Status of review of I.S. 465 - 28th May
NSAI recognises the urgency of the review of I.S. 465 and continues to treat this as top priority. This work is consistently driven by a desire to provide certainty and assurance for those utilising the standard in their work and NSAI’s mandate as a public body to deliver a crucial public service in facilitating this work.
A public consultation in relation to I.S. 465 is currently underway and had been due to conclude today, 28th May. The public consultation period associated with the drafting, development, and review of standards is a crucial element of the standardisation process, enabling equal access for all stakeholders to have their views heard and considered by the relevant technical committee on a particular issue.
In recent days, NSAI has received requests to extend the public consultation period from a legal firm representing a large group of homeowners, and also the Department of Housing, Heritage and Local Government. NSAI is satisfied that the rationales outlined for the extension are aligned with the spirit of constructive, informed public engagement via public consultation. On that basis, NSAI has agreed to extend the public consultation period in relation to the draft I.S. 465 by a period of 6 weeks, to conclude on 11th July next.
This decision has not been taken lightly. NSAI takes its role as a public body extremely seriously and places significant value on the ability to work constructively with all stakeholders to deliver the highest level of quality and assurance in Irish standards. It is in this context that NSAI has agreed to accede to the requests received in recent days.
To date, NSAI has received almost 400 comments on the draft I.S. 465. To minimise the impact of the extension of the public consultation period on the draft I.S. 465, NSAI will be facilitating a parallel process to begin reviewing comments received to date to ensure no further delay following the extended public consultation period.
While this parallel approach is a minor deviation from our normal standardisation process, NSAI have deemed it necessary to minimise the impact of the extension requests on the ability of the committee to deliver the revised standard in the shortest amount of time possible while maintaining the quality of our processes. We remain committed to delivering the most robust standard possible, taking account of all of the most up to date expertise available to the committee.
We would like to take the opportunity to express our thanks to those who have already submitted comments on the draft standard, whose valuable expertise and experience will support this process.
[Disclaimer: All reasonable effort was made to ensure that the information on this page was correct at the time of publication. Any views or opinions expressed on this page are not necessarily those of NSAI. NSAI accepts no responsibility or liability howsoever arising from the contents of this publication or any errors, inaccuracies, or omissions in the contents of the information provided therein.]
