Page 19 - Climate Control News Magazine March 2019

Commercial Air Conditioning
COMMISSIONER FOR MULTI-STOREY CONSTRUCTION
NEW South Wales’ Innovation and Better Regulation Minister Matt Kean has announced plans to establish a new Building Commissioner to oversee and approve construction of new multi-storey residential buildings,
and ensure building practitioners are competent.
The announcement follows the COAG Building Ministers’ Forum (BMF) meeting last week which discussed compliance with the National Construction Code and the duty of care of builders, among other issues.
The new Building Commissioner would be responsible for approving high-rise designs, and for registering and auditing building practitioners.
Under the plan, all designers and builders involved in high-rise construction will need to be registered and qualified, and will need to declare buildings are compliant with the Building Code of Australia.
The office of the Building
Commissioner would also conduct regular audits of practitioners.
Kean also said the NSW
NSW Minister, Matt Kean.
Government would
accept the “vast
majority” of recommendations
from the Shergold-Weir Building Confidence report, a move welcomed by industry in the wake of the
Opal Tower disaster.
Fire Protection Association Australia (FPA) CEO, Scott Williams, said the appointment would provide much needed oversight and accountability for the NSW construction industry.
“This announcement is an important step towards regaining consumers’ confidence in their buildings, and in those who design, build and maintain them,” he said.
RESIDENTIAL BUILDING PLAN
UNIVERSITY of NSW Adjunct Lecturer in Architecture, Geoff Hanmer, said up to 80% of multi-unit buildings have serious defects.
In the wake of the Opal Tower fiasco, Hanmer released a 10-point plan for the residential construction industry which includes more training for on-site staff.
“Around 30% of all people working on a construction site should be at Certificate 4 level by 2025,” he said.
When it comes to compliance, Hanmer believes there should be a greater focus on waterproofing and
fire performance as well as more improvements under the National Construction Code (NCC).
In the area of class 2 buildings (home units) under the code, he said innovation and cost reduction is favoured over consumer protection. “This is the wrong way around for housing. Also, Section F, which covers health and amenity (including waterproofing), is weak and must
be strengthened,” he said.
Hanmer siad there should also be additional laws on contract provisions to reduce the economic
power disparity between developers, head contractors and subcontractors.
“Unfair commercial pressures are at the heart of a lot of bad building. We should do more to cushion the smaller players from the larger ones,” he said.
Opal Tower apartment building in Sydney.
this should be provided for in legislation.” This will also be considered at the next meeting. In Sydney, Opal Tower residents were evacu-
ated from the 36-storey site after deep cracks were discovered throughout the building.
An interim engineering assessment found con- crete panels cracked due to their manufacture and assembly deviating from the original design.
Though the building is structurally sound and in no danger of collapse, repairing the faults will be costly, slow and disruptive to residents.
During the BMF, the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) presented the 2019 edition of the National Construction Code (NCC) which was released on February 1, 2019.
Changes in NCC 2019 further enhance fire safety with new requirements for apartment buildings and other residential buildings above three storeys and below 25 metres to have fire sprinkler systems installed.
ABOVE: The construction industry has a few compliance hurdles to overcome.
CLIMATE CONTROL NEWS
MARCH 2019
19