160BApplication for modification of building regulations relating to access for persons with disabilities

160B Application for modification of building regulations relating to access for persons with disabilities

(1) An application may be made to the Building Appeals Board for a determination that an access provision of the building regulations—

(a) does not apply; or

(b) applies with the modifications or variations specified in the application—

to a building, or land on which a building is to be constructed, specified in the application.

(2) The application may be made by—

(a) the owner of the building or land; or

(b) the purchaser under a contract of sale of a lot of a kind referred to in section 9AA(1) of the Sale of Land Act 1962; or

(c) a lessee of the building, who proposes to have, or is having, building work carried out in respect of the building; or

(d) any person acting on behalf of a person referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c), other than the relevant building surveyor.

(3) An application must be made on the ground that compliance with the access provision of the building regulations would impose unjustifiable hardship on the applicant.

(4) In determining whether compliance with an access provision of the building regulations would impose unjustifiable hardship on the applicant, the Building Appeals Board must take into account all relevant circumstances of the particular case including the following—

(a) any additional capital, operating or other costs, or loss of revenue, that would be directly incurred by, or reasonably likely to result from, compliance with the provision;

(b) any reductions in capital, operating or other costs, or increases in revenue, that would be directly achieved by, or reasonably likely to result from, compliance with the provision;

(c) the extent to which the construction of the building has or will be financed by government funding;

(d) the extent to which the building—

(i) is used for public purposes; and

(ii) has a community function;

(e) the financial position of the applicant;

(f) any effect that compliance with the provision is reasonably likely to have on the financial viability of the applicant;

(g) any exceptional technical factors (such as the effect of load-bearing elements on the structural integrity of the building) or geographic factors (such as gradient or topography), affecting a person's ability to comply with the provision;

(h) financial, staffing, technical, information and other resources reasonably available to the applicant, including any grants, tax concessions, subsidies or other external assistance provided or available;