Building Act 2016
53Existing buildings to be upgraded if altered
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53 Existing buildings to be upgraded if altered
(1) This section applies to building work performed on a building if, within the previous 3 years, building work has been performed or permitted on more than half of the original volume of the building.
(1A) [Section 53 Subsection (1A) inserted by No. 39 of 2018, s. 8, Applied:01 Jan 2017] This section does not apply to building work performed on a building if –
(a) the building work is being performed to repair damage to the building –
(i) caused by fire, wind, flood or storm or the subsidence of land, other than a subsidence caused by a failure of the owner or occupier of the building to maintain the land; or
(ii) that has not been caused by an act, or a failure to act, of the owner or an occupier of the building; and
(b) the building work is necessary in order for the building to be made suitable for habitation or safe occupation, or for use for the purposes for which it was being used before the damage referred to in paragraph (a) was caused to the building; and
(c) the building work consists of work to restore the building to the condition it was in before the damage referred to in paragraph (a) was caused to the building; and
(d) the materials, components, installations, and equipment, that are used in the building work are substantially similar to those used, in the part of the building to which the works relate, before the damage referred to in paragraph (a) was caused to the building.
(1B) [Section 53 Subsection (1B) inserted by No. 39 of 2018, s. 8, Applied:01 Jan 2017] This section does not apply to a building, or a class of buildings, that a determination of the Director of Building Control states are exempt from the requirements of this section.
(2) If building work to which this section applies is performed on an existing building, the owner of the building must ensure that the entire building, as part of that building work, is brought into compliance with this Act and the applicable provisions of the National Construction Code.