5. (1) In these Regulations, any reference to a Schedule, Part or article which is not otherwise identified is a reference to a Schedule, Part or article of these Regulations.

(2) In these Regulations, any reference to a sub-article or paragraph which is not otherwise identified is a reference to the sub-article or paragraph of the provision in which the reference occurs.

(3) In these Regulations, a reference to any enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended or adapted by any subsequent enactment.

F3 [ (4) In these Regulations, save where the context otherwise requires —

“ the Act ” means the Building Control Act 1990 (No. 3 of 1990) as amended by the Building Control Act 2007 (No. 21 of 2007);

“ agriculture ” includes horticulture, fruit growing, seed growing, dairy farming, the breeding and keeping of livestock (including any creature kept for the production of food, wool, skins or fur, or for the purpose of its use in the farming of land), the use of land as grazing land, meadow land, osier land, market gardens and nursery grounds, the use of land for turbary, and the use of land for woodlands where that use is ancillary to the farming of land for other agricultural purposes;

“ appeal ” means an appeal to the Board under section 7(1)( a ), 7(1)( b ), 7(1)( d ) or 7(1)( e ) of the Act;

“ application ” means —

( a ) an application under section 4 of the Act for a dispensation from, or a relaxation of, a requirement of Building Regulations,

( b ) an application for a fire safety certificate,

( c ) an application for a revised fire safety certificate,

( d ) an application for a regularisation certificate,

( e ) an application for a disability access certificate, or

( f ) an application for a revised disability access certificate.

“ the Board ” means An Bord Pleanala;

“ building control authority ” means a building control authority as defined in section 2 of the Act;

F4 [ “ Building Control Management System ” means the information technology-based system hosted by the Local Government Management Agency and developed to facilitate the electronic administration of building control matters by building control authorities as the preferred means of building control administration; ]

“ Building Control Regulations, 1991 and 1994 ” means the Building Control Regulations, 1991 ( S.I. No. 305 of 1991 ) as amended by the Building Control (Amendment) Regulations, 1994 ( S.I. No. 153 of 1994 );

“ Building Regulations ” means the Building Regulations, 1997;

“ commencement notice ” means a notice referred to in section 6(2)( k ) of the Act;

F5 [ “ company ” means a company to which the provisions of the Companies Act 2014 apply, or a company or a body corporate incorporated in another state; ]

F4 [ “ Certificate of Compliance ” means a certificate of compliance provided for under section 6(2)( a )(i) of the Act of 1990 and includes —

(i) Certificates of Compliance (Design),

(ii) Certificates of Compliance (Undertaking by Assigned Certifier),

(iii) Certificates of Compliance (Undertaking by Builder), and

(iv) Certificates of Compliance on Completion; ]

“ day centre ” means a building used for the provision of treatment or care to persons where such persons do not stay overnight and includes a day care centre, a pre-school, a creche, and a day nursery;

“ disability access certificate ” means a certificate referred to in section 6 (2)( a )(ix) of the Act;

“ dispensation or relaxation ” means a dispensation or a relaxation, under section 4 of the Act, from or of, as the case may be, any requirement of regulations made under section 3 of the Act;

“ domestic garage ” means a building ancillary to a dwelling which is used, or suitable for use, for the storage of a motor vehicle or vehicles and is not used for the purposes of any trade or business;

“ drainage system ” in relation to a building, means the system of pipes and drains used for the drainage of the building, including all other fittings, appliances and equipment so used but excluding subsoil water drains;

“ an enforcement notice ” means a notice served under section 8 of the Act;

“ fire safety certificate ” includes a certificate referred to in section 6(2)( a )(ii) of the Act;

“ flat ” means separate and self-contained premises constructed or adapted for residential use and forming part of a building from some other part of which it is divided horizontally;

“ guest building ” means a building (other than a hotel or hostel) providing overnight guest accommodation for reward, and includes a guesthouse;

“ industrial building ” includes a factory or other premises used for manufacturing, altering, repairing, cleaning, washing, breaking-up, adapting or processing any article, generating power or slaughtering livestock;

“ institutional building ” includes a hospital, nursing home, home for old people or for children, school or other similar establishment used as living accommodation or for the treatment, care or maintenance of persons suffering from illness or mental or physical disability or handicap, where such persons sleep on the premises;

“ material alteration ” means an alteration (other than a repair or renewal), where the work, or any part of the work, carried out by itself would be subject to a requirement of Part A or B of the Second Schedule to the Building Regulations;

“ material change of use ” means —

( a ) a change of use, deemed by section 3(3) of the Act to be a material change of use, takes place, or

( b ) a building which was not being used as —

(i) a day centre, becomes so used, or

(ii) a hotel, hostel or guest building, becomes so used, or

(iii) an industrial building, becomes so used, or

(iv) an institutional building, becomes so used, or

(v) an office (which is not ancillary to the primary use of the building), becomes so used, or

(vi) a place of assembly, becomes so used, or

(vii) a shop (which is not ancillary to the primary use of the building), becomes so used, or

(viii) a shopping centre, becomes so used;

“ minor works ” means works consisting of the installation, alteration or removal of a fixture or fitting, or works of a decorative nature;

“ office ” includes premises used for the purpose of administrative or clerical work (including writing, book keeping, sorting papers, filing, typing, duplicating, machine calculating, drawing and the editorial preparation of matter for publication, handling money (including banking and building society work) or telephone system operation);

F6 [ “ oversight group ” means a group appointed by the Minister of not less than 6 and not more than 8 persons who are eligible for inclusion on a register of construction professionals established pursuant to the Building Control Act 2007 or the Institution of Civil Engineers of Ireland (Charter Amendment) Act 1969 ; ]

“ party ” means a party to an appeal, namely —

( a ) the appellant,

( b ) the building control authority against whose decision an appeal is made, and “ parties ” shall be construed accordingly;

“ place of assembly ” includes —

( a ) a theatre, public library, hall or other building of public resort used for social or recreational purposes,

( b ) a non-residential school or other educational establishment,

( c ) a place of public worship,

( d ) a public house, restaurant or similar premises used for the sale to members of the public of food or drink for consumption on the premises,

but no building shall be treated as a place of assembly solely because it is a building to which members of the public are occasionally admitted;

“ register ” means a register pursuant to article 21 of these Regulations;

“ regularisation certificate ” means a certificate referred to in section 6(2)( a )(vii) of the Act;

“ repair or renewal ” means works of maintenance or restoration of a routine nature relating to —

( a ) the keeping of a building in good condition or working order, or

( b ) the return of the fabric of a building to its original condition;

“ revised disability access certificate ” means a certificate referred to in section 6(2)( a )(x) of the Act;

“ revised fire safety certificate ” means a certificate referred to in section 6(2)( a )(vi) and section 6(2)( a )(x) of the Act;

“ shop ” includes a building used for retail or wholesale trade or business (including retail sales by auction, self-selection and over-the-counter wholesale trading, the business of lending books or periodicals for gain and the business of a barber or hairdresser) and premises to which the public is invited to deliver or to collect goods in connection with their hire, repair or other treatment, or where they themselves may carry out such repairs or other treatments;

“ shopping centre ” includes a building which comprises a number of individually occupied premises to which common access is provided principally for the benefit of shoppers;

“ State authority ” means any authority being —

( a ) a Minister of the Government, or

( b ) the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland;

“ statutory declaration ” means a statutory declaration referred to in section 6 (2)( a )(vii) of the Act;

F5 [ “ total floor area ” as referred to under Articles 9(2)(b), 20A(2)(b)(ii) and 20F(2)(b) in the context of an extension to a dwelling refers only to the total floor area of the proposed extension as described in the commencement notice ]

“ works ” includes any act or operation in connection with the construction, extension, alteration, repair or renewal of a building;

“ 7 day notice ” means a notice referred to in section 6(2)( a )(iv) of the Act;

“ 7 day notice statutory declaration ” means a statutory declaration referred to in section 6(2)( a )(v) of the Act. ]

(5) In these Regulations, a reference to the carrying out of works on behalf of a State authority shall, where the authority is a Minister of the Government, be construed as including a reference to the carrying out of works by the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland on his behalf.

(6) Where a requirement of or under these Regulations requires submissions or observations to be made, or plans, documents, particulars or other information to be submitted to the Board within a specified period and the last day of that period is a Saturday, a Sunday, a public holiday F7 [ (within the meaning of the Organisation of Working Time, Act 1997) ] or any other day on which the offices of the Board are closed, the submissions or observations, or plans, documents, particulars or other information (as the case may be) shall be regarded as having been received before the expiration of that period if received by the Board on the next following day on which the offices of the Board are open.

F8 [ (7)( a ) For the avoidance of doubt, these regulations do not prevent an owner when completing, as required, a Notice of Assignment of Builder as set out in the Second or Third Schedules as appropriate, from taking on the role of the builder for the purposes of these regulations. The owner shall then also sign the form of Undertaking by the Builder and, where applicable, Part A — Certificate by the Builder — of the Certificate of Compliance on Completion.

( b ) Where the assigned builder is a building company, the form of Undertaking by the Builder and Part A — Certificate by the Builder — of the Certificate of Compliance on Completion shall be signed by a Principal or a Director of the Building Company. These forms shall not be signed by an ordinary employee of the building company. ]