Steel requirements for foundations

mayoman1973

Is it compulsory to put steel reinforcement in your foundations in a new build in the republic. Seems it's not the case in the north as the Architect didn't know what I meant when I asked him to give me the diameter of the steel for our foundations

wildefalcon

Depends on the site, doesn't it?

The soil, risk of subsidence, etc.

mayoman1973

Yea, I understand that if your not on very solid ground that you would be silly not to have reinforcement but is it compulsory in all new dwellings now, regardless of soil type, to have steel reinforcement. From my Building construction days I never drew a section through a foundation without showing steel reinforcement. Just interested to know what the regulations in the south are as opposed to what commonsense would tell you to do.

wildefalcon

There's regulations? Anyone tell the council?

Seriously, I'm 7 years out of construction so it's probably all changed, sorry.

TPM

Is it not down to the site engineer who inspects each step of the build :rolleyes: and determines the necessary specification depending on the conditions ant then approves and certifies that each step is safe and meets all current regulations

wildefalcon

Yea, that'be it! They come out to the odd site, don't they?