Building Control Act 2007

PART 1 Preliminary and General

1.. Short title, collective citation, construction and commencement.

1.— (1) This Act may be cited as the Building Control Act 2007.

(2) The Building Control Act 1990 and this Act may be cited together as the Building Control Acts 1990 and 2007 and shall be construed together as one.

(3) This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or different provisions.

2.. Interpretation.

2.— (1) In this Act—

“Act of 1990” means the Building Control Act 1990;

“adaptation period” means an adaptation period of such duration as the Admissions Board determines in accordance with the Directive;

“Admissions Board” means an Admissions Board established under section 13, 28 or 42, as the context requires;

“Agreement establishing the World Trade Organisation” means the Agreement establishing the World Trade Organisation done at Marrakesh on 15 April 1994 as amended or supplemented by any protocol to that Agreement which is for the time being in force in the State;

“Appeals Board” means an Appeals Board established under section 24, 38 or 52, as the context requires;

“aptitude test” means an aptitude test of such character as the Admissions Board determines in accordance with the Directive;

F1[“Directive”means Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 September 2005^1, as amended by Council Directive 2006/100/EC of 20 November 2006^2, Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1430/2007 of 5 December 2007^3, Commission Regulation (EC) No. 755/2008 of 31 July 2008^4, Regulation (EC) No. 1137/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2008^5, Commission Regulation (EC) No. 279/2009 of 6 April 2009^6, Commission Regulation (EU) No. 213/2011 of 3 March 2011^7, the Treaty concerning the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union done at Brussels on the 9th day of December 2011^8, Commission Regulation (EU) No. 623/2012 of 11 July 2012^9and Council Directive 2013/25/EU of 13 May 2013^10;]

“EEA Agreement” means the Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2 May 1992, as amended for the time being;

“EEA measure” means a measure or decision taken by the Joint Committee under the EEA Agreement;

“member of the World Trade Organisation” means a party to the Agreement establishing the World Trade Organisation;

“Member State” means a Member State of the European Union and includes the following:

(a) on the State being required to implement an EEA measure having an effect corresponding to that of the Directive or any other Directive adopted by an institution of the European Union for the recognition of professional education and training, a Member State of the EEA;

(b) the Swiss Confederation;

“Member State of the EEA” means a state (other than a Member State of the European Union) that is a contracting party to the EEA Agreement;

“Minister” means the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government;

“poor professional performance”, in relation to a registered professional, means any failure of the registered professional to meet the standards of competence that may reasonably be expected of registered professionals practising the profession concerned;

“practical experience assessment procedures” means the procedures under, as the context requires—

(a) sections 21(4) and (5) and 22,

(b) section 36, or

(c) section 50;

“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under this Act;

“Professional Conduct Committee” means a Professional Conduct Committee established under section 23, 37 or 51, as the context requires;

“professional misconduct”, in relation to a registered professional, means any act, omission or pattern of conduct of the registered professional that—

(a) is in breach of the code prepared by the relevant registration body, or

(b) if the registered professional has been granted by a body established in a state, other than the State, a licence, certificate or registration relating to the practice of the profession concerned, is a breach of the standard of conduct or performance that applies to a person holding that licence, certificate or registration and that corresponds to a standard in the code referred to in paragraph (a);

“registered professional” means a person who is registered in the register under Part 3, 4 or 5, as the context requires;

“Registrar” means a person appointed under section 19, 33 or 47, as the context requires;

“registration body” means, with respect to—

(a) Part 3, the F2[Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland],

(b) Parts 4 and 5, the F3[the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland],

(c) Parts 6 and 7, each of the bodies referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b), with respect to such body performing its functions for the purpose of the relevant Parts;

“relevant measure” means—

(a) any EEA measure having an effect corresponding to that of the Directive or any other Directive adopted by an institution of the European Union for the recognition of professional education and training, and

(b) a measure that is in force by virtue of the Swiss Confederation Agreement;

“specified”, in relation to a fee or an amount of a fee, means specified under section 62;

“Swiss Confederation Agreement” means the agreement between the European Union and the Swiss Confederation on the free movement of persons, signed at Luxembourg on 21 June 1999;

“Technical Assessment Board” means a Technical Assessment Board established under section 21, 35 or 49, as the context requires;

“World Trade Organisation” means the organisation established under the Agreement establishing the World Trade Organisation.

(2) For the avoidance of doubt, the definition of “registered professional” in subsection (1) does not have the effect of requiring any class of person falling within that definition to be the subject of any designation or other specification in regulations under the Act of 1990 of a person or a class of person for any purpose of those regulations.

(3) A word or expression used in Part 3, 4, 5 or 7 and which is also used in the Directive has the same meaning in that Part as it has in the Directive.

PART 2 Amendment of Building Control Act 1990

3.. Amendment of section 1 (interpretation) of Act of 1990.

3.— Section 1(3) of the Act of 1990 is amended by substituting “, paragraph or subparagraph” for “or paragraph” in both places where it occurs.

4.. Amendment of section 3 (building regulations) of Act of 1990.

4.— Section 3 of the Act of 1990 is amended in subsection (2)—

(a) in paragraph (e), by substituting “practice;” for “practice; and”, and

(b) by inserting the following paragraph after paragraph (e):

“(ea) making provision for building practices that would assist in preventing or detecting crime; and”.

5.. Amendment of section 6 (building control regulations) of Act of 1990.

5.— Section 6 of the Act of 1990 is amended—

(a) in subsection (2)(a)(ii), by deleting “and”, after “provisions of building regulations as may be prescribed,”,

(b) in subsection (2)(a)(iii), by substituting “the requirements of building regulations,” for “the requirements of building regulations;”,

(c) in subsection (2)(a), by inserting the following after subparagraph (iii):

“(iv) the submission (before grant of the relevant fire safety certificate) of a notice in writing to a building control authority (in this Act referred to as a ‘7 day notice’) by a person who intends to commence work on the construction of a building or an extension of or a material alteration to a building, giving not less than 7 days notice of that person’s intention to carry out those works, and requiring that such notice shall be accompanied by a valid application for a fire safety certificate,

(v) the submission to a building control authority by a person who submits a 7 day notice of a statutory declaration (in this Act referred to as a ‘7 day notice statutory declaration’) made by that person stating that the application for the relevant fire safety certificate has been completed in all respects and complies with the relevant provisions of the building control regulations, that any works that have been commenced before the grant of such certificate will comply with the building regulations and that the person will, within such period as may be specified by the building control authority, carry out any modification of such works that is required by or under the fire safety certificate, including any condition attached to it, when it is granted by the building control authority concerned,

(vi) where an application for a fire safety certificate in respect of the construction of a building or an extension of or a material alteration to a building has been submitted before planning permission has been granted in respect of such construction, extension or alteration, the submission, if required by the subsequent grant of such planning permission, of a further application to a building control authority for a fire safety certificate (in this Act referred to as a ‘revised fire safety certificate’) for the purpose of ensuring that the revised design arising from the grant of planning permission (including any condition attached to it) complies with the provisions of building regulations relating to fire safety,

(vii) where work has been commenced or completed in respect of the construction of a building or an extension of or a material alteration to a building, and no application has been made for a fire safety certificate that is required under building control regulations for such construction, extension of or material alteration to a building, the submission to a building control authority of an application for a certificate (a ‘regularisation certificate’) which shall be accompanied by drawings of the relevant works (as they have been constructed) and a statutory declaration from the applicant stating that such works comply with the provisions of the building regulations relating to fire safety, and enabling the authority to specify in a regularisation certificate that the regularisation certificate shall not have effect unless, within 4 months after its being granted, any conditions attached to it by the authority (including conditions as to the carrying out of additional works) are complied with,

(viii) a building control authority to inspect (before it decides whether to grant such a certificate) a building in respect of which an application has been submitted for a regularisation certificate and enabling the authority to grant, if it considers it appropriate, in its discretion, to do so, a regularisation certificate specifying that in its opinion the works, as constructed in accordance with plans, documents and information submitted with the application for the certificate, comply with the provisions of building regulations relating to fire safety, subject to compliance (within the period of 4 months there mentioned) with any conditions attached to the certificate of the kind mentioned in subparagraph (vii),

(ix) the submission to a building control authority of an application for a certificate of compliance with respect to requirements under the building regulations for provision of access to a building for persons with disabilities (a ‘disability access certificate’) and enabling the building control authority to grant such certificate if in its opinion the design of the building or the extension of or material alteration to the building in respect of which the submission is made would comply (subject to any relevant dispensation or relaxation already granted under section 4 or 5 or to any appeal under section 7 which has been allowed) with the relevant requirements of the building regulations,

(x) the submission to a building control authority of an application for a fire safety certificate (in this Act also referred to as a ‘revised fire safety certificate’) or a disability access certificate (in this Act referred to as a ‘revised disability access certificate’) if significant revision is made to the design or works of a building or an extension of or a material alteration to a building in respect of which a fire safety certificate or a disability access certificate has been granted by a building control authority, and

(xi) that a new building, or an existing building in respect of which an extension or a material alteration has been made, shall not be opened, operated or occupied or permitted to be opened, operated or occupied—

(I) unless a fire safety certificate or disability access certificate (or, as the case may require, a revised certificate of either kind) or a regularisation certificate required by regulations under this Act has been granted by the building control authority in relation to the building, or

(II) if such an appeal is made to it, pending the determination by An Bord Pleanála of an appeal under section 7 relating to a refusal to grant any of the certificates or revised certificates referred to in clause (I) or the attachment of conditions to any of them;”,

(d) in subsection (2)(b), by substituting the following for subparagraph (i):

“(i) the form and content of—

(I) certificates of compliance,

(II) applications for fire safety certificates, revised fire safety certificates, regularisation certificates, disability access certificates and revised disability access certificates,

(III) each of the certificates referred to in clause (II),

(IV) 7 day notices and 7 day notice statutory declarations,

(V) applications for certificates of approval and certificates of approval,”,

(e) in subsection (2)(b)(ii), by inserting “7 day notices, 7 day notice statutory declarations, revised fire safety certificates, regularisation certificates, disability access certificates, building energy rating certificates, revised disability access certificates” after “fire safety certificates,”,

(f) in subsection (2)(h)(ii), by inserting “, 7 day notices, 7 day notice statutory declarations, revised fire safety certificates, regularisation certificates, disability access certificates, revised disability access certificates” after “fire safety certificates”,

(g) in subsection (2), by inserting the following paragraph after paragraph (h):

“(ha) the exemption, in specified circumstances, from fees referred to in paragraph (h);”,

(h) in subsection (2)(k), by substituting “regulations;” for “regulations.”,

(i) by inserting after subsection (2) the following:

“(2A) References in subsection (2)(a)(iv)to (xi) to a material alteration of a building include references to a material change of use of a building and, for the purposes of those provisions as they apply in relation to such a material change of use, references in those provisions to—

(a) work,

(b) relevant works, or

(c) the design of works,

shall, in so far as they are applicable to such a material change of use, be construed as references to—

(i) the doing of the acts that constitute the material change of use or, as appropriate, those acts when they are done, or

(ii) in the case of references to the design of works, the various aspects of the material change of use or, as appropriate, any particular aspect of that change of use,

and references to construction of works and cognate references shall be construed accordingly.”,

(j) in subsection (5), by inserting “, 7 day notice, revised fire safety certificate, regularisation certificate, disability access certificate, revised disability access certificate” after “fire safety certificate” in both places where it occurs in that subsection, and

(k) in subsection (6), by inserting “, 7 day notice, revised fire safety certificate, regularisation certificate, disability access certificate, revised disability access certificate” after “fire safety certificate”.

6.. Amendment of section 7 (appeals) of Act of 1990.

6.— Section 7 of the Act of 1990 is amended—

(a) in subsection (1)—

(i) in paragraph (c), by substituting “approval, or” for “approval,”, and

(ii) by inserting the following paragraphs after paragraph (c):

“(d) section 6(2)(a)(vii), for a regularisation certificate, or

(e) section 6(2)(a)(ix), for a disability access certificate,”,

and

(b) in subsection (3), by deleting paragraph (c).

7.. Amendment of Act of 1990 — new sections 7A and 7B.

7.— The Act of 1990 is amended by inserting the following after section 7:

“Fees in respect of an appeal.

7A.— (1) Subject to the approval of the Minister, An Bord Pleanála (hereafter in this section referred to as ‘the Board’) may determine that fees shall be payable in relation to appeals under section 7 and, subject to subsection (2), such a fee so determined shall be paid to the Board by the person making the appeal under section 7 at such time as the Board specifies.

(2) The power of the Board in relation to fees referred to in subsection (1) includes a power of the Board—

(a) to determine that different such fees shall be payable in respect of different classes of appeal under section 7,

(b) to exempt a person from the requirement to pay any such fee in such circumstances as it determines, and

(c) to remit or refund in whole or in part any such fee that has been paid in such circumstances as it determines,

and the exercise of the power under paragraph (b) or (c) (as distinct from the determination of the circumstances in which the power shall be exercisable) shall not require the approval of the Minister.

(3) The Board shall review the fees determined under subsection (1) from time to time, but at least every three years, having regard to any change in the consumer price index since the determination of the fees for the time being in force, and may amend the fees to reflect the results of that review, without the necessity of the Minister’s approval under subsection (1).