The Society of Chartered Surveyors has called on the Government to introduce legislation to ensure strict enforcement of building regulations.
The society said the legislation should include provision for qualified independent inspectors to be appointed for all building works.
It said the current policy of self-certification has failed to ensure a satisfactory standard of construction, due to a lack of regular inspections and enforcement procedures.
SCS pointed out that in the UK and most of Europe there is a far more stringent approach to ensuring compliance with building regulations than is currently the case in Ireland.
It has also called on the Department of the Environment to significantly increase the number of random inspections of developments in the interests of consumer protection, even if this means relaxing the public service employment embargo.
Under the current system, only 10% to 15% of developments are inspected.
