The Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012

Application and interpretation

38.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) this Part shall apply to any building and where a building contains one or more dwellings to each dwelling separately.

(2) Regulation 40 shall apply to—

(a) the erection of a building; and

(b) the extension of a building other than a dwelling, where the extension has a total useful floor area that is both—

(i) greater than 100 m²; and

(ii) greater than 25% of the total useful floor area of the existing building,

but shall not apply to a building with low energy demand such as an industrial building, workshop or non-residential building.

(3) Regulation 45 shall not apply to the provision or extension of any fixed building service where commissioning is not possible.

(4) In this Part—

“Change of energy status” means any change which results in a building becoming a building to which this Part applies where previously it did not;

“National calculation methodology” means—

(a)

in relation to a dwelling, the Government’s Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) for Energy Rating of Dwellings; and

(b)

in relation to a building other than a dwelling—

(i)

the Simplified Building Energy Model (SBEM); or

(ii)

a Dynamic Simulation Model (DSM),

that is implemented with Government approved software;

“Pipes, ducts and vessels” means any pipe, any duct and any vessel in a space heating or space cooling system that is intended to carry a heated or chilled liquid or gas and includes any associated fittings;

“Renovation of a thermal element” means the provision of a new layer to a thermal element or the replacement of an existing layer (other than where a partial replacement layer is provided solely as a means of patch repair to a flat roof) but does not include thin decorative surface finishes;

“Space cooling system” does not include a system or that part of a system which cools or stores water solely for a commercial or industrial process;

“Space heating system” does not include a system or that part of a system which heats or stores water solely for a commercial or industrial process;

“Target carbon dioxide emission rate” means the rate of carbon dioxide emission measured in kilograms of carbon dioxide per square metre of total useful floor area per year;

“Thermal element” means a wall, floor or roof (but does not include windows, doors, roof windows or rooflights) which separates a thermally conditioned space from—

(a)

the external environment including the ground; or

(b)

in the case of floors and walls, another part of the building which is—

(i)

thermally unconditioned;

(ii)

an extension falling within Class 8 of Schedule 2; or

(iii)

in the case of a building other than a dwelling, conditioned to a different temperature,

and includes all parts of the element between the surface bounding the conditioned space and the external environment or other part of the building as the case may be; and

“Total useful floor area” means the total area of all enclosed spaces measured to the inside face of the external walls, that is, the gross floor area, and in the case of sloping surfaces such as staircases, galleries, raked auditoria and tiered terraces shall be taken as their area on plan but shall exclude areas that are not enclosed such as open floors, covered ways and balconies.