S.I. No. 154/1994 - Building Regulations (Amendment) Regulations, 1994.

S.I. No. 154 of 1994.

BUILDING REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 1994.

The Minister for the Environment, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 3 and 18 of the Building Control Act, 1990 (No. 3 of 1990), hereby makes the following Regulations:—

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Building Regulations (Amendment) Regulations, 1994.

2. These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of August, 1994.

3. In these Regulations, "the Principal Regulations" means the Building Regulations, 1991 ( S.I. No. 306 of 1991 ).

4. Article 3 (4) of the Principal Regulations is hereby amended by—

( a ) the substitution of the following for the definition of "flat"—

' "flat" means separate and self-contained premises constructed or adapted for residential use and forming part of a building from some othe part of which it is divided horizontally;',

( b ) the insertion of the following definitions after the definition of "imposed load"—

' "industrial building" includes a factory or other premises used for manufacturing, altering, repairing, cleaning, washing, breaking-up, adapting or processing any article, generating power or slaughtering livestock;

"institutional building" includes a hospital, nursing home, home for old people or for children, school or other similar establishment used as living accommodation or for the treatment, care or maintenance of persons suffering from illness or mental or physical disability or handicap, where such persons sleep on the premises;',

( c ) the insertion of the following definitions after the definition of "multi-storey building"—

' "office" includes premises used for the purpose of administrative or clerical work (including writing, book keeping, sorting papers, filing, typing, duplicating, machine calculating, drawing and the editorial preparation of matter for publication, handling money (including banking and building society work) or telephone system operation);

"place of assembly" includes—

(i) a theatre, public library, hall or other building of public resort used for social or recreational purposes,

(ii) a non-residential school or other educational establishment,

(iii) a place of public worship,

(iv) a public house, restaurant or similar premises used for the sale to members of the public of food or drink for consumption on the premises,

but no building shall be treated as a place of assembly solely because it is a building to which members of the public are occasionally admitted;',

( d ) the insertion of the following definition after the definition of "proper materials"—

' "repair or renewal" means works of restoration or replacement of a minor nature relating to—

(i) the maintenance of a building in good condition or working order, or

(ii) the return of a building to its original or former state;',

( e ) the insertion of the following definitions after the definition of "sewer"—

' "shop" includes a building used for retail or wholesale trade or business (including retail sales by auction, self-selection and over-the-counter wholesale trading, the business of lending books or periodicals for gain and the business of a barber or hairdresser) and premises to which the public is invited to deliver or to collect goods in connection with their hire, repair or other treatment, or where they themselves may carry out such repairs or other treatments;

"shopping centre" includes a building which comprises a number of individually occupied premises to which common access is provided principally for the benefit of shoppers;', and

( f ) the insertion of the following definition after the definition of "soil water"—

' "storey" has the meaning assigned to it in Part A of the First Schedule;'.

5. The Principal Regulations are hereby amended by the substitution of the following article for article 6—

"6. (1) These Regulations shall not apply to any of the following buildings or to works carried out in connection with such buildings provided that after the carrying out of such works such building is still a building as described in any paragraph of this sub-article—

( a ) a building erected in connection with any mine or quarry other than a house or a building used as offices, laboratories or showrooms;

( b ) a building the construction of which is subject to the Explosives Act, 1875;

( c ) a building subject to the National Monuments Acts, 1930 to 1987;

( d ) a building constructed for and used by the Electricity Supply Board as a generating, transmission or distribution station;

( e ) a temporary dwelling as defined in the Local Government (Sanitary Services) Act, 1948 (No. 3 of 1948):

( f ) a temporary building used only in connection with the sale or letting of buildings or building plots in course of development where—

(i) it is erected on or in close proximity to the development, and

(ii) it is detached from any other building;

( g ) a temporary building which is used only in connection with and during the construction, alteration, extension or repair of any building or other work;

( h ) a building of a temporary nature erected on a site for a period not exceeding 28 consecutive days or 60 days in any period of 12 months;

( i ) a single storey building used as a domestic garage where it—

(i) is detached from any other building, and

(ii) has a floor area not exceeding 25 square metres, and

(iii) has a height above ground level of not more than 3 metres, or, in the case of a building with a pitched roof, not more than 4 metres;

( j ) a single storey building (not being a building described in paragraph (i)) ancillary to a dwelling (such as a summer house, poultry-house, aviary, conservatory, coal shed, garden tool shed or bicycle shed) which—

(i) is detached from any other building, and

(ii) has a floor area not exceeding 25 square metres, and

(iii) has a height above ground level of not more than 3 metres, or in the case of a building with a pitched roof, not more than 4 metres, and is used exclusively for recreational or storage purposes or the keeping of plants, birds or animals for domestic purposes and is not used for the purposes of any trade or business or for human habitation;

( k ) a single storey extension to an existing dwelling which is ancillary to the dwelling and consists of a conservatory, porch, carport or covered area, and—

(i) has a floor area not exceeding 25 square metres (or in the case of a porch, 2 square metres), and

(ii) has a height above ground level of not more than 3 metres, or in the case of a building with a pitched roof, not more than 4 metres;

( l ) a single storey glasshouse (not being a building described in paragraph (j) where—

(i) not less than three quarters of its total external area is comprised of glass (including glazing bars), and

(ii) it is used solely for agriculture, and

(iii) it is detached from any other building;

( m ) a single storey building which is detached from any other building and which—

(i) is a building used solely for agriculture, and

(ii) is used exclusively for the storage of materials or products, for the accommodation of plant or machinery or in connection with the housing, care or management of livestock, and

(iii) is a building wherein the only persons habitually employed are engaged solely in the care, supervision, regulation, maintenance, storage or removal of the materials, products, plant, machinery or livestock in the building, and

(iv) does not exceed 300 square metres in floor area;

( n ) a lighthouse or similar structure which is an aid to navigation on water.".

6. The Principal Regulations are hereby amended by the insertion in article 10 (2) of "(other than a repair or renewal)" after "means an alteration".

7. The Principal Regulations are hereby amended by the substitution of the following article for article 12—

"12. (1) Subject to articles 6 and 7, where a material change of use takes place in the purposes for which a building, or part of a building, is used, (whether or not such building was erected before the operative day)—

( a ) The requirements of the following Parts of the First Schedule:

Part A1 and A2

Part B

Part C4

Part F

Part G

Part H

Part J

Part L

shall apply to the building or part of the building having the new proposed use, and

( b ) such works, if any, as are necessary to ensure that the building, or part of the building, complies with the said requirement, shall be carried out in accordance with article 8.

(2) In this article, there shall be deemed to be a material change in the purpose for which a building is used if—

( a ) a change of use, deemed by Section 3 (3) of the Act to be a material change of use, takes place, or

( b ) a building which was not being used as

(i) a hotel, hostel or guesthouse, becomes so used, or

(ii) an institutional building, becomes so used, or

(iii) a place of assembly, becomes so used, or

(iv) an office (which is not ancillary to the primary use of the building), becomes so used, or

(v) a shop (which is not ancillary to the primary use of the building), becomes so used, or

(vi) a shopping centre, becomes so use, or

(vii) an industrial building, becomes so used.".

8. The Principal Regulations are hereby amended by the substitution of the following for Part A of the First Schedule—

"PART A

STRUCTURE

Loading.

A1 (1) A building shall be designed and constructed, with due regard to the theory and practice of structural engineering, so as to ensure that the combined dead, imposed and wind loads are sustained and transmitted to the ground—

( a ) safely, and

( b ) without causing such deflection or deformation of any part of the building, or such movement of the ground, as will impair the stability of any part of another building.

(2) In assessing whether a building complies with sub-paragraph (1) regard shall be had to the imposed and wind loads to which it is likely to be subjected in the ordinary course of its use for the purpose for which it is intended.

Ground movement.

A2 A building shall be designed and constructed, with due regard to the theory and practice of structural engineering, so as to ensure that movements of the subsoil caused by subsidence, swelling, shrinkage or freezing will not impair the stability of any part of the building.

Disproportionate collapse.

A3 (1) A multi-storey building shall be designed and constructed, with due regard to the theory and practice of structural engineering, so as to ensure that in the event of an accident the structure will not be damaged to an extent disproportionate to the cause of the damage.

(2) for the purposes of sub-paragraph (1), where a building is rendered structurally discontinuous by a vertical joint, the building on each side of the joint may be treated as a separate building whether or not such joint passes through the sub-structure.

Definitions for this Part.

A4 In this Part—

"dead load" means the force due to the static mass of all walls, permanent partitions, floors roofs and finishes including all other permanent construction and services equipment affixed to the building;

"imposed load" means the load assumed to be produced by the intended occupancy or use of the building including distributed, concentrated, impact, inertia and snow loads and the force due to the static mass of moveable partitions, but excluding wind loads;

"multi-storey building" means a building comprising or including five or more storeys, a basement storey being regarded as a storey;

"storey" means any of the parts into which a building is divided horizontally above or below ground level but excluding any structure situated above the level of the roof or in the roofspace, or below the level of the lowest floor, which is intended for the protection of a water tank, or lift motor, or similar use and is not intended for, or adapted to be used for habitable purposes, or as a work room, or as a store room;

"wind load" means all loads due to the effect of wind pressure or suction.".

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for the Environment, this 25th day of May, 1994.

MICHAEL SMITH,

Minister for the Environment.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations amend the Building Regulations, 1991, in relation to the design and construction of certain buildings. The Regulations come into operation on the 1st August, 1994.