6.—(1) The Minister may make regulations (in this Act referred to as “building control regulations”) providing for matters of procedure, administration and control for the purposes of securing the implementation of, and compliance with, the requirements of building regulations and building control regulations may make such incidental, consequential or supplementary provisions as may appear to the Minister to be necessary or expedient.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), building control regulations may make provision for all or any of the following matters—

(a) requiring—

(i) the submission to building control authorities of certificates (in this Act referred to as “certificates of compliance”) being certificates relating to compliance with the building regulations (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) prior to the commencement of, during, and after the completion of, the construction of any buildings, classes of buildings, works or classes of works, to which such building regulations apply,

(ii) in respect of a building, or buildings, of a prescribed class or classes, the submission to a building control authority of an application for a certificate (in this Act referred to as a “fire safety certificate”) that a building, if constructed in accordance with the plans, documents and information submitted, would, in the opinion of the building control authority, 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 such provisions of building regulations as may be prescribed, F9[…]

(iii) in respect of the design or construction of any buildings or classes of buildings or of the carrying out of any works or classes of works to which building regulations apply, the submission to a building control authority of an application for a certificate (in this Act referred to as a “certificate of approval”) of the building control authority that in the opinion of the building control authority the design or construction of the buildings or works 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 F10[the requirements of building regulations,]

F11[(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;]

(b) prescribing—

F10[(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,]

(ii) the plans, documents and information to be submitted with certificates of compliance, applications for fire safety certificates, F11[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] applications for certificates of approval and notices to which subsection (2) (k) relates, and

(iii) the time within which such certificates, applications and notices are to be submitted;

(c) the designation of the persons or the classes of persons by whom certificates of compliance may be given, and the classes of buildings or works in respect of which such certificates may be given;

(d) the granting by a building control authority of fire safety certificates and certificates of approval with or without conditions, or the refusal of such certificates;

(e) requiring a building control authority, whenever it refuses a fire safety certificate or a certificate of approval, to notify the applicant in writing of the reasons for such refusal;

(f) the registration of certificates of compliance, and of such information as may be prescribed in relation to applications for fire safety certificates, fire safety certificates, applications for certificates of approval and certificates of approval and the making available of such information to such persons as may be prescribed;

(g) prescribing the records to be kept, and the information to be provided to the Minister, by a building control authority;

(h) the charging of fees for—

(i) the registration of certificates of compliance,

(ii) the submission of applications for fire safety certificates F11[, 7 day notices, 7 day notice statutory declarations, revised fire safety certificates, regularisation certificates, disability access certificates, revised disability access certificates] or certificates of approval,

(iii) the provision of copies of certificates or other documents or extracts therefrom,

(iv) the carrying out of inspections and tests and the testing of samples taken pursuant to section 11, and

(v) any other matter that the Minister considers appropriate;

F11[(ha) the exemption, in specified circumstances, from fees referred to in paragraph (h);]

(i) the combining in one document of any two or more of the following, namely, any application, notice, certificate or other document provided for in this Act, or in any regulations made thereunder, and any application, notice or other document provided for in the Local Government (Planning and Development) Acts, 1963 to 1983, or in any regulations made under those Acts;

(j) the exclusion from all, or any of, the provisions regarding the submission of certificates of compliance or applications for fire safety certificates or applications for certificates of approval, of such persons, bodies or buildings, or classes thereof as may be specified in the regulations;

(k) requiring the giving of notice to building control authorities of the erection of such buildings, or classes of buildings, or the carrying out of such works, or classes of works, as may be specified in the F10[regulations;]

F11[(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.]

(3) Building control regulations may make different provisions in relation to different buildings, or classes of buildings, in relation to buildings or classes of buildings situated in different areas, or in relation to different provisions of building regulations.

(4) Where a certificate of compliance, or a notice to which subsection (2) (k) relates, is submitted to a building control authority, the building control authority shall not be under a duty to any person to—

(a) ensure that the building or works to which the certificate or notice relates will, either during the course of the work or when completed, comply with the requirements of building regulations or be free from any defect,

(b) ensure that the certificate complies with the requirements of this Act or of regulations or orders made under this Act, or

(c) verify that the facts stated in the certificate are true and accurate.

(5) Where, within a period of two months beginning on the date of an application for a fire safety certificate F11[, 7 day notice, revised fire safety certificate, regularisation certificate, disability access certificate, revised disability access certificate] or a certificate of approval, or within such extended period as may at any time be agreed in writing between the applicant and the building control authority, the building control authority does not notify the applicant of the decision on the application, a decision by the building control authority to grant the fire safety certificate F11[, 7 day notice, revised fire safety certificate, regularisation certificate, disability access certificate, revised disability access certificate] or the certificate of approval, as the case may be, shall be regarded as having been made on the last day of the period or such extended period, as the case may be.

(6) Where an application for a dispensation from or relaxation of any requirement of building regulations is made pursuant to section 4, or where an appeal under section 7 has been made against a decision on such application, the building control authority may defer the making of a decision in relation to the granting or, as the case may be, the refusal of a fire safety certificate F11[, 7 day notice, revised fire safety certificate, regularisation certificate, disability access certificate, revised disability access certificate] or certificate of approval, in respect of the building concerned for a period not exceeding two months after the decision on the application or, as the case may be, the appeal, has been made, and subsection (5) shall be construed accordingly.