{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/building-regulations-northern-ireland-2012/regulation-32",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/building-regulations-northern-ireland-2012/regulation-32.json",
  "legislation": "nisr/2012/192",
  "legislation_title": "The Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/building-regulations-northern-ireland-2012",
  "path": "regulation/32",
  "kind": "regulation",
  "number": "32",
  "heading": "Application and interpretation",
  "text": "(1) Regulations 33 and 35(3) shall not apply to a prison within the meaning of the Prisons Act (Northern Ireland) 1953 or any other place of lawful detention.\n(2) Regulation 37B applies when a building is—\n(a) erected;\n(b) formed by a material change of use; or\n(c) altered and/or extended, only where regulation 37B has been applied to the building.\n(3) In this Part—\n“Above ground level” has the meaning assigned to it by regulation 23(4)(b) in Part B;\n“Dwelling” means a self-contained unit of residential accommodation occupied (whether or not as a sole or main residence)—\n(a)by a single person or by people living together as a family; or\n(b)by not more than 6 people living together as a single household, including a household where care is provided for residents;\n“Dwellinghouse” means a dwelling on one or more storeys which is detached or forms part of a building from all other parts of which it is divided only vertically and does not include a flat;\n“Fire safety duties” has the meaning given by Article 52 of the Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 or duties associated with the fire safety measures in a building containing one or more flats;\n“Fire safety information” means as-built information relating to the design and construction of a building or extension, and the services, fittings and equipment provided in or in connection with a building or extension which will assist the person with fire safety duties to operate and maintain the building or extension with reasonable safety;\n“Flat” has the meaning assigned to it by regulation 2 in Part A;\n“Internal linings” means the materials lining any partition, wall, ceiling or other internal structure;\n“Means of escape” means structural means whereby, in the event of a fire, a safe route or routes is or are provided for people to travel from any point in a building to a place of safety;\n“Place of safety” means a place, outside the building, in which people are in no danger from fire within the building;\n“Purpose built student accommodation” means housing built specifically for students to live in;\n“Relevant premises” has the meaning given by Article 50 of the Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006; and\n“Residential care premises” includes residential care homes, nursing homes, children’s homes and residential family centres, each having the same meaning as in the Health & Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement & Regulation) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F1",
      "text": "Reg. 32 substituted (6.5.2025) by The Building (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024 (S.R. 2024/191), regs. 1, 6(1) (with reg. 3)"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/2012/192/regulation/32",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T01:15:53.727465+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}