Section 53 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting after subsection (1) the following subsections:

(1A)  This section does not apply to building work performed on a building if –

(a) the building work is being performed to repair damage to the building –

(i) caused by fire, wind, flood or storm or the subsidence of land, other than a subsidence caused by a failure of the owner or occupier of the building to maintain the land; or

(ii) that has not been caused by an act, or a failure to act, of the owner or an occupier of the building; and

(b) the building work is necessary in order for the building to be made suitable for habitation or safe occupation, or for use for the purposes for which it was being used before the damage referred to in paragraph (a) was caused to the building; and

(c) the building work consists of work to restore the building to the condition it was in before the damage referred to in paragraph (a) was caused to the building; and

(d) the materials, components, installations, and equipment, that are used in the building work are substantially similar to those used, in the part of the building to which the works relate, before the damage referred to in paragraph (a) was caused to the building.

(1B)  This section does not apply to a building, or a class of buildings, that a determination of the Director of Building Control states are exempt from the requirements of this section.