Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

"Iris Oifigiúil" of 6th January, 2015.

I, PAUDIE COFFEY, Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, in exercise of the powers conferred on the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government by section 3 (as amended by sections 4 and 7 of the Building Control Act 2007 (No. 21 of 2007)) and section 18 of the Building Control Act 1990 (No. 3 of 1990) (as adapted by the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2011 ( S.I. No. 193 of 2011 )), which powers are delegated to me by the Environment, Community and Local Government (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order 2014 ( S.I. No. 524 of 2014 ), hereby make the following regulations:

Citation

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Building Regulations (Part E Amendment) Regulations 2014.

(2) These Regulations and the Building Regulations 1997 ( S.I. No. 497 of 1997 ) may be cited together as the Building Regulations 1997 to 2014 and shall be construed together as one.

Commencement

2. Subject to Regulation 3, these Regulations come into operation on 1 July 2015.

Application

3. These Regulations shall apply to works, or a building in which a material change of use takes place, where the works or the change of use commence or take place, as the case may be, on or after 1 July 2015.

Amendment of Article 13 of the Building Regulations

4. The Building Regulations 1997 are amended by substituting for Article 13(1)(a) the following:

"(1)(a) the requirements of the following Parts of the Second Schedule:

Parts A1 and A2

Part B

Part C4

Part E

Part F

Part G

Part H

Part J

Part L

shall apply to the building. In addition, Part M shall apply to the building, where a material change of use as described in subparagraph (2)(b)(i), (ii), (iv), (vi), (vii) or (viii) of this article takes place."

Amendment to the Second Schedule of the Building Regulations

5. The Building Regulations 1997 are amended by substituting for Part E of the Second Schedule the following:

"PART E

SOUND

GIVEN under my hand,

22 December 2014.

PAUDIE COFFEY,

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation).

These Regulations amend Part E (Sound) of the Second Schedule to the Building Regulations 1997 ( S.I. No. 497 of 1997 ) in respect of new dwellings. The Regulations also apply to extensions to dwellings which adjoin other buildings.

Regulation E1 aims to ensure that dwellings achieve reasonable levels of sound insulation from sound transmission emanating from attached buildings or differently occupied parts of the same building.

Regulation E2 aims to protect dwelling occupants from noise produced from reverberation in common internal areas which provide direct access to a dwelling or dwellings.

These Regulations also amend Article 13 of the Building Regulations 1997 to require Part E to apply to an existing building or part of a building which undergoes a material change of use to a dwelling.

The amendments to Part E of the Building Regulations and the associated technical guidance meet the overall objective of securing reasonable standards of health and safety for persons in or about buildings in respect of the passage of sound.

The operative date of the Regulations is 1 July 2015.