to see a decision by An Bord Pleanala, in respect to a development which was subject to a third party appeal, however as of yet there is no news, the decision date , has been put back a number of times already, so there will be no surprise, if its put back again.

Dependance on Technology

For almost a week now, our server in work has been down, a faulty hard disk is the problem, I'm told. Its meant that everything on the network was down, printers, email, internet access, and even access to files. Fortunately I had loads of paperwork to tidy up, so the down time allowed me attend to that, but at the same time it has shown how depend we have become on certain pieces of technology. Email and internet access are now an important part of the office structure,providing access to local authority planning files, application forms, and documents and even printer drivers. I went about setting up our mian printers as local printers on my laptop, only to find there were no drivers in the office, nor does the printer manufacturer supply them..... other than to download them for their website.... a bit of a problem if you have no internet access. Anyway things should be back up and running before the weekend, and possibly tomorrow.

Information Evening

On Thursday Evening I headed to WIT for one of the IATGN information evenings. The attendance was much smaller than the previous events, with approximately 25 in attendance; a reflection on how the industry currently is.

On the night three topics were covered; Accessibility Auditing by William Longeran MCIAT and OPW Architectural Assistant, Update on Planning by Peter Thompson Planning Consultant and Vista Options for the Architectural Technologist/Technician by a rep from VisaFirst.com. The evening was worth attending as I did learn something from each of the speakers presentations.

The Accessibility Auditing was particularly interesting, considering that it s expected that in the comming year the long awaited Access Certificates will be introduced. BS8300 2009 will be on the shopping list for these I would image. Now when things are quiet , is the ideal time to get up to speed with that document and incorporating the principals of same into new building design.

The second presentation of the night on planning, was beneficial and I picked up some information on enforcement and that every often is it best to request a declaration or referral under Section 5 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, where Planning Authorities issue a warning letter prior to applying for retention permission. The talk moved on the proposed new planning bill and the expected implications for development plans and zoning. By all accounts zoning will not longer be a case of putting a colour on a map: things like demostration of adequate services, school capacities etc will have to be taken into account when lands are been zoned. No doubt it will be up to the landowner to demonstrate that the lands should be zoned.

The third talk was on visas, it was more interesting than I expected it would be.

Afterwards a cup of tea was enjoyed , and more importantly a chat with fellow ATs.