Posts Tagged ‘Building Code of Australia’

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Here’s 3 ways to find things more easily in the BCA..

Friday, April 9th, 2010

Are you an infrequent user of the commercial building codes in Victoria, Australia? Are you not quite at the building permit stage for your project and don’t have a building surveyor you can ask? Here are some basic tips to get you going in Volume 1 of the building code:

Image courtesy of ABCB

  1. Try the index at the back. It lists all the clauses in the Deemed-to-Satisfy provisions under the relevant headings.
  2. Try the contents page. This is not as useful as the index because you need to know where things are under each heading.
  3. If you are looking for something related to fire safety – have a look in the tables in Section I. They list the safety measures and the BCA clauses for the relevant installation standards.

If you are still having trouble finding what you need in the building code give us a call on 1300 791 602 and we will help you find what you are looking for in the BCA.

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Posted in Building Surveying, Building regulations, Legislation | No Comments »

Here’s why “Deemed to Satisfy” is so important in the BCA …

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

An associate asked a specific technical question last week which highlighted more about the nature of the application of the Building Code in Australia (BCA) than it did about any underlying technical issue.

You need to appreciate that since 1996 (Volume 1 of) the Building Code of Australia (for non-domestic buildings) has been divided into two parts:

  1. The Mandatory performance requirements; and
  2. The non-mandatory “Deemed to Satisfy” provisions.

The application of these DtS provisions gives the designer (and the certifier) legal certainty for a building’s compliance with the mandatory performance requirements. Sometimes it is more important to accurately interpret the legal application of the provision than to understand the (if any) underlying technical or engineering principle.

The query related to the interpretation of the application of a clause which on face value appears to be about the risk of spread of fire for a certain category of building. The practical effect of the (concession in this particular) provision is to permit brick veneer construction (a common form of construction in Australia) in one and two story commercial buildings. So the provision is actually written to achieve an outcome which gives legal certainty to the design and construction of this type of common wall construction in Australia in this category of building.

Here’s the detail of the query that better illustrated this point to me: (more…)

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Posted in Building regulations, Legislation | 1 Comment »

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