Communications Services) Regulations, 2016

L.N. 225 of 2016

BUILDING REGULATION ACT

(CAP. 513)

In-Building Physical Infrastructure (Access to Electronic

Communications Services) Regulations, 2016

IN exercise of the powers conferred by article 6 of the Building

Regulation Act, the Prime Minister, with the concurrence of the

Building Regulation Office, has made the following regulations:-

(1) The title of these regulations is the In-Building Citation and

Physical Infrastructure (Access to Electronic Communications scope.

Services) Regulations, 2016.

(2) The scope of these regulations is to transpose in part the

requirements under Article 8 of the Directive 2014/61/EU of the

European Parliament and of the Council of the 15 May 2014 on

measures to reduce the cost of deploying high-speed electronic

communications networks and to give effect to its provisions.

(1) Unless otherwise stated in these regulations, the Interpretation.

definitions prescribed in the Act shall apply.

(2) In these regulations unless the context otherwise requires

"access point" means a physical point, located inside or outside

the building, accessible to undertakings providing or authorised to

provide public communications networks, where connection to the

high-speed-ready in-building physical infrastructure is made

available;

"the Act" means the Building Regulation Act;

"bodies governed by public law" means bodies that have all of

the following characteristics

(a) they are established for the specific purpose of

meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or

commercial character;

(b)

they have legal personality; and

(c)

they are financed, in full or for the most part, by the

State, or regional or local authorities, or by other bodies

governed by public law; or are subject to management

supervision by those authorities or bodies; or have an

administrative, managerial or supervisory board, more than half

of whose members are appointed by the State, regional or local

authorities or by other bodies governed by public law;

"civil works" means every outcome of building or civil

engineering works taken as a whole which is sufficient of itself to

fulfil an economic or technical function and entails one or more

elements of a physical infrastructure;

"competent utility regulator or regulators" means any such

public sector body or bodies responsible at law for the regulation of

those utility services listed in accordance with the Second Schedule to

the Utilities and Services (Regulation of Certain Works) Act;

"high speed electronic communications network" means an

electronic communication network which is capable of delivering

broadband access services at speeds of at least 30 Mbps;

"high-speed-ready in-building physical infrastructure" means

in-building physical infrastructure intended to host elements or

enable delivery of high-speed electronic communications networks;

"in-building physical infrastructure" means physical

infrastructure or installations at the end-user’s location, including

elements under joint ownership, intended to host wired and, or

wireless access networks, where such access networks are capable of

delivering electronic communications services and connecting the

building access point with the network termination point;

"major renovation works" means building or civil engineering

works at the end user’s location encompassing structural

modifications of the entire in-building physical infrastructure or a

significant part thereof, including the common parts, and requiring a

building permit;

"network operator" means an undertaking providing or

authorised to provide public communications networks as well as an

undertaking providing a physical infrastructure intended to provide

(a)

a service of production, transport or distribution of

(i)

gas;

(ii)

electricity, including public lighting;

(iii) heating;

(iv) water, including disposal or treatment of

waste water and sewage, and drainage systems;

(b)

transport services, including railways, roads, ports

and airports;

"network termination point" means the physical point at which a

subscriber is provided or is intended to be provided with access to a

public communications network; in the case of networks involving

switching or routing, the network termination point is identified by

means of a specific network address, which may be linked to a

subscriber number or name;

"physical infrastructure" means any element of a network which

is intended to host other elements of a network without becoming

itself an active element of the network, such as pipes, masts, ducts,

inspection chambers, manholes, cabinets, buildings or entries to

buildings, antenna installations, towers and poles; cables, including

dark fibre, as well as elements of networks used for the provision of

water intended for human consumption as defined in regulation 3 of

the Water Intended for Human Consumption Regulations are not S.L. 449.57.

physical infrastructure within the meaning of these regulations;

"public sector body" means a state, regional or local authority, a

body governed by public law or an association formed by one or

several such authorities or one or several such bodies governed by

public law; and

"permit" means an explicit or implicit decision of a competent

authority following any procedure under which an undertaking is

required to take steps in order to legally carry out building or civil

engineering works.

(1) All newly constructed buildings at the location of an Requirements

end-user, including elements thereof under joint ownership, or major for

constructed

renovation works concerning multi-dwelling buildings for which in buildings

major

either case applications for building permits have been submitted renovation

works.

after 31 December 2016, must be equipped with the following

(a)

a

high-speed-ready

in-building

physical

infrastructure, up to the network termination points; and

(b)

an access point.

(2) Buildings equipped in accordance with this regulation,

shall be eligible to receive the voluntary ‘broadband-ready’ label as

may be issued by the Building Regulation Office. An architect or any

other qualified person as established under these regulations shall be

responsible to certify the installation in accordance with the

obligations provided for in sub-regulation (1) and any technical

guidance document that may be issued in connection with these

regulations. The Building Regulation Office may devise schemes that

serve to publicly acknowledge the broadband-readiness of buildings

in accordance with these regulations.

(3) The Building Regulation Office may, after having

consulted with the competent utility regulator or regulators as the

case may be and with any other public sector body or bodies as it may

consider necessary, provide for exemptions from the obligations

provided for in sub-regulation (1) for categories of buildings such as,

and in particular, single dwellings, or major renovation works in cases

in which the fulfilment of those obligations is disproportionate, such

as in terms of costs for individual or joint owners, or in terms of type

of building, such as specific categories of monuments, historic

buildings, holiday homes, military buildings or other buildings used

for national security purposes

Provided that in doing so the Building Regulation Office

shall give its reasons in writing and shall before taking a final

decision, give any interested parties the opportunity to make written

submissions within such reasonable time as it may establish

Provided further that any such exemption shall be notified

to the Commission.

(1) The Building Regulation Board may take the

necessary measures to establish minimum requirements for in-

building physical infrastructure.

(2) When setting requirements, the Building Regulation Board

may differentiate between new and existing buildings and between

different categories of buildings.

(3) Where the guidance contained in any technical guidance

document as may be issued in connection with these regulations

relates only to the particular requirements of these regulations, any

construction works and the installation of any permanent mechanical

or electrical services may be required to also comply with the

requirements of any other laws that are operative for the control of

construction works and installations.

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