Technical Booklet - Building Control Northern Ireland

1 AccesstoanduseofbuildingsTechnicalBookle tROctober2012 Finance andPersonnelDepartment (NorthernIreland)2012 Guidance1pageIntroduction4 Technical Booklets4 This Technical Booklet4 Protectedbu ildings5 Other legislation5 Part R Regulations6 Guidance- Perfo rmance and intro ductionto provisions8 Section 1 GeneralDefinitions10 Theprinciples of inclusive designwithinthe builtenvi ronment11 Buildings other than dwe llings12 Dwe llings13 Visual contrast13 Accessstatements14 Buildings other than dwellings: Section 2 to Section6 Section 2 Access to bu ildings other than dwellingsGenera l16 Approach to buildings16 Levelapproach17 Hazards on accessroutes19 Section3 Access into buildings other than dwellingsGenera l20 Accessible entrances20 Doorways to accessibl e entrances21 Technical Booklet R.

2 2012 Access to and use of bu ildingsContents2 Manuallyoperated entrance doors to accessibleentrances22 Pow er operated entrancedoorsto accessible entrances23 Glazed entrance doorsand glazed screensto accessible entrances25 Entrance lobbiesto accessible entrances25 Section 4 Access within buildings other than dwellingsHorizontalcirculation27 Corridors and passagewa ys27 Internal lobbie s28 Internal doors28Ve rtica l circulation31 Vert ical access between storeys31 Lifting devi ces31Pa ssenger lifts32 Lifting Platfo rms34 Section 5 Facilities in bu ildings other than dwellingsGeneral35 Reception35 Aud ience seating36 Refreshment facilities39 Guest bedrooms41 Wheelchair accessible changing facilities44 Outlets, switches and controls46 Aidsto communication49 Section 6 Sanitary accommodation and associatedsanitary facilities inbui ldings other than dwel lingsGeneral50 Sanitaryaccommodation51 Wheelchair accessible unisex sanitaryaccommodation56Tr aditional separate sex sanitaryaccommodation57 Shower and bath facilities58 TechnicalBookletR: 2012 Access to and use of bu ildings3 Technical Booklet R: 2012 Access to and use of bu ildingsDwellings and blocks of dwellings.

3 Sections7 to Section11 Section 7 Means of accessto and into a dwelli ngAccessto the dwelling66 External approach67 Accessinto the dwelling67 Section 8 Circu lation within a dwellingGenera l69 Horizontal circulation69 Verticalcirculation70 Section 9 Circu lation within commonareas of a block of dwel lingsGenera l71 Horizontal circulation71 Verticalcirculation71 Section 10 Sanitary convenience in a dwellingGenera l73 Accessto sanitary conveniences73 Section 11 Heights of socket outlets,switches,etc. in a dwellingHeights of outlets and sw itches75 AppendixA Info rmative Facilities for peoplewith profo und and multiplelearning disabilities76 AppendixB Publi cations referredto774 TechnicalBookletR: 2012 Access to and use of bu ildingsTec hnical BookletsThis Te chnical Booklet ,which takeseffect on 31stOctober2012,is one of aseries that has been preparedby the Departmentof Financeand Personnel(the Department) for the purposeof providingpractical guidancewithrespectto the technicalrequirementsof the BuildingRegulations (NorthernIreland)2012(theBuildingRegulat ions).

4 At the back of each TechnicalBookletis a list of all the TechnicalBookletsthat have been preparedand publishedby the Departmentfor this give n in a Technical Bookletincludesperformancestandardsand design provi sionsrelatingto compliancewith specific aspects of theBuilding Regulationsfor the morecommonbuilding the guidance in a TechnicalBookletis fol low ed therewill be a presumptionof compliancewith the requirementsof thoseBuilding Regulations coveredby that guidance. Howev er, this presumptioncan be over turned,so simplyfo llow ing the guidancedoesnot example,if aparticular circumstanceis not one of the morecommonbui ldingsituationsthe design provi sionsgiven in the Technical Booklet maynot be are likely to be alternativeways of demonstrating compliancewith the relevant requirements of the Building Regulations other thanby fo llowing a design provision given in aTec hnical istherefore no obligation to adopt any parti cular provisi on set out in aTec hnical Booklet , should yo u decide to comply in some other way.

5 However, you will have to demonstrate that yo ur alternative solutionmeets the releva nt requirements of the Building Regulations by thoseother nical BookletRequirementsTheguidance containedin this Technical Bookletrelates only to therequirements of regulations 91, 92, 93 and 94. The work will alsohave tocomply with all other relevantrequirementsof the and workmanshipAny Building wor k whichis subject to requirementsimposedby Par t A of theBuilding Regulationsshould be carri ed out in accordancewith regulation 23of those regulations. Guidanceon meeting theserequirementsfor materialsand wor kmanship is given in TechnicalBookletB whichsupports Par t Regulations are madefor specific purposes,primarily securingthe health, safety, welfare and convenienceof peopleand for theconserva tion of fuel and pow er.

6 Standardsand technicalapprovalsarerelevan t guidance to the extentthat theyrelateto thesepurposes. Howe ver,they may also addressotheraspectsof performancesuchas serviceability,or aspectswhich althoughthey relateto health and safety are not coveredby the Building Booklet R: 2012 Access to and use of bu ildingsNamed standardsWhere this Technical Booklet makesreferenceto a namedstandard,therelev ant version of the standardis the one listed in AppendixB. How ever, ifthis version has beenreplacedor updated by the issuingstandardsbody,the new ve rsionmaybe usedas a sourceof guidanceprovided that itcontinues to addressthe relevant requirementsof the diagramsin this Technical Booklet supplementthe text.

7 They do notshow all the details of construction and are not intendedto illustrat ecompliancewith any otherrequirementof the Building Regulations. They arenot necessarily to scale and shouldnot be usedas worki ng ected bui ldingsDistrict councils have a dutyto take accountof the desirability to preservethe character of protectedbuildings when carrying out their functionsunderBuilding , wherework is to be carried out to aprotected Building to comply with Part R or any other Par t of the BuildingRegulations, special considerationmay be given to the extentof suchworkfor compliancewhereit would unacceptabl y alter the character orappearanceof the Building .

8 Protectedbuildings are defined in Article 3A(2)of the Building Regulations(NorthernIreland)Order1979(as amended).Other legislationThe provi sions of this TechnicalBooklet relateto the requirements ofBuilding Regulations and do not includemeasureswhich maybe necessaryto meetthe requirementsof otherlegislation. Suchother legislation mayopera te duri ng the design or construction stagesor whena buil dingisbrought into use and can extendto cov er aspects which are outsidethescope of the Building (Health, Safety andWelfare) Regulations (North ernIreland) 1993 The Wor kplace (Health, Safety and Welfare)Regulations (Nort hern Ireland )1993 (the Wor kplace Regulations)contain somerequirementswhichaffectbui lding design.

9 The mainrequirementsare nowcov eredby the BuildingRegulations, but for furtherinfor mation see The Wor kplaceRegulationsand the Wor kplace Health,Safetyand Welf are Approved Code of Practiceand Guidance publ ishedby Wor kplace Regulationsapply to the commonparts of flats and similarbui ldings if people suchas cleaners,wardensand caretakersare employedto wor k in these commonparts. Wherethe requirementsof the BuildingRegulations that are coveredby Par t R do not apply to dwellings, theprovisions maystill be required in the situationsdescribedabove in ordertosatisfy the Wor kplace : 2012 Access to and use of bu ildingsPAR T RAc ces s to and us e of bui ldi ngsApplica tionandin terpretation90.

10 (1 ) Subject to pa ra gra phs (2) , (3) and (4) this Part shall ap ply to any Building or pa rt ofa buildi ng.(2 ) Thi s Pa rt shal l not applyto (a ) any ga rageor outbuildi ng assoc iatedwitha dwelling;(b ) any partof a buil din g wh ich is used solelyto en ab le th e build in g or any se rvic e orfi ttingin the bui ldi ng to be inspect ed, mainta inedor rep aired; an d(c ) the alte rat ion or exte ns ion of an existingdwelling to whic h this Part did not ap ply whenthe dw ellingwa s er ect ed ot her tha n whe re th e alteratio n or ex te ns io n affe cts a facilitysui tab le for use by peoplewith an impairment of mobility,hearingor sight,in theexis ting buil ding.