Tag Archives: Simon Beale and Associates

EXPERT engineer, Simon Beale, has warned of aspects of the forthcoming defective blocks grant scheme which could penalise homeowners who have struggled to maintain their properties.  Mr Beale is a chartered engineer who has tested more than 250 pyrite-affected homes to-date, and has been working with Clare County Council to make the case for access for Clare to the grant scheme. At a major conference last week, hosted by the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS), he outlined his concerns about some of the terms of the revised grant scheme. “The new requirement for a building condition report will prove difficult,” he said. “In some cases, homeowners have tried to hide the damage. This is almost a penalty for those who have tried to maintain and upgrade their homes. Another problematic aspect of the new scheme, which is due to come before Cabinet next Tuesday (June 14), is that of partial repairs to properties with defective concrete blocks. “Demolition, to …

AN EXPERT engineer has described the causative link between pyrite and the cracking of affected homes in Clare as “abundantly clear, categoric and incontrovertible”. Simon Beale and Associates sent a detailed report on behalf of Clare County Council to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (DHLGH), last month. The documentation, seen by The Champion runs to over 1,000 pages. It was compiled on foot of queries raised in December by the DHLGH over the original report submitted last July to make the case for Clare’s inclusion on the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme. In his latest report, Mr Beale noted the the Department had “requested that Clare County Council demonstrate the link between the building damage and defective concrete blockwork by showing clear evidence of oxidation of pyrite to form other minerals, the presence of secondary minerals and gypsum production”. As part of the process of responding to the DHLGH, five homes owned by Clare County Council, located …

Expert report states Clare should have redress access ONE of Ireland’s leading experts on defective blockwork has found Clare’s pyrite problem to be similar to that in Mayo, where several hundred homes are affected. In a detailed technical report prepared for Clare County Council and submitted, since the end of July, to the Department of Housing, Simon Beale and Associates (SBA) said the nature of the blockwork problem here is very similar to that in Mayo. The 29-page report, released to The Champion under the Freedom of Information Act, repeatedly highlights the technical similarities between the situations in Clare and Mayo. The Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme was opened in 2020 after a long-running campaign for redress by homeowners in Mayo and in Donegal, where the mineral mica is believed to be present in thousands of homes. Simon Beale, who is a recognised expert on defective blocks, and has assessed and tested over 150 homes in Mayo, compiled the report …