Key Post Shomera Timber Buildings

Thanks Gilboy
My concern with these rooms popping up is that people may not realise (and the suppliers may not be forthcoming in informing them) that there is still a requirement to comply with the Building Regulations and Safety and Health (Construction) regulations, even though planning is not required....
I will post more info on this here when i get a chance, unless someone else gets around to it before me...

Further to the my post above, I’ve pulled together the main legislation requirements which are relevant to this thread below.

Domestic Planning Exemptions:

The current planning exemptions regarding a domestic extension or domestic shed/garage is listed in Schedule 2 of Part 1 of the Planning and Development Regulations of 2001. The link to the document on the DOE is :

http://www.environ.ie/en/Legislation/DevelopmentandHousing/Planning/FileDownLoad,8797,en.pdf

I cannot see any exemptions for additional living space which is not connected to the existing dwelling house in some way.

Building Regulations


The Third Schedule of SI 497 of 1997 (The Building Regulations) lists the buildings which are exempt from the requirement to comply with the Building Regulations. Link is:

http://www.environ.ie/en/Legislation/DevelopmentandHousing/BuildingStandards/FileDownLoad,1636,en.pdf

The main structures which are exempt and relate to a domestic scenario are mainly stores, sheds, glasshouses and other ‘agricultural’ uses. A building to be used as additional habitable space, or as a ‘home office’ etc. is not exempt.
A building which is not exempt is required to comply with the building standards set out in the regulations on force at the time of construction/erection.

A Commencement Notice, along with the prescribed fee (€30), is required to be lodged with the relevant Local Authority for any structure to which the building regulations apply, 14-28 days before commencement of the building works, as stated in Part II of the Building Control Regulations of 1997, SI 496.
The form of the commencement notice itself is set out in SI 85 of 2004, found at

http://www.environ.ie/en/Legislation/DevelopmentandHousing/BuildingStandards/FileDownLoad,1621,en.doc

Health and Safety (Construction) Regulations


The Health Safety and Welfare at Work Act of 2005 and the Health Safety and
Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations of 2006 outline the duties of a Client with regard to construction work. These are listed in Section 17(a) of the Act, and state that a person who commissions construction work is obliged to appoint both a ‘Project Supervisor Design Process’ and a ‘Project Supervisor Construction Stage’ for any building works or development. The only exceptions to this requirement are outlined in Part 2, Paragraph 6(6) of the Regulations, which states that
Section 17(a) of the Act does not apply in respect of the following scenarios:

(a) A person commissions or procures the project in relation to the person’s
domestic dwelling, and if the project:
(b) 'is not for the purpose or furtherance of a trade, business or undertaking after completion of the construction work''

In my opinion this wording required anyone who is building a separate ‘out-office’ which it is proposed to use for the running of a business, or anything else which is not explicitly covered under either (a) or (b) above, to appoint both Project Supervisors after having made sure that they are competent. The additional requirement for these consultants to prepare the required ‘Health & Safety Plans’ may not arise due to the construction time which has to be undertaken before they are required.

This legislation is being ignored wholesale at the moment, but this dosen’t mean it won’t hit you like a ton-of-bricks if there is an accident during the erection of your structure.

Links to the relevant legislation is:

Act: http://www.oireachtas.ie/ViewDoc.asp?DocID=4305

Regulations: http://www.entemp.ie/publications/sis/2006/si504.pdf


In summary, anyone erecting anything in their back garden, be it a prefabricated structure or a b-built one, should obtain confirmation in writing from the supplier or contractor that:

• It will be constructed or erected in accordance with the relevant Health and Safety (Construction) legislation, and will when complete meet the requirements of current Health and Safety at Work legislation (if it is to be used as a place of work).
• That the proposed development is exempt from the requirement to obtain planning permission.
• That the completed structure will, where required to do so, meet all the requirements of the Building Regulations.

I apologise if the above is a bit dense (!), please feel free to comment/disagree

gilboy

There may be a potential misunderstanding here or your planning officer is incorrect.

Its important you differentiate between an office/studio used as a study - i.e. not part of your business or work - and a commercial office.

If your office/studio:

• provides a habitable room which is separate from the main house
  and/or
• supports a commercial activity in which you are engaged

- you more than likely require permission.

Habitable rooms separate from the main house are not normally considered exempted development.
Office use within the curtilage of the main house or in part of the house itself is not normally considered exempted development

Any person using such a room or a part of the main house as a commercial office is also liable to pay rates.
The rates officer comes out and inspects the premises and issues a rateable valuation.
You pay rates annually on the space you use.

I work from a Home Office for which I obtained planning permission and I pay annual rates.

ONQ

[broken link removed]

threebedsemi said:

Further to the my post above, I’ve pulled together the main legislation requirements which are relevant to this thread below.<snip>
I apologise if the above is a bit dense (!), please feel free to comment/disagree

Click to expand...

On the contrary threebedsemi, not too dense at all, and I take my hat off to you for your excellent sleuthing.

While I was concentrating on the planning legislation you found a new wrinkle in the applicability of the health and safety legislation - well done!

I have yet to read through all the other legislation [slow work] but I think you are on the button.

I refer you to the list of guides in the relevant section of the Self-Build FAQ [still under construction, I'm afraid].

Those references were given to me by the HSA in response to some queries I made of them.

Good overview, but lacking the detail I wanted - my queries were similar in kind to what you have uncovered.

With your permission I might refer to the point you've made in an article I hope to write next week for a publication.

ONQ.

Hi ONQ
Feel free to refer to the H&S point. I have recieved no clear guidance on this either from the HSA, and any Health and Safety consultant I have quizzed on the matter responds more or less as follows:
'well.....you are correct.......but we usually ignore this.....'
In theory, as far as I can work out, if you built a greenhouse in your back garden with the intention of selling a few cucumbers in the local farmers market, you are in fact undertaking an 'undertaking' and should appoint the required H&S Supervisors. This, I presume, is not what the Drafters of the leglislation had in mind and is clearly too much of a 'catch-all' wording to be practicable.

I have checked my line of thinking with the RIAI and they seem to agree...

My intention in raising these issues in the first place is that I have a feeling that some of these prefab room may not meet the regulations (either building or health and safety, and in some cases planning) and could lead to problems down the line for the purchasers, who naturally assume that all is in order if the supplier tells them so.

I wish to make it clear that I do not want to cast aspersions on any supplier, I am just raining the issues as I see them.

You are perfectly correct to raise these issues.
As noted elsewhere, I'd be interested to hear whether a separate commercial new-build Seomra also needs a Fire Safety Certificate.
AFAIK because my own change of use space is part of the house, attracts no additional people and therefore no extra risk, its not an issue, but again, this seems to be an interpretation.
I think its quite likely that until something happens - like a Seomra falling on a child while being craned into position from the front road - nothing may be done by H&S.

And at the risk of veering wildly off-topic, there is the whole question of home offices within houses too, needing planning permission and attrcting rates. Food for thought and perhaps a gnerator of another thread. I might add that now...

ONQ.