Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 March 2022
329. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to amend the Building Regulations Part B (Fire Safety) to allow for cross-laminated buildings to go higher than 10 metres in order to deliver high quality mid-rise high-density zero carbon apartment developments. [14343/22]
View answerThe Building Regulations 1997-2021 set out the legal requirements for the construction of new buildings (including houses), extensions to existing buildings as well as for material alterations and certain material changes of use to existing buildings. Their aim is to provide for the safety and welfare of people in and about buildings. The minimum performance requirements that a building must achieve are set out in the Second Schedule to the Building Regulations. These requirements are set out in 12 parts (classified as Parts A to M). The Building Regulations are set out in functional terms. They are performance based and technology/material neutral. They do not set limitations on the materials. Primary responsibility for compliance with the Building Regulations rests with the designers, builders and owners of buildings.
The associated Technical Guidance Documents (TGD A - M respectively) provide technical guidance on how to comply with the Building Regulations in practical terms for simple non-complex buildings. Where works are carried out in accordance with the relevant technical guidance, such works are considered to be, prima facie, in compliance with the relevant regulations. However, the adoption of an approach other than that outlined in the guidance is not precluded provided that the relevant requirements of the Regulations are complied with.
Part D (Materials and Workmanship) requires that all works should be carried out in a workmanlike manner using “proper materials…which are fit for the use for which they are intended and for the conditions in which they are to be used” to ensure compliance with the Building Regulations. ‘Proper Materials’ includes materials which comply with an appropriate harmonised standard or European Technical Assessment or comply with an appropriate Irish Standard or Irish Agrément Certificate or with an alternative national technical specification of any State which is a contracting party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, which provides in use an equivalent level of safety and suitability.
Cross laminated timber, as a modern method of construction, is not covered by existing standards. Agrément Certificates may be utilised to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of the Building Regulations for new innovative products or systems, not covered by existing standards. The assessment is carried out by an independent 3rd party, such as the National Standards Authority of Ireland Agrément (NSAI Agrément).
My Department does not have an approval function and does not approve or endorse products for compliance with the Building Regulations or standards. It is critical to ensure that products, systems, and ultimately buildings which are comprised of such products and systems, are designed, constructed, and certified, as fit for purpose, having regard to their intended end use.
The Building Regulations are subject to ongoing review in the interests of safety and the well-being of persons in the built environment and to ensure that due regard is taken of changes in construction techniques, technological progress and innovation.
Part B of the Building Regulations deals with Fire Safety. The associated Technical Guidance Document B (TGD B) provides guidance indicating how the requirements of Part B can be achieved in practice. A fundamental review of Part B (Fire Safety) is underway at present and will take note of the Fire Safety in Ireland report (published in 2018), and consider common and emerging building trends, developments and events from a global perspective, matters relating to external fire spread, external fire resistance, internal fire resistance, cladding systems, sprinklers, etc. Changes in standards, including fire test standards and technological changes in areas such as materials and systems have necessitated a fundamental analysis of the provisions and assumptions contained in Technical Guidance Document B – Fire Safety.
In this context, my Department established a Consultative Committee in December 2020 which has met nine times to date, in addition to a number of sub-group meetings. Draft documentation in the form of revised draft Building Regulations (Part B Amendment) Regulations, Technical Guidance Document B – Fire Safety, and a Regulatory Impact Analysis are currently being developed with a view to being brought forward for public consultation later this year.
