Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 March 2024
704. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the time spent to carry out the four-stage approval process for publicly funded capital projects for each social housing, cost rental, affordable purchase, and mixed tenure development completed in 2022, broken down by tenure type and county, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13125/24]
View answerConstruction of new build social housing units on local authority lands follows the Capital Works Management Framework (CWMF) which includes four pre-construction stages, as follows -
• Stage 1 – Capital Appraisal
• Stage 2 – Procurement of Integrated Design Team and development outline design
• Stage 3 – Statutory Approvals including Part 8, DAC and Fire Safety, detailed design/tender documentation preparation
• Stage 4 – Tender and Contract Award
As local authorities develop each stage, they are required to provide an updated cost plan and supporting documentation so that the Department, as the funding authority, can review and confirm funding approval. These reviews are required to ensure projects achieve value for money.
An overall target programme of 59 weeks from submission of a valid Stage 1 Capital Appraisal to the award of the construction contract, was agreed with the CCMA Housing Committee and is set out in Housing Circular 2/2018. This target of 59 weeks is the expected timeline for projects of a straightforward nature. The range of local authority social housing projects includes many that are large and complex and require additional time for detailed design and statutory approvals. The 59-week target programme is broken down as follows:
|
- |
Responsible |
Target Weeks |
|
Stage 1 – Capital Appraisal Approval, allowing LA to develop proposal |
DHLGH |
4 |
|
Stage 2 – Procurement of Integrated Design Team, develop outline design |
Local Authority |
12 |
|
Stage 2 – Approval-in-Principle |
DHLGH |
4 |
|
Stage 3 – Statutory Approvals include Part 8, DAC and Fire Safety, detailed design/tender documentation preparation; Public consultation can form part of this phase. |
Local Authority |
18 |
|
Stage 3 – Pre-tender Approval |
DHLGH |
4 |
|
Stage 4 – Undertake Tender |
Local Authority |
10 |
|
Stage 4 – Approval to Proceed (including approved budget) |
DHLGH |
3 |
|
Contract Award |
Local Authority |
4 |
Accordingly, the target times for both the Department and the local authorities to prepare design, achieve statutory approvals, develop tender documentation, carry out tendering, award contracts and to assess and confirm funding approval for these stages, is as follows -
|
Target weeks for LA Pre-construction Processes |
44 weeks |
|
Target weeks for DHLGH assessments/ approvals |
15 weeks |
Local authorities have options that allow them to deviate from using the above 4-stage process to achieve funding approval for social housing construction projects, depending on the size and the chosen procurement strategy for individual projects. For example, with projects below €8m and 25 homes or less, local authorities can avail of a single stage approval which takes approx. 4 weeks with the Department. In such instances, local authorities will still need to develop the design, achieve statutory approvals and run a tender programme.
Local authorities also have the option of combining Stage 2 and Stage 3 when ‘Design and Build’ projects are advanced and there is also an option to simply notify the Department if a Stage 3 proposal has been prepared by the local authority within six months of the Stage 2 approval and when the budget is at or close to the previously approved level, thus removing the requirement for the Department to provide a Stage 3 approval.
There were 69 projects completed in 2022 that used the CWMF 4-Stage Pre-construction Programme which were funded in 2021 and 2022. The times taken for these projects within the overall programme, both by DHLGH and by the local authorities, were as follows:
|
- |
No. of Projects Approved within 15 weeks |
Average Approval time by DHLGH |
|
DHLGH Approvals |
16 |
22 |
|
- |
SHIP 4-stage (including Design & Build) Projects Completed in 2022 |
Average in Weeks |
|
DHLGH time |
Average Department Approvals |
22 |
|
LA time |
Average LA Preconstruction processes |
104 |
|
DHLGH time |
Stage 1 – Capital Appraisal Approval to develop proposal |
6 |
|
LA time |
Stage 2 – Procurement of Integrated Design Team, develop outline design, prepare Part 8 documentation |
34 |
|
DHLGH time |
Stage 2 – Approval-in-Principle |
6 |
|
LA time |
Stage 3 – Statutory Approvals including Part 8, DAC and Fire Safety, detailed design/tender documentation preparation; Public consultation can form part of this phase |
41 |
|
DHLGH time |
Stage 3 – Pre-tender Approval |
6 |
|
LA time |
Stage 4 – Tender |
20 |
|
DHLGH time |
Stage 4 – Approval to Proceed (including approved budget) |
4 |
|
LA time |
Contract Award |
8 |
|
Local Authority |
Total weeks to Contract Award |
Total for Dept. Approvals in weeks |
Total for LA Preconstruction process in weeks |
|
All |
127 |
21 |
106 |
|
Carlow |
24 |
10 |
15 |
|
Cavan |
157 |
33 |
124 |
|
Clare |
103 |
22 |
81 |
|
Cork City |
No CWMF 4-stage Project Delivered in 2022 |
||
|
Cork County |
136 |
21 |
115 |
|
DLR |
No CWMF 4-stage Project Delivered in 2022 |
||
|
Donegal |
217 |
22 |
195 |
|
Dublin City |
140 |
16 |
123 |
|
Fingal |
88 |
16 |
72 |
|
Galway City |
No CWMF 4-stage Project Delivered in 2022 |
||
|
Galway Co |
122 |
28 |
95 |
|
Kerry |
97 |
18 |
78 |
|
Kildare |
No CWMF 4-stage Project Delivered in 2022 |
||
|
Kilkenny |
No CWMF 4-stage Project Delivered in 2022 |
||
|
Laois |
215 |
30 |
185 |
|
Leitrim |
114 |
23 |
91 |
|
Limerick |
153 |
33 |
120 |
|
Longford |
No CWMF 4-stage Project Delivered in 2022 |
||
|
Louth |
No CWMF 4-stage Project Delivered in 2022 |
||
|
Mayo |
95 |
16 |
79 |
|
Meath |
190 |
10 |
178 |
|
Monaghan |
95 |
15 |
79 |
|
Offaly |
124 |
14 |
111 |
|
Roscommon |
No CWMF 4-stage Project Delivered in 2022 |
||
|
Sligo |
72 |
21 |
51 |
|
South Dublin |
115 |
22 |
93 |
|
Tipperary |
153 |
32 |
121 |
|
Waterford |
113 |
24 |
89 |
|
Westmeath |
181 |
17 |
163 |
|
Wexford |
128 |
18 |
110 |
|
Wicklow |
88 |
17 |
71 |
