Section 123 Repairs to fire damaged property Subject No: 2 Subject: Can Building Regulation applications be requested for repairs to fire damaged property, under Section 123 Building Act 1984? Introducing Officer: M Jurd (Purbeck DC) Date: 11/6/1998 Section 123 Building Act 1984 attached. A request was made to submit a Building Regulation application for repairs to a fire damaged property. The architects responsible for the reinstatement work argued that Building Act 1984, Section 123, Sub Section (2) (a) states that the re-erection of a building or part of a building has deemed to have occurred when an outer wall of the building or part of the building has been pulled down or burnt down to within 10ft of the adjacent surface level of the ground. In this case the main structure of the building, with the exception of the roof, had remained intact. The proposed reinstatement work could not be described as the re-erection of a building and therefore did not constitute 'building work' as defined in the Building Regulations 1991, Regulation 3. As such they were under no obligation to submit a Building Regulation application. Following verification from the DETR the Technical Committee agreed the following interpretation of Section 123:- Sub Section (2) (a) refers specifically to all sections within Part III of the Building Act 1984. Part III deals specifically with health and safety matters within and around existing buildings (i.e. drainage, sanitary conveniences, water supply, food storage, entrances and exits, defective premises and demolition. It is Part I of the Building Act 1984 that deals exclusively with all Building Regulation matters. The definition of 'erect' in respect of Part I of the Act is defined in Section 123 Sub Section (1) (b) (i) as the carrying out of such operations (whether for the reconstruction of a building, the roofing over of an open space between walls or buildings or otherwise) as maybe designated within the building regulations as operations falling to be treated for the purposes as the construction or erection of building. It follows that any reinstatement work to a fire damaged building, irrespective of the extent of the damage can be defined as the 'erection of a building' and therefore constitutes 'building work' under Building Regulation 3 and as such requires a building regulation approval. Part I does not specifically refer to fire damage and therefore any reinstatement work to the structure of a building can be deemed to be building work that requires Building Regulation approval. However, it must be left to the discretion of each BCO to determine when the work is of such a minor nature that it can be treated as a repair that falls outside the scope of the Building Regulations. For example it would appear reasonable in the case of renovation work to a roof, to require an application where over 50% of the structure is to be replaced. POLICY STATEMENT The Building Act - Section 123, Sub Section (2) (a) does not apply to the Building Regulations. A building regulation application can be requested for any repair work to the structure of a property, irrespective of whether it is fire damaged or not. It must be left to the discretion of each officer to determine when the work is of such a minor nature that it can be treated as a repair that falls outside the scope of the Building Regulations. For example, it would appear reasonable to request an application if more than 50% of a roof structure is replaced.

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