i3PT are Assigned Certifier on the former Bank of Ireland Headquarters on Lower Baggot Street. The building has undergone a major refurbishment and extension to restore it to a full Class A modern office space. It has been designed to exceed building regulations for new build commercial with an A2 rated BER and LEED Gold certification.

The design and construction team have relied on i3PT as the specialist Assigned Certifier to identify the risk to certification on non-standard elements of the project. Examples of such elements include the combined heat and power plant in the energy centre, the presence of deleterious materials on site, and the retention of historic elements such as bronze glazing frames upgraded to double glazed thermally broken frames. The objective of this project was to upgrade the existing building to provide a first-class universally accessible workplace.

i3PT worked with a very committed design and construction team to deliver an inspection plan which was tailored specifically to this project, which included sophisticated mechanical and electrical systems. The inspection plan was designed to be sufficiently detailed to ensure no elements could avoid scrutiny by visual inspection, testing or material approval. The inspection delivery plan was also aligned with the building programme to allow inspections to fit with routines and to avoid adding an unreasonable burden to consultants and supervisors. Inspections were tied into ‘close out’ milestones, to ensure inspections and material certificates are validated before pours or finishes completed.

Inspections of offsite control samples are being uploaded to CertCentral, our compliance management system which automatically schedules notices and reminders to specific users to provide documentation in line with the programme agreed with the contractor. The methodology of applying an intensive inspection regime, led by the design team consultants, with a higher number of parallel inspections carried out by contractors and sub-contractors proved to be fit for purpose.

As a high specification office project with a large number of design specialists, expert installers and third-party inspectors, the coordination role cannot be understated. The Assigned Certifier was tasked to manage a complex and highly detailed inspection plan, this was achieved through the following approaches:

• Planning: i3PT Certification plan ahead and remove doubt and ambiguity.
• Engagement:we consider the motivations of all project stakeholders and foster engagement based on demonstrating benefits to all parties.
• Accountability: traceability and transparency for all parties. i3PT Certification aims to create a culture of compliance.
• Collaboration: we collaborate with all stakeholders equally.
• Efficiency: we work with project teams to maximise existing processes and reduce double-work.