To ask the Minister of Finance to detail the assessed economic impact specific to Northern Ireland concerning proposed amendment of the Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012 and update to technical guidance including the collateral impact of a ban on non-relevant buildings.

The draft Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) issued for consultation relates to ‘relevant buildings’, that is, to those buildings directly affected by the proposed amendment.

The draft RIA indicates that, based on analysis of planning statistics over the three year period from 2016 to 2019, three buildings per year will be affected. It is envisaged that there would be costs of approximately £7k as familiarisation for District Council Building Control enforcement bodies (for the first year after implementation only) and approximately £60k as familiarisation for industry (for the first year after implementation only). Yearly costs to industry after that are anticipated at £127k, giving a total cost for the first year of £194k.