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GAZETTE
JUNE 1992
The Building Control Act, 1990
and the New Building
Control Regulations
by Joan Fagan, Solicitor, William
Fry and John Furlong, Solicitor,
William Fry.
The current system of building bye-
laws, enforced by only a number of
sanitary authorities, was established
by the Public Health (Ireland) Act,
1878. The Local Government
(Planning and Development) Act,
1963 provided for the making of
regulations for a variety of purposes
which would establish a
comprehensive code of building
standards throughout the State.
However, while draft building
regulations were circulated by the
Minister for the Environment in
1981, the necessary orders were never
made. Until now, there has not been
a substantive code, statutorily
enforced and on a national level to
regulate building and construction
requirements.
The Building Control Act, 1990 was
originally introduced as the Building
Control Bill, 1984. Its urgent
implementation was recommended in
the Report of the Task Force on Multi
Storey Buildings in 1988. After
substantial revision during its passage
through the Oireachtas, the Bill was
signed into law in March, 1990.
Commencement
Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 14, 15, 18,
19, 20, 21 and 25 became operative
on 4 December, 1991. The rest of the
Act is to become operative on 1
June, 1992.
Purpose of the Act
The Building Control Act, 1990 has
three main purposes:
• to replace the existing system of
building bye laws (applicable in
particular areas) with a national
building control system,
JiP^
John Furlong
• to improve the regulation of
building standards by providing
for additional matters including
energy conservation, the needs of
the disabled, the efficient use of
resources and the encouragement
of good building practice. In
particular, the Act enables the
Minister to make fire safety a
central feature of Building
Regulations,
• the designation of a range of
Local Authorities as Building
Control Authorities providing for
the alignment of existing Fire
Authorities (under the Fire
Services Act, 1981) with Building
Control Authorities.
Building Control Authorities
Section 2 of the Act designates
certain Local Authorities as Building
Control Authorities. With effect
from 4 December, 1991, the
following are deemed to be Building
Control Authorities:-
• County Councils
• The Corporation of a County
Borough
• The Corporation of Dunlaoghaire
• The Corporation of any other
Borough and the Council of
any Urban District which is,
on
4
December, 1991, a Fire
Authority.
Ministerial Regulations
The Act enables the Minister for the
Environment to make a wide range
of regulations concerning the
construction of buildings. Section 3
of the Act empowers the Minister to
make regulations concerning the:-
• design and construction of
buildings;
• material alteration or extension of
buildings; and
• provision of services and material
change of use of buildings;
Such regulations are to be directed
towards health, safety and welfare;
the special needs of disabled
persons; energy conservation;
efficient use of resources; and the
promotion of good building practice.
To date, two sets of regulations have
issued being:-
• the Building Control Regulations
1991 (S.I. No. 305 of 1991) (the
"Control Regulations"),
• the Building Regulations 1991
(S.I. No. 306 of 1991) (the
"Building Regulations").
Building Regulations
The Building Regulations specify the
requirements to be observed in the
design and construction of certain
buildings.
The Building Regulations establish
basic requirements under the
following headings:-
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