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Major Changes to the Building Regulations

Newry and Mourne District Council Building Control Department organised awareness training on the new “Conservation of Fuel and Power” (Part F) regulations due to come into force on 30th November this year.

Barry Coe, Principal Building Control Officer in Sunderland City Council who has been enforcing very similar regulations since this April, presented the seminar. The new regulations will have a major impact on all new buildings, those being extended and where a change of use in undertaken. The aim of the new regulations is to support the Government’s commitment to reducing CO2 emissions.

There were two seminars on the day. The morning session was very well attended by local Building Control staff and there was excellent attendance by architects, builders and other businesses in the afternoon.

Click here for Barry Coe's Powerpoint Presentation.

New Building Regulations Information Leaflet

New Building Regulations are being introduced in Northern Ireland on 30 November 2006, and will apply to Building Regulation applications received on or after this date. They cover Part F ‘conservation of fuel and power’, Part L ‘combustion appliances and fuel storage’, and Part R ‘access and use of buildings’. A new Technical Booklet H ‘stairs, ramps and guarding has also been added.
A brief summary is given below.

• New Part F regulations for the conservation of fuel and power include the calculation of carbon dioxide emission rates for new buildings, air permeability tests and the provision of information to occupiers about the building and fixed heating appliances. New provisions are also included for existing buildings where there is a change in the use of a building and / or where an extension is being built.

Two new technical booklets, one for domestic buildings and one for non domestic buildings accompany these Part F regulations. These booklets give solutions on how the regulations can be met.

• New Part L regulations have been renamed ‘combustion appliances and fuel storage’ and include fire protection measures for oil and gas storage tanks, and protection of the environment against spillage from oil storage tanks. A comprehensive technical booklet has also been introduced.

• New Part R regulations have been renamed ‘access to and use of buildings’. These Regulations are only in relation to non domestic buildings. Again, a new technical booklet has been introduced to show one method of meeting these regulations.

In addition to the above, minor amendments have been made to Part E and V, and new ‘deemed-to-satisfy’ tables have been introduced in schedule 5 of the Building Regulations.

Technical booklet H 2006 is the new ‘deemed-to-satisfy’ guidance document for stairs. Some changes in this booklet for non domestic stairs include limiting number of stair risers per flight to 12, and open riser stairs are now not permitted.

Further information on these new Building Regulations can be found on the website www.dfpni.gov.uk/building-regulations, the new technical booklets can also be downloaded from this site. Alternatively, these new regulations can be purchased from the TSO Bookshop, 16 Arthur Street, Belfast, telephone number
(028) 9023 8451.

Building Regulations Service

Useful Web Links

The Planning Service-- www.doeni.gov.uk/planning

Roads Service-- www.roadsni.gov.uk

Water Service-- www.waterni.gov.uk

Housing Executive--www.nihe.gov.uk

Building Control Northern Ireland-- www.buildingcontrol-ni.com

Ordnance Survey-- www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk

Valuation & Lands Agency-- www.vla.nics.gov.uk


Extension Build-- http://www.extensionbuild.co.uk