Ireland · Forming the company and its constitution
The registered office, the company seal, filings and delivery of documents to the Registrar
the Companies Act 2014 · sections 34 to 37, 43 to 45, 47, 49, 50, 888, 888A, 896 and 898
An out of date registered office address costs the company its notice period, not just a filing fee
The registered office is the address at which the company is deemed to receive everything that matters, so an out of date entry costs the company its notice period rather than a filing fee. Notice of any change in the situation of the registered office must be given to the Registrar in the prescribed form within 14 days after the date of the change, and the Registrar records the change (section 50(3)).
The second problem sits in the delivery rules. A document is deemed not to have been delivered to the Registrar if it is the subject of a notice served under section 898(1)(a) and the Registrar has not received the required response within 14 days after the date of service of that notice (section 898(3)). A company that treats submission as delivery can find that the filing never happened.
Section 50 requires notice of a registered office change within 14 days and section 898 sets when delivery fails
A company must send a member a copy of its constitution free of charge on request, and may charge the prescribed amount for a second or later request once the first has been met (section 37(1)). Sections 34 to 36 govern the language of filings and the use of an electronic filing agent, and section 888 sets out the authentication that stands in place of a signature. Section 888A requires a director to include a personal public service number, or the alternative the section allows, notwithstanding section 262(9) of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005.
Sections 43 to 45, 47 and 49 cover the company seal, the effect of pre-incorporation contracts and the display of the company name. Section 50 carries the registered office duty and the 14-day notice of any change. Sections 896 and 898 govern the mechanics of delivery to the Registrar, including when a document is treated as never having been delivered.
The system generates your ComplianceSME company passport and then walks you through the working files
Working files 4 and 5 of the IE-COMPANY agent toolkit cover this situation. Working file 4 asks how filings are made, in what language, through which agent if any, and how personal public service numbers are handled. Working file 5 asks where the registered office is, when it last changed, when the notice went to the Registrar, how the seal is held and used, and how the company name is displayed. Both files record the answers as evidence rows against the sections they cover.
- Working file 4 · Language of filings, electronic filing agents and delivery of documents to the Registrar
- Working file 5 · The company seal, pre-incorporation contracts, the company name and the registered office
Free, with a free account
The working files above open from your ComplianceSME account at no charge, and so does the rest of the Companies Act 2014 toolkit: 215 working files across the 75 situations a company registered in Ireland can be in. Working file 1 runs first and builds the company passport; after that you open each working file as its situation arises.
A working file runs in Claude. You ask the ComplianceSME connector for it in a dedicated premium seat on the Claude Team plan. It asks one question at a time, then returns the document the Companies Act 2014 names, citing the Act's section at every step. Nothing is downloaded and nothing is installed.
The report stays yours, ready for a bank, an insurer, a customer or an inspector. Your dashboard shows every working file and its state.
Open this working fileComplianceSME tracks the Companies Act 2014 and updates the toolkit on your account through the Compliance Complete account, so that you are never working from a superseded version. Compliance Complete