Mr. John Wickham:

There are a number of cross-divisional pieces that feed into this from planning and fire safety to building control. In 2018, I chaired the working group on the reuse of existing buildings, which produced a publication called Bringing Back Homes. It was published in 2018 to try to demystify and clarify how the regulations apply to the low-hanging fruit of properties in our villages and towns that can be brought back into use. The second edition of Bringing Back Homes was published in April of this year and reflected the updated policy position and any changes that happened in the interim. As Ms Neary said, in the new technical guidance document B, section 7 has put flexibility in place whereby if the guidance towards new build cannot be satisfied, a range of measures can be adopted. The Senator spoke of access and egress. For instance, the width of stairs can sometimes be perceived as a problem. There is flexibility in that as long as the occupancy is less than 50, the stair width can be reduced compared to that of a new building. Regarding spread-of-flame linings, historical standards could be applied as opposed to trying to make them comply with new standards. In that context and notwithstanding compensating measures that can be looked at, the scope is broadened out for those designing these solutions and our colleagues assessing the applications on the other end. It is in black and white in the technical guidance document.