
1 
These regulations may be cited as the Building (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 and shall come into operation on 28th November 2016.
2 
In these Regulations “the principal Regulations” means the Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012.
3 

(1) The principal Regulations shall continue to apply to—
(a) plans deposited or a building notice given in accordance with the principal Regulations before the commencement of these Regulations;
(b) building work carried out in accordance with such plans or such building notice with or without any departure or deviation from those plans or that building notice; and
(c) building work completed before the commencement of these Regulations,as if the amendments effected by these Regulations had not been made.
(2) The amendments made by regulations 5, 7, 8 and 9 shall not apply to—
(a) plans deposited or a building notice given in accordance with the principal Regulations before 1st January 2017;
(b) building work carried out in accordance with such plans or such building notice with or without any departure or deviation from those plans or that building notice; and
(c) building work completed before 1st January 2017.
(3) In paragraphs (1) and (2)—
 “building notice” means a notice given under regulation 9 (Giving of notices and deposit of plans) of the principal Regulations; and
 “building work” has the same meaning as in the principal Regulations.
4 
The principal Regulations shall be amended as provided in regulations 5 to 9.
5 

(1) In regulation 2 (Interpretation and general) in the Table to paragraph (7)—
(a) below the Abbreviation or symbol “%” there shall be inserted “Mbps”; and
(b) below the Definitions “percent” there shall be inserted “Megabits per second”.
(2) In regulation 4 (Exemptions)—
(a) in paragraph (2) for “(3) and (6)” substitute “(3), (6) and (7)”;
(b) in paragraph (5)(b) for “Parts C to L” substitute “Parts C to M”;
(c) in paragraph (6) after “43B” insert “, and subject to regulation 77A, comply with the requirements of regulation 77B”; and
(d) after paragraph (6) insert the following paragraph—“
(7) Regulation 77B shall apply to buildings controlled under other legislation falling within Class 1 of Schedule 2.”.
(3) In regulation 5 (Application to erection of buildings) for “Parts A to L” substitute “Parts A to M”.
(4) In regulation 7 (Application to alterations and extensions) in paragraph (1) for “Parts A to L” substitute “Parts A to M”.
(5) In regulation 8 (Application to material change of use) for the Table to regulation 8 there shall be substituted the Table set out in Schedule 1 of these Regulations.
(6) In regulation 11 (Application for a type approval certificate for the erection of a dwelling or dwellings)—
(a) in paragraph (1)(f) delete “and”;
(b) in paragraph (1)(g) for “.” substitute “; and”; and
(c) after paragraph (1)(g) insert—“
(h) matters relating to Part M (Physical infrastructure for high-speed electronic communications networks).”.
6 

(1) In regulation 40 (Target carbon dioxide emission rate)—
(a) in paragraph (1) after “38(3)(b),” insert “minimum energy performance requirements in the form of”;
(b) in paragraph (1) after “calculated” insert “and expressed”; and
(c) in paragraph (2) after “rate” insert “, with all carbon dioxide emission rates calculated and expressed using a national calculation methodology”.
(2) In regulation 43B (Nearly zero-energy requirements for new buildings) in paragraph (2)(a) after “occupied” insert “and owned”.
7 
After Part L (Combustion appliances and fuel storage systems) there shall be inserted the Part set out in Schedule 2 of these Regulations.
8 
For paragraph (a) in Class 1 of Schedule 2, substitute—“
(a) Any building in which explosives are manufactured or stored under a licence granted under the Manufacture and Storage of Explosives Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006.”.
9 

(1) Part A (Giving of notices and deposit of plans) in Rule B: Erection of buildings—
(a) in paragraph (5)(g) delete “and”;
(b) in paragraph (5)(h) for “.” substitute “; and”; and
(c) after paragraph (5)(h) insert—“
(j) the provisions made in the building or part of the building for physical infrastructure for high-speed electronic communications networks.”.
(2) Part C (Particulars to be given with an application for a type approval certificate) in paragraph (2)(d)—
(a) in sub-paragraph (viii) delete “and”;
(b) in sub-paragraph (ix) for “.” substitute “; and”; and
(c) after sub-paragraph (ix) insert—“
(x) the provisions made in the building for physical infrastructure for high-speed electronic communications networks.”.
Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Finance on 23rd November 2016
Desi McDonnell
A senior officer of the
Department of Finance

SCHEDULE 1
Regulation 5(5)

Part Cases
I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII
A Interpretation and general * * * * * * * * * * * *
B Materials and workmanship — — — — — — — — — — — *
C Site preparation and resistance to contaminants and moisture *1 *1 *1 *1 *1 *1 *1 *1 *1 *1 *1 *1
D Structure *2 *2 *2 *2 *2 *2 *2 *2 *2 *2 *2 *
E Fire safety *3 *3 *3 *3 *3 *3 *3 *3 *3 *3 *3 *3
F Conservation of fuel and power *4 *4 *4 *4 *4 *4 *4 *4 *4 *4 *4 *4
G Resistance to the passage of sound *5 *6 *6 — *7 — — — *6 *6 *6 *
H Stairs, ramps, guarding and protection from impact — — — — — — — — — — — *
J Solid waste in buildings * * * * * — — — * * * *
K Ventilation * * * * * — — — * * * *
L Combustion appliances and fuel storage systems *8 *8 *8 *8 *8 — — — *8 — — *8
M Physical infrastructure for high-speed electroniccommunications networks — — — — — — — — — — — —
N Drainage — — — — — — — — — — — —
P Sanitary appliances, unvented hot water storage systems and reducingthe risk of scalding *9 *9 *9 *9 *9 — — — *9 *9 *9 *9
R Access to and use of buildings — — *10 *10 *10 *10 — — — — — *
V Glazing * * — — — — — — * — — —
SCHEDULE 2
Regulation 7
“
PART M
77A. 

(1) Regulation 77B applies only to building work that consists of—
(a) the erection of a building; or
(b) major renovation works.
(2) Regulation 77B shall not apply to—
(a) a building for which compliance with regulation 77B would unacceptably alter its character or appearance and which is—
(i) a protected building; or
(ii) a building being any monument for the time being subject to Part II of the Historic Monuments and Archaeological Objects (Northern Ireland) Order 1995;
(b) a building situated in an isolated area where the prospect of high-speed connection is considered too remote to justify equipping the building with high-speed-ready in-building physical infrastructure or an access point; and
(c) a building subject to major renovation works in which the cost of compliance with regulation 77B would be disproportionate to the benefit gained.
(3) In this Part—
 “Access point” means a physical point, located inside or outside the building, accessible to undertakings providing or authorised to provide public communications networks, where connection to the high-speed-ready in-building physical infrastructure is made available;
 “High-speed electronic communications network” means an electronic communication network which is capable of delivering broadband access services at speeds of at least 30 Mbps;
 “High-speed-ready in-building physical infrastructure” means in-building physical infrastructure intended to host elements or enable delivery of high-speed electronic communications networks;
 “In-building physical infrastructure” means physical infrastructure or installations at the end-user’s location, including elements under joint ownership, intended to host wired and/or wireless access networks, where such access networks are capable of delivering electronic communications services and connecting the building access point with the network termination point;
 “Major renovation works” means works at the end-user’s location encompassing structural modifications of the entire in-building physical infrastructure or of a significant part of it;
 “Network termination point” means the physical point at which a subscriber is provided with access to a public communications network; in the case of networks involving switching or routing, the network termination point is identified by means of a specific network address, which may be linked to a subscriber number or name;
 “Protected building” has the meaning assigned to it by regulation 38 in Part F; and
 “Public communications network” means an electronic communications network used wholly or mainly for the provision of electronic communications services available to the public which support the transfer of information between network termination points.
77B. 

(1) Building work shall be carried out so as to ensure that a building is adequately equipped with a high-speed-ready in-building physical infrastructure up to the network termination points.
(2) Where the building work concerns a multi-dwelling building, the building work shall be carried out so as to ensure that the building is adequately equipped with a common access point.”