Australian Standards

SaveH2O · Apr 24, 2017 10:59 am

I often see answers given on these forums that often wrongly refer to or quote Australian Standards or referencing 'Guides' published by industry and regulatory bodies.

Australian Standards are produced by Standards Australia, a private company. Australian Standards have no legal standing unless they are either referenced in a contract, are referenced in the National Construction Code (NCC) or are legislated.

Guides are guidelines only despite being often based on the NCC and Australian Standards. Unlike the NCC and Australian Standards, Guides are not regularly updated.

Guides can contain seriously wrong information, one being the CSIRO guide to foundation maintenance which is given to new home owners by the builder but which states a non compliant slope requirement for drainage away from the foundation. If the slab heaves and there is insufficient slope, the builder has a get out of jail free card and it is most often the first thing the builder looks for!

It can often be difficult and time consuming trying to establish whether an Australian Standard has been legislated because Standards Australia do not appear to have a list of legislated Standards that they can readily consult. As a minimum, there should be a list of legislated Australian Standards made available to the public on the Standards Australia website.

SUMMARY: Being in dispute with a builder and going in armed with an Australian Standard is a waste of time if it hasn't been referenced in a contract or the NCC and is not legislated.
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Berek · Apr 24, 2017 7:20 pm

Can you give examples of how to address the standards (if they're not referenced) when building?

My take is it shouldn't be in the hands of a private company. How do you get a copy? Pay. Why? If you're expected to comply, anyone should have access to them.

SaveH2O · Apr 24, 2017 7:50 pm

The Australian Standards are produced by a private company but a lot of persons mistakenly believe that they are produced by a government body. As such, they have to be purchased the same as you would be expected to pay for other retail goods although there are some ways in which they can be accessed online and elsewhere.

There are numerous Australian Standard booklets and they are expensive. Check out SAI Global for prices.

Anyone can now download the three part NCC free of charge. The NCC comprises the Building Code of Australia (BCA) Parts 1 & 2 and the Plumbing Code of Australia (PCA) Part 3.

The NCC contains some 'requirements' similar to Australian Standards but if the Australian Standards are referenced in the NCC and are in conflict with the BCA, then the most often weaker BCA has hierarchy as it is the primary document. Roof and stormwater drainage is a prime example.

Also, it is becoming increasingly common for the contract to also contain Performance Based Solutions aka Alternative Solutions, these are allowed provided they have been certified by an expert despite these solutions most often being inferior to the BCA and Australian Standards. Weaker mortar mixes, recessed (can't be checked) Damp Proof Courses and water resistant instead of water proofing finishes to wet areas are becoming common yet many new home buyers are unaware of what they have signed for and many don't even read the contract!

A new home buyer has the right to stipulate Australian Standards having precedence over the BCA and unlegislated Australian Standards entered into the contract but good luck with that one.

chode1984 · Aug 02, 2017 12:06 am

Does anyone know how to get your hands on copies of relevant standards without paying a hundred plus dollars for a single standard in pdf format?

It's totally outrageous that I'm expected to build a house to Australian Standards but those standards aren't available for me to view.

lovehomeone · Aug 02, 2017 12:15 am

Most major libraries have free access.

chode1984 · Aug 02, 2017 12:31 am

Not anymore it seems. How can you be forced to adhere to a standard you can't read?

"Australian standards, which govern everything from the handling of food to safety regulations in the home building industry, will no longer be available in public libraries after a breakdown in publishing negotiations."

http://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer ... pd8ng.html

SaveH2O · Aug 02, 2017 12:32 am

chode1984

It's totally outrageous that I'm expected to build a house to Australian Standards but those standards aren't available for me to view.

You need to understand the hierarchy of the National Construction Code (NCC) and the legalities of Australian Standards before determining what is actually being built to Australian Standards which is the purpose of this thread.

Australian Standards are referenced in the NCC as Deemed To Satisfy (DTS) solutions but where there is a conflict with either the Building Code of Australia (BCA) which is Parts 1 & 2 of the NCC or the Plumbing Code of Australia (PCA) which is Part 3 of the NCC, the primary document has hierarchy.

A Performance Solution can also be chosen instead of a DTS provided the Performance Solution has been certified to meet the Performance Guidelines of the NCC. Performance Solutions are becoming more and more common and many are being certified as cost cutting and poor workmanship forgiveness measures.

The above simply reinforces what I have posted previously in this thread.

chode1984 · Aug 02, 2017 12:43 am

SaveH2O

A Performance Solution can also be chosen instead of a DTS provided the Performance Solution has been certified to meet the Performance Guidelines of the NCC.

I do understand that, but how is your average joe owner builder supposed to provide a certified performance solution for every aspect of the build? It doesn't seem very practical.

For example I want to design and frame the house myself using AS1684 and the various supplements required to determine the framing member type and size.

I just think it's total BS and typical of this country that we monopolised the sole rights to the standards (thanks Howard) to a private corporation and now that corporation have reneged on even providing free access via libraries.

SaveH2O · Aug 02, 2017 3:27 pm

chode1984

I do understand that, but how is your average joe owner builder supposed to provide a certified performance solution for every aspect of the build? It doesn't seem very practical.

I wasn't suggesting that they have to, I was trying to say that before anyone starts researching Australian Standards in the belief that they are the yardstick for compliance, they need to make sure that they apply to their build's situation because there could be hierarchy, certified Performance Solutions or State variations that are recognised as having met the Performance Requirement of the NCC. It must be understood that the NCC states the performance requirements and the Australian Standards are referenced within the NCC as one way of meeting those requirements. As long as a NCC Performance Requirement has been accepted as having been met, the solution does not have to meet the Australian Standards.

Sorry that I didn't make it clearer. I see a lot of references and 'advice' given about Australian Standards in the threads when the Standards haven't necessarily applied which is why I started this thread.

Standards Australia is a non profit private organisation that produce and own the Australian Standards and SAI Global handles the sales of the Standard's booklets. A big problem is the cost of the Standards, the booklets are expensive and consequently many building practitioners who should have them don't buy them. The price doesn't come down because of the low sales and sales don't increase because of the high prices and so a positive feedback loop is reinforced. The huge problem is then having building practitioners without access to the current Standards and the public financially discouraged from checking applicable Standards.

Until recently, people also had to pay for the then expensive NCC which was also updated annually but finally (I believe) because of the poor sales (I think of around 14,000 copies per annum) and the realisation that there were a lot of uninformed building practicioners working in the industry. the NCC was made available online free of charge to everyone. This was made possible due to increased funding by the Commonwealth and State governments to the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) and making the updates biannual. The ABCB manages the NCC.