No checks of Designer, Builder or Assigned Certifier on #BCMS

by Mark Stephens

One of the key omissions with the new Building Control Management System (BCMS) is that there appears to be no checks on the legitimacy and qualifications of the person registering for the system and the legitimacy and qualifications when assigning the Designer, Builder or Assigned Certifier.

Currently (as the system stands) you can undertake the following:

• Register for the system under a fake email and user name, as this is all that is required. There would appear to be no checks upon the identity of the person actually registering for the system. Other public service websites such as Revenue Online Service (ROS) require certificates/passwords to be sent out in post.

• There would appear to be no checks upon the legitimacy or qualifications of the Designer or Assigned Certifier. This could possibly mean that fictitious names and qualifications can be used to assign the Designer or Assigned Certifier and it may also allows legitimate registration numbers of Architects, Chartered Engineers and registered Building Surveyors to be used illegally by others without check. This may be of concern to professional firms advertised publicly on the Homebond register.

• There would appear to be no checks upon the name or qualifications of the builder. You could possibly use a fictitious name of a builder and the system may allow this to be an Assigned Builder.

These key omissions should have been implemented as part of S.I.No.9 and are why deferral had been requested. The above post does not in any way seek to promote fraudulent use of the BMCS system.