The Gazette 1992

GAZETTE

JUNE

1992

Fire

The Department of the Environment has published a series of "Technical Guidance Documents" which provide guidance on compliance with the requirements set out in the Building Regulations. Control Regulations The Minister is empowered under Section 6 of the Act to make regulations in respect of procedural and administrative matters with a view to ensuring the implementation of and compliance with the Building Regulations. In pursuance of this power, the Minister has published the Control Regulations which are due to come into force on 1 June, 1992.

Fire Safety Certificate under Article 8 of the Control Regulations). The Control Regulations require the commencement notice to include details of location and use; a description of the proposed works or material change; details of the owner of the building or works and of the person who is to carry out the works; details of the availability of relevant plans, documents and other information on the proposed works and details on the availability of information on the pouring of foundations and covering up of any drainage system. Fire Safety Certificates The Building Regulations set out the fire safety requirements that must be adhered to in construction of works or material change of use. The Control Regulations then specify that before any such works or material change can be commenced a fire safety certificate must be obtained from the relevant Building Control Authority. This certificate will certify that the building works or material change will, if carried out in accordance with the plans, documents and information submitted to the Building Control Authority, comply with the fire safety requirements set out in the Building Regulations. The obligation to obtain a fire safety certificate does not apply to buildings which are specifically excluded from the Building Regulations nor does it apply to buildings which are dwellings (save flats). In addition, the requirement does not apply to works or material change commenced before 1 August, 1992. The format of the application for a fire safety certificate is set out in the Control Regulations together with guidelines in respect of same. A Building Control Authority may refuse an application or attach conditions to a fire safety certificate.

Structure

Materials and Workmanship

Site Preparation and Resistance to Moisture

Ventilation

Sound

Hygiene

Drainage and Waste Disposal

Stairways, Ramps and Guards Access for Disabled People.

Heat Producing Appliances Conservation of Fuel and Energy

The Building Regulations which come into effect on 1 June, 1992, will not apply to works commenced before the operative date or to works to which existing bye-laws apply under the transitional arrangements of the Act. In addition, they will not apply to certain specified buildings including certain buildings erected in connection with mines or quarries; buildings subject to the Explosives Act, 1875; buildings subject to the National Monuments Acts, 1930 to 1987; ESB sub-stations; certain temporary dwellings and certain single storey buildings (e.g. domestic garages, conservatories, garden sheds and certain glasshouses). Subject to the above specified exclusions the Building Regulations are intended to apply: • to all works in connection with the design and construction of every new building; • to all works in connection with the material alteration or extension of an existing building or part of a building, whether or not the building was constructed before the operative date; • to all works in connection with the provision of certain services, fittings and equipment in any building whether or not the building itself was constructed before or after the operative date; • where a material change of use takes place in the purposes for which a building is used.

The Control Regulations provide for:-

• the giving of notice of commencement of works to the appropriate Building Control Authority;

• the procedures for obtaining a fire safety certificate;

• the maintenance of a register of applications for fire safety certificates and of decisions on such applications. Commencement Notices Any person who intends to carry out the construction or material alteration of a building or make a material change in the use of a building to which the Control Regulations apply must give the Building Control Authority in whose functional area the building or proposed building is or will be situate, written notice of such intention (a commencement notice) not less than 7 days and not more than 21 days before the commencement of the works or the making of the material change of use as the case may be. Notice is not required where the development is an "exempted development" for the purpose of the Local Government (Planning and Development) Acts, 1963 to 1990 (save developments which require a

Each Building Control Authority is required to keep a register of all

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