Fire Safety Certificates and Licensing

A Fire Safety Certificate is a certificate issued by the Building Control Authority on foot of an application submitted to it. A Fire Safety Certificate certifies that the works or building to which the application relates will, if constructed in accordance with the plans and specifications submitted, comply with the requirements of Part B [Fire] of the Second Schedule to the Building Regulations 1997.

If you carry out works without a Fire Safety Certificate you are liable to prosecution under Building Control Legislation. It is also a serious offence to occupy a building which requires a Fire Safety Certificate in the absence of a fire safety certificate. Where works have been commenced or completed in the absence of a fire safety certificate or the submission of a 7 day notice then an application must be submitted for a Regularisation Certificate.

The following developments (other than those listed as exempt below) require a Fire Safety Certificate;

• works in connection with the design and construction of a new building.
• works in connection with the material alteration of a day centre, a building containing a flat, a hotel, hostel or guest building, an institutional building, a place of assembly, a shopping centre.
• works in connection with the material alteration of a shop, office or industrial building where additional floor area is being provided within the existing building or where the building is being sub divided into a number of units for separate occupancy.
• works in connection with the extension of a building by more than 25 square metres.
• a building as regards which a material change of use takes place.

The following buildings are exempted from the requirement to obtain a Fire Safety Certificate:

• certain single storey agricultural buildings.
• a building used as a dwelling other than a flat.
• a single storey domestic garage.
• a single storey building ancillary to a dwelling which is used exclusively for recreational or storage purposes or the keeping of plants, birds or animals for domestic purposes and is not used for any trade or business or for human habitation.
• works by a Building Control Authority in it’s functional area.
• works in connection with a Garda station, a courthouse, a barracks and certain government buildings.

An application is submitted to the Building Control Authority. Valid applications are date stamped and an acknowledgement stating date of receipt is sent to the applicant.

The application is examined technically for compliance with the ‘Fire’ part of the Building Regulations. Where it is considered that additional information or modifications are required to the application, the officer examining the application may request such additional information/modification from the applicant.

The Building Control Authority must notify the applicant of the decision on the application within two months of the date of receipt of a valid application or within such extended period of time as may be agreed between the applicant and the Authority at any time.

A Fire Safety Certificate Application should contain:

• a completed application form (see below for forms)
• relevant drawings (in duplicate)
• a technical report demonstrating how the design complies with Part B of the Second Schedule to the Building Regulations.
• the appropriate fee (see details below)

Where a Fire Safety Certificate is required in respect of works or a building then a person shall not carry out the works until a Fire Safety Certificate has been issued for the works. Where it is proposed to commence work before grant of the relevant Fire Safety Certificate a 7 Day Notice shall be submitted to the Building Control Authority.

Where works have been commenced or completed in the absence of a fire safety certificate (or the submission of a 7 day notice) then an application must be submitted for a Regularisation Certificate.

A Regularisation Certificate application consists of:

• a completed application form
• relevant drawings (in duplicate and certified)
• a Statutory Declaration
• a technical report demonstrating how the design complies with Part B of the Second Schedule to the Building Regulations.
• the appropriate fee.

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