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Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in
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“Iris Oifigiúil” of 4th May, 2012.
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I, PHIL HOGAN, Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by
Sections 3
and
18
of the
Building Control Act 1990
(No. 3 of 1990), hereby make the following regulations:—
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Citation
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1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Building Regulations (Part A Amendment) Regulations 2012.
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(2) The Building Regulations 1997 (
S.I. No. 497 of 1997
) and these Regulations may be cited together as the Building Regulations 1997 to 2012 and shall be construed together as one.
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Commencement
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2. These Regulations shall come into operation on 1 July 2013.
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Application
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3. These Regulations shall apply to works, or a building as regards which a material alteration or change of use takes place, where the relevant works, material alteration or the change of use commence or take place, as the case may be, on or after 1 July 2013.
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Amendment to the Building Regulations 1997
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4. The Building Regulations 1997 are amended by substituting for Part A of the Second Schedule the following:—
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“Part AStructure
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Loading.
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A1
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(1) A building shall be designed and constructed, with due regard to the theory and practice of structural engineering, so as to ensure that the combined actions that are liable to act on it are sustained and transmitted to the ground:—
(a) safely, and
(b) without causing such deflection or deformation of any part of the building, or such movement of the ground, as will impair the stability of any part of another building.
(2) In assessing whether a building complies with subparagraph (1), regard shall be had to the variable actions to which it is likely to be subjected in the ordinary course of its use for the purpose for which it is intended.
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Ground movement.
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A2
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A building shall be designed and constructed, with due regard to the theory and practice of structural engineering, so as to ensure that movements of the subsoil caused by subsidence, swelling, shrinkage or freezing will not impair the stability of any part of the building.
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Disproportionate collapse.
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A3
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(1) A building shall be designed and constructed, with due regard to the theory and practice of structural engineering, so as to ensure that in the event of an accident the structure will not be damaged to an extent disproportionate to the cause of the damage.
(2) For the purposes of subparagraph (1), where a building is rendered structurally discontinuous by a vertical joint, the building on each side of the joint may be treated as a separate building whether or not such joint passes through the substructure.
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Definitions for this Part.
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A4
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In this Part:—
“actions” means a set of forces (loads) applied to the structure (direct actions) or a set of imposed deformations or accelerations (indirect actions);
“variable actions” means actions for which the variation in magnitude with time is neither negligible nor monotonic such as imposed loads on building floors, wind actions or snow loads.”
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GIVEN under my Official Seal,
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30 April 2012.
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PHIL HOGAN,
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Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government.
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EXPLANATORY NOTE
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(This note is not part of the instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation).
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These Regulations amend Part A of the Building Regulations 1997 (
S.I. No 497 of 1997
).
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They are necessary to ensure consistency with the Eurocodes, a set of harmonised structural design codes for building and civil engineering works which are now generally in force across EU member states.
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