Building Regulations, 1991

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 306/1991

S.I. No. 306 of 1991.
BUILDING REGULATIONS, 1991.
The Minister for the Environment, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 3 , 4 and 18 of the Building Control Act, 1990 (No. 3 of 1990), hereby makes the following Regulations:—
	1 Citation.	1. These Regulations may be cited as the Building Regulations, 1991.
	2 Commencement.	2. These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of June, 1992.
	3 Interpretation.	3. (1) In these Regulations, any reference to a Schedule, Part or article which is not otherwise identified is a reference to a Schedule, Part or article of these Regulations.
(2) In these Regulations, any reference to a sub-article or paragraph which is not otherwise identified is a reference to the sub-article or paragraph of the provision in which the reference occurs.
(3) In these Regulations, a reference to any enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended or adapted by any subsequent enactment.
(4) In these Regulations, save where the context otherwise requires—
"the Act" means the Building Control Act, 1990 ;
"agriculture" includes horticulture, fruit growing, seed growing, dairy farming, the breeding and keeping of livestock (including any creature kept for the production of food, wool, skins or fur, or for the purpose of its use in the farming of land), the use of land as grazing land, meadow land, osier land, market gardens and nursery grounds, the use of land for turbary, and the use of land for woodlands where that use is ancillary to the farming of land for other agricultural purposes, and "agricultural" shall be construed accordingly;
"basement storey" means a storey which is below the ground storey or, where there is no ground storey, means a storey the top surface of the floor of which is situated at such a level or levels that some point on its perimeter is more than 1.2 metres below the level of the finished surface of the ground adjoining the building in the vicinity of that point;
"combined drain" has the meaning assigned to it in Part H of the First Schedule;
"Construction Products Directive" means Directive No. 89/106/EEC adopted by the Council of the European Communities on 21 December, 1988 and published in the Official Journal of the European Communities No. L 40 Volume 32 of 11 February, 1989;
"contaminant" has the meaning assigned to it in Part C of the First Schedule;
"dead load" has the meaning assigned to it in Part A of the First Schedule;
"disabled people" has the meaning assigned to it in Part M of the First Schedule;
"domestic garage" means a building ancillary to a dwelling which is used, or suitable for use, for the storage of a motor vehicle or vehicles and is not used for the purposes of any trade or business;
"drain" has the meaning assigned to it in Part H of the First Schedule;
"drainage system" has the meaning assigned to it in Part H of the First Schedule;
"dwelling" means a house or flat forming a separate unit of residential accommodation;
"flat" means a self-contained premises constructed or adapted for residential use forming part of a building;
"floor" has the meaning assigned to it in Part C of the First Schedule;
"floor area" has the meaning assigned to it in article 4;
"foul water" has the meaning assigned to it in Part H of the First Schedule;
"ground storey" means a storey the top surface of the floor of which is situated at such a level or levels that no point on its perimeter is more than 1.2 metres below the level of the finished surface of the ground adjoining the building in the vicinity of that point or, if there is more than one such storey, means the lowest of these;
"habitable room" has the meaning assigned to it in Part E of the First Schedule;
"heat producing appliance" has the meaning assigned to it in Part J of the First Schedule;
"height of a building" has the meaning assigned to it in article 4;
"imposed load" has the meaning assigned to it in Part A of the First Schedule;
"kitchen" has the meaning assigned to it in Part E of the First Schedule;
"material alteration" has the meaning assigned to it in article 10;
"the Minister" means the Minister for the Environment;
"moisture" has the meaning assigned to it in Part C of the First Schedule;
"multi-storey building" has the meaning assigned to it in Part A of the First Schedule;
"proper materials" has the meaning assigned to it in Part D of the First Schedule;
"sanitary convenience" has the meaning assigned to it in Part G of the First Schedule;
"sewer" has the meaning assigned to it in Part H of the First Schedule;
"single storey building" means a building consisting of a ground storey or a basement storey only;
"soil water" has the meaning assigned to it in Part H of the First Schedule;
"surface water" has the meaning assigned to it in Part H of the First Schedule;
"technical guidance document" means a document published pursuant to article 5;
"trade effluent" has the meaning assigned to it in Part H of the First Schedule;
"waste water" has the meaning assigned to it in Part H of the First Schedule;
"wind load" has the meaning assigned to it in Part A of the First Schedule;
(5) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires, any reference to a building shall extend to and include any part of a building and any reference to the purpose for which a building is used shall extend to and include the purpose for which it is intended to be used.
(6) Compliance with an appropriate technical specification prepared under the Construction Products Directive shall represent compliance with the relevant requirements of these Regulations.
	4 Rules for measurement.	4. In these Regulations—
"floor area" in relation to a building means the area bounded by the inner finished surfaces of the enclosing walls, or, on any side where there is no enclosing wall, by the outermost edge of the floor on that side and in calculating the area of a building or part of a building there shall be included in such area the space occupied by any walls, shafts, ducts or structure within the area being measured;
"height of a building" (or of part of a building which is completely separated throughout, both below and above ground, by a compartment wall or compartment walls in the same continuous vertical plane) means the height of such building or part measured from the mean level of the ground adjoining the outside of the external wall of the building to the level of half the vertical height of the roof of the building or part, or to the top of the walls or of the parapet (if any), whichever is the higher.
	5 Technical guidance documents.	5. (1) The Minister may publish, or arrange to have published on his behalf, documents to be known as "technical guidance documents" for the purpose of providing guidance with respect to compliance with the requirements of any of the provisions of the First Schedule.
(2) Subject to the provisions of sub-article (3), where works are carried out in accordance with any guidance contained in a technical guidance document this shall, prima facie, indicate compliance with the relevant requirements of these Regulations.
(3) The provisions of article 3 (6) and any guidance contained in a technical guidance document published under sub-article (1) concerning the use of a particular material, method of construction or specification, shall not be construed as prohibiting compliance with a requirement of these Regulations by the use of any other suitable material, method of construction or specification.
	6 Exemptions.	6. 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 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 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 23 square metres, and
(iii) has a height of not more than 3 metres;
(i) a single storey building (not being a building described in paragraph (h)) ancillary to a dwelling (such as a summer house, poultry-house, aviary, conservatory, coal shed, garden tool shed or bicycle shed) which is detached from any other building and has a floor area of not more than 23 square metres and a height of not more than 3 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;
(j) a single storey glasshouse (not being a building described in paragraph (i)) 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;
(k) a single storey building which is detached...