Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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309. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government with regard to SI 309 of 2022 which provides for planning exemptions for temporary accommodation for displaced Ukrainians, if any proposals are being brought forward to streamline the required building regulations to ensure a timely turnaround on proposals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62135/22]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The purpose of Building Regulations is to provide for the safety and welfare of people in and about buildings and the building control processes are a means of ensuring compliance with the Building Regulations and as such the Building Control legislation applies as normal when providing accommodation for Ukrainian Refugees.

For information, Building Regulations apply to the construction of new buildings (including dwellings) and existing buildings where works are being performed on a building as prescribed in the Building Regulations 1997 (S.I. No. 497 of 1997) as amended. The primary responsibility for compliance with the requirements of the Building Regulations rests with the designers, builders and owners of buildings. Building Control Authorities are responsible for the enforcement of Building Regulations.

Section 4 and 5 of the Building Control Acts make provision to dispense with or relax requirements of building regulations, subject to such conditions (e.g. time bound, exclusively for certain classes and set minimum standards), if it is deemed unreasonable having regard to all the circumstances of the case or the class of works under consideration.