Browse Forums General Discussion Re: Link or access to Australian Standards for building etc 2Apr 08, 2010 9:15 am Some people don't have time to do the job right the first time, but seem to have plenty of time to fix their mistakes. Build Thread Re: Link or access to Australian Standards for building etc 3Apr 10, 2010 9:39 am Yes ... you have to pay for them .... which I think puts the average person involved in building at a severe disadvantage ... we can't even find out what the builder is supposed to be doing!!!! There are help phonelines you can call and they will read out parts of the building standards (a friend did this when she was having issues) ... but you can't get a hard copy without paying. Given my building inspection was the most hilariously useless thing that didn't inspect a single aspect for meeting building standards ... I think it is a change that is needed in the industry. Re: Link or access to Australian Standards for building etc 4Apr 10, 2010 10:38 am I deal with standards every day and whilst I don't think people who are not qualified to apply them should be using them for general application, I think that the general domestic building standards such as the BCA and the timber framed residential standards should probably be available in a form useful for owners. The current form of these documents is far simpler to apply than standards for say structural steel, however I think free publication of these documents would limit the future development of these standards also. Don't get me started on the way SAI global and Standards Australia are losing money and support through commercialisation and privatisation. The suggestion of going to the local or university library is a good one however and I could not recommend more strongly the use of the following document: http://www.buildingcommission.com.au/re ... IDE_07.pdf This helps with all tolerances and references all of the standards. If you think that something does not meet the standard or these tolerances it is up to the builder to prove that it does. I think everyone should put the onus back on the professionals to prove otherwise. If for instance you think that a stud should be directly below a roof frame and your builder said it can be offset, you should go to the above guide, see that AS1684-2006 "Residential Timber Framed Construction" is the applicable standard and ask the builder to show you where this practice is allowed within the code. If they can not prove otherwise ask them to fix it. View our blog at: http://room4acubby.blogspot.com/ Re: Link or access to Australian Standards for building etc 5Apr 10, 2010 10:56 am Try here http://www.buildingcommission.com.au/re ... IDE_07.pdf I successfully used the 2007 S&T to have a few issues resolved by my builder. The Guide to Standards & Tolerances is published by the Victorian Building Commission. It is referred to by builders and their clients in resolving domestic building disputes in Victoria. It is intended to be used as a convenient reference to the minimum quality of building work expected for non-regulated aspects of domestic building construction. Whilst it is published by Victoria my belief is that other states use it also. Cheers PP Re: Link or access to Australian Standards for building etc 6Apr 10, 2010 12:32 pm My solicitor said I can copy any part of Australian Standards, there are no copyright implications as it is public domain. Ed "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 Re: Link or access to Australian Standards for building etc 7Apr 10, 2010 1:03 pm ed @ EcoClassic My solicitor said I can copy any part of Australian Standards, there are no copyright implications as it is public domain. Ed Really?! Standards I have have a copright statement on page 2 and COPYRIGHT is printed on every page. It says purchasers of the Standard may reproduce up to 10% of its technical content pages though. Standards are available here http://infostore.saiglobal.com/store/?g ... pAodLhjhug Ash. Re: Link or access to Australian Standards for building etc 8Apr 10, 2010 1:06 pm royalblue ed @ EcoClassic My solicitor said I can copy any part of Australian Standards, there are no copyright implications as it is public domain. Ed Really?! Standards I have have a copright statement on page 2 and COPYRIGHT is printed on every page. It says purchasers of the Standard may reproduce up to 10% of its technical content pages though. Standards are available here http://infostore.saiglobal.com/store/?g ... pAodLhjhug Ash. Yes, I know... and I said that, but that's what he told me... Ed "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 Re: Link or access to Australian Standards for building etc 9Apr 10, 2010 2:21 pm There is a group lobbying for "freeing" the standards. Can't see that happening any time soon, though You can view most of the standards online for free in your local library. However, even they don't have access to all of them! Not sure if that depends on each library, or is the same for all of them. Oh yeah, they are definitely "copyright". My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Link or access to Australian Standards for building etc 10Apr 10, 2010 2:36 pm I've heard of some behind the scenes conflict within the Standards processes of updating Standards. This requires committees of various experts in the field of each Standard to work together when Standards are to be updated. I heard that one committee looking at updating a certain Standard were beiong told they had to come up with $10k or something to make it happen! The Standard organisation were a not-for-profit organisation. Not sure about that now! Ash. Re: Link or access to Australian Standards for building etc 11Apr 10, 2010 10:50 pm Purple Patch Try here http://www.buildingcommission.com.au/re ... IDE_07.pdf I successfully used the 2007 S&T to have a few issues resolved by my builder. The Guide to Standards & Tolerances is published by the Victorian Building Commission. It is referred to by builders and their clients in resolving domestic building disputes in Victoria. It is intended to be used as a convenient reference to the minimum quality of building work expected for non-regulated aspects of domestic building construction. Whilst it is published by Victoria my belief is that other states use it also. Cheers PP Thankyou. So what happens to somebody in QLD? Re: Link or access to Australian Standards for building etc 12Apr 11, 2010 12:51 am Incidental to my past career, I have chaired working parties that developed/modified Australian Standards. They ARE copyright and I deplore that fact. I believe that they should be readily available and published in full on the net. Of course, this would need extra government funding. However, with our governments getting into all sorts of areas that they should stay out of, this is one service that is fundamental and should be wholly supported - not on a pay-to-know basis. One interesting aspect (that I don't know the answer to) just occurred to me while typing this reply:- Ignorance of the law is no excuse - we all know that. Therefore, legislation is in the public domain and generally readily available to read, copy etc. But some legislation calls up Australian Standards so that the standard forms part of the legislation. But you have to pay to buy a copy of the standard. There seems to me to be a fundamental paradox here. Hopefully, someone can enlighten me...... Cheers zeke Re: Link or access to Australian Standards for building etc 13Apr 11, 2010 7:52 am Lex Oh yeah, they are definitely "copyright". They lawyer I was referring to, who said we could copy or use any part of a standard was a commercial lawyer specialising in patents and trademarks. He was reviewing our terms of trade at the time. Ed "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 Re: Link or access to Australian Standards for building etc 14Apr 11, 2010 8:24 am zeke One interesting aspect (that I don't know the answer to) just occurred to me while typing this reply:- Ignorance of the law is no excuse - we all know that. Therefore, legislation is in the public domain and generally readily available to read, copy etc. But some legislation calls up Australian Standards so that the standard forms part of the legislation. But you have to pay to buy a copy of the standard. There seems to me to be a fundamental paradox here. Zeke, That is a very good point and one that I have not thought about. Most of the codes that I deal with are not legislated requirements and are more guides, however the codes referred to in the BCA are mandatory. This is an extremely good argument for having them freely available. You may even be swaying me on making the other codes available, if only to eliminate the profit insentives of those who publish them and put them back in the public domain. Unfortunately this is a worldwide phenomenon. In the UK some of the Health and Safety Standards are freely available however British Standards are not freely available. Ed, I would not want to be the one to test copyright laws by reproducing full copies of Australian Standards, the method that SAI global use to limit the use of electronic versions of their pdf files can easily be fixed View our blog at: http://room4acubby.blogspot.com/ For reference, this is the Austlii reference. My take on this is, that they would be breaking the law denying access to a homeowner in Victoria, or their agent from having… 1 9178 Building Standards; Getting It Right! Don't think they are designed for double brick. WA has a particular way of building and unfortunately that's the way a large amount of sills are finished. 3 7064 I believe this is correct. From the picture you can see the power was put in last so the electrician knew where the water was. Really it's a common sense issue more… 4 5177 |