The Building Safety Act Northern Ireland

The Northern Ireland Executive has the power to legislate on building safety, but progress has been affected by periods of political instability.

The current regulations for Northern Ireland (NI) are the Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012. Northern Ireland has not yet implemented comprehensive building safety reforms like those in England. Provisions under the Act in England to enable a new Building Safety Regulator or the need to appoint an ‘Accountable Person’ during occupation of a building do not currently apply for Northern Ireland.

Changes To The law

Some parts of the UK Act, such as those relating to construction products, do extend to Northern Ireland.

• The Construction Products Regulator will have jurisdiction in Northern Ireland, ensuring a degree of consistency across the UK in this area.
• Architects are affected due to the changes made in the Act, to the competence requirements for practicing Architects.
• A New Homes Ombudsman scheme, for disputes between new home purchasers and their developers.

The Northern Irish Department for Communities has formed an agreement with the Department for Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) which will allow buildings over 11 metres in Northern Ireland with unsafe cladding to apply for funding from the Cladding Safety Scheme in England.

In January 2022, the Department of Finance in Northern Ireland launched a consultation on building control regulations, proposing changes to improve the energy performance of buildings. However, broader building safety reforms have been slower to materialise.

The implementation of new building safety measures in Northern Ireland may depend on the functioning of the Northern Ireland Executive. In its absence, civil servants have limited powers to introduce new legislation. Despite these challenges, the construction industry in Northern Ireland should prepare for potential future reforms, which may draw inspiration from the approaches taken in other parts of the UK.

As in other parts of the UK, if the Northern Ireland Assembly decides to introduce a similar regulatory regime, they could do so.

A Construction Products Reform Green Paper has been published by the UK Parliament on 26 February 2025 and the consultation is currently live. Any legislation that derives from this will cover the whole of the UK and may have interpretations made by the Northern Ireland Assembly.