Last edited 30 May 2024

Building safety in Northern Ireland

1 Fire Safety in Northern Ireland
2 The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations Northern Ireland
3 Related articles on Designing Buildings
4 External links

[edit] Fire Safety in Northern Ireland

[edit] Fire related Northern Ireland legislation

The Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 and the Fire Safety Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 are the main pieces of fire safety legislation published by legislation.go.uk that apply directly to Northern Ireland. These set out duties that an ‘appropriate person’ (such as the building manager, owner, employer, or responsible party) must fulfil and maintain in order to meet the requirements. In brief, these include:

Carrying out a fire risk assessment of the workplace to identify any risks to the safety of employees in respect of harm caused by fire in the workplace.
Equip the building with firefighting equipment where required (such as fire extinguishers and suppression systems), fire detectors, and fire alarms.
Provide clear emergency exit routes, illuminated where required with backup electricity.
Ensure such provisions are maintained regularly, in working order, and in good repair.

[edit] Fire and the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland

The Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) is the lead body responsible for the promotion and enforcement of health and safety at work standards in Northern Ireland. It is an executive, non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for the Economy (DfE). They publish guidance on fire and explosion, in particular the guidance Managing fire safety in the workplace and an example fire risk assessment.

[edit] Fire in the Building Regulations of Northern Ireland

The Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012 were drafted by the Department of Finance and Personnel (DFP), which also publishes technical guidance booklets that they recommend are followed during the course of construction. The technical guidance booklets most relevant to fire safety are:

Building Regulations (Northern Ireland), Technical Booklet B (July 2013). This provides guidance on regulations 23 and 24(2), which set out the requirements for materials and workmanship.

Building Regulations (Northern Ireland), Technical Booklet E (October 2012). This provides guidance on regulations 33–37, which set out the requirements for fire safety.

Building Regulations (Northern Ireland), Amendments Booklet AMD 7 (April 2022). Technical Amendments The publication amends Technical Booklets B (2013), C (2012), and E (2012). In particular, amendments to Technical Booklet B (July 2013) provide guidance on regulations 23 and 24(2), the requirements for materials and workmanship, and Technical Booklet E (October 2012), which provides guidance on regulations 33–37, the requirements for fire safety.

[edit] The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations Northern Ireland

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 replaced the revoked 2007 regulations of the same name. The new regulations cover a number of areas, including:

[edit] Duty holders

Duty holders include commercial clients, domestic clients, principal designers, principal contractors, contractors, and workers.

Commercial clients

Commercial clients are organisations or individuals for whom a construction project is carried out that is done as part of a business, and they must make suitable arrangements for managing the project. This includes: other duty holders are appointed as appropriate; sufficient time and resources are allocated. They must also make sure that relevant information is prepared and provided to other duty holders, that the principal designer and principal contractor carry out their duties,and that welfare facilities are provided.

Domestic clients

Domestic clients are people who have construction work carried out on their own home (or the home of a family member) that is not done as part of a business; their client duties are normally transferred to other parties. However, the domestic client can instead choose to have a written agreement with the principal designer to carry out the client duties. Client duties are normally transferred to parties such as the contractor for single-contractor projects or the principal contractor for projects with more than one contractor. If the householder carries out the work themselves, then it is classified as DIY, and CDM 2016 still applies.

Designers

Designers are organisations or individuals who, as part of a business, prepare or modify designs for a building, product, or system relating to construction work. In preparing or modifying designs, designers need to eliminate, reduce, or control foreseeable risks that may arise during construction and the maintenance and use of a building once it is built, as well as provide information to other members of the project team to help them fulfil their duties.

Principal designers

Principal designers are designers appointed by the client for projects involving more than one contractor. They can be an organisation or an individual with sufficient knowledge, experience, and ability to carry out the role. Principal designers must plan, manage, monitor, and coordinate health and safety in the pre-construction phase of a project. This includes identifying, eliminating, or controlling foreseeable risks. ensuring designers carry out their duties, preparing and providing relevant information to other duty holders, and liaising with the principal contractor to help in the planning, management, monitoring, and coordination of the construction phase.

Principal contractors

Principal contractors are contractors appointed by the client to coordinate the construction phase of a project that involves more than one contractor. Principal contractors must plan, manage, monitor, and coordinate health and safety in the construction phase of a project. This includes liaising with the client and principal designer, preparing the construction phase plan, organising cooperation between contractors, and coordinating their work.

The principal contractors need to make sure that suitable site inductions are provided, reasonable steps are taken to prevent unauthorised access, workers are consulted and engaged in securing their health and safety, and welfare facilities are provided.

Contractors

Contractors are those who carry out the actual construction work; they can be an individual or a company. Contractors plan, manage, and monitor construction work under their control so it is carried out without risks to health and safety. When this involves more than one contractor, they must coordinate their activities with others in the project team. In particular, they must comply with directions given to them by the principal designer or principal contractor, or for single-contractor projects, they must prepare a construction phase plan.

Workers

Workers are those working for or under the control of contractors on a construction site and must be consulted about matters that affect their health, safety, and welfare; take care of their own health and safety and of others who might be affected by their actions, report anything they see which is likely to endanger either their own or others’ health and safety and cooperate with their employer, fellow workers, contractors and other duty holders

[edit] Northern Irish response to building safety

[edit] Northern Irish context

In December 2021, the Northern Ireland (NI) executive agreed to the Department of Finance (DoF) establishing an Expert Panel to review the key issues highlighted by the Hackitt review and look at the legal and policy responsibilities of NI departments and local authorities for building and fire safety in NI. The expert panel for the building safety programme of Northern Ireland was asked ‘to make recommendations to improve the NI regime for building safety; ensure a robust future regulatory system and framework; and ‘provide assurance to residents that the buildings they live in are safe’.

The work of the expert panel concluded in April 2023, with their final report being published in December of the same year. The report, ‘Improving Safety in High-Rise Residential Buildings in Northern Ireland’, made 15 recommendations under different themes. The report noted 'the importance of implementing this work as rapidly as possible and ensuring sufficiently skilled resources are provided to support these activities.'

The first two recommendations, under the theme of continuation of the work, called for the provision of adequate resources and expertise, establishing a 'full-time building safety team (interim team), and the delivery of a 'roadmap’ for implementing the recommendations in the report. The timeframe for the road map was three months from the date of the report, with a call for the establishment of an ‘office for building safety’ (OBS) to cover Northern Ireland.

[edit] Northern Ireland roadmap to improving safety in high rise residential buildings

The Northern Ireland roadmap to improving safety in high rise residential buildings was published in April 2024. The roadmap's purpose being to communicate the proposed approach and actions of the 'Residential Building Safety Division', a new department established in line with the first recommendation of the NI expert panel alongside the roadmap. It outlines how to address the recommendations of the NI Expert Panel report, considering the wider recommendations of the Hackitt Reports and ongoing work across the UK.

The roadmap is divided in to phases and work-streams. The phases outline the timeframe in which each of the fifteen recommendations of the expert panel will be tackled, and the work-streams create focus groups to tackle the different themes covered by the recommendations. The Roadmap is a ‘living’ document, to be amended, and updated as necessary and circulated accordingly. For further information see article Northern Ireland roadmap to improving safety in high rise residential buildings.

[edit] Defective Premises Bill

On April 15 2024 the Minister for Communities Gordon Lyons wrote to the Executive to agree the development and introduction of a Defective Premises Bill. The proposed defective premises legislation would extend the limitation period for actions taken in relation to defective or damaged buildings from six years to 15 years prospectively, and from six years to 30 years retrospectively. The Bill would achieve parity with the legislative position in England and Wales and was given executive approval on April 25 2024 thus progressing to the next steps.

The disparity between the law on defective premises in England & Wales, (as of June 28, 2022) as compared with that in Northern Ireland, in terms of limitation periods and protections offered to residents of buildings (where safety issues arise), was initially highlighted by a case writ from April 2020. The case Ulster Garden Villages Ltd v Farrans (Construction) Ltd dated 2024, dated back to September 2011 and 54 apartments acquired by Ulster Garden Villages. The case related to an application to strike out a claim, relating to a failure of reinforced concrete structural columns in February 2019, because it was more than 6 years after the practical completion of the project so outside of the time boundary.

In the England and Wales this liability period had been extended from 6 to 15 years for claims after June 28 2022, and from 6 to 30 years for claims that accrued before June 28 2022. The defective premises bill would would follow this lead and extend the liability periods accordingly for Northern Ireland also.