BUILDING CERTIFICATION

Guide to understanding Form 16’s: Second instalment

01 Oct 2016Form 160 comments

After reading the last two articles we have published on form 16’s – because we are sure you have read them, you should have a clear understanding about the use of Form 16’s and what your responsibilities are under the Building Act 1975.

We will now walk you through the form step-by-step and clearly explain each part and how to fill it out. This will ensure you only fill in the parts you need to, and therefore only certify what you actually need to certify – possibly saving you from a lawsuit in the future.

Guide to understanding Form 16’s: First instalment

01 Oct 2016Form 160 comments

Following on from our last article, it’s important for everyone to understand their statutory functions and duties when they are carrying out inspections and issuing Form 16’s. This is the first instalment on how to understand, and correctly fill out this form.

Stair Nosing – 6 Critical issues

04 Feb 2015Building Code of Australia0 comments

We want you to install stair nosing once and only once. We often have to tell builders to remove stair nosing and refit them to comply with code requirements.

Here are the 6 critical issues about stair nosing;

Must be non-slip
Must contain a luminance contrast strip not less than 50 mm or more than 75 mm.
The luminance contrast strip must have a luminance contrast of not less than 30%.
No part of the stair nosing strip is to project pass the face of the riser.
The luminance contrast strip cannot project down the riser more than 10 mm.
The luminance contrast strip cannot be more than 15 mm from the front of the riser.

Development Approval Categories in Queensland

20 Nov 2014BUILDING CERTIFICATION, TOWN PLANNING0 comments

Exempt, self-assessable, assessable, compliance, prohibited. All these words refer to development approval categories in Queensland, and it is essential to know which category your project belongs to before you begin planning. So how do you determine which category, and how will the result affect your proposed development? Here is The Oil Stone’s brief explanation.

Separating walls in adjoining Class 1 buildings

12 Nov 2014BUILDING CERTIFICATION0 comments

We need to talk about separating walls and what the building certifier means when they refer to separating walls. Separating walls are essential to protect against noise and fire, but choosing the right installation or modifying an older system, can seem quite a daunting task. Here is The Oil Stone’s quick discussion.

What’s the difference between Class 1 and 2 Dwellings? Here are the basics.

11 Nov 2014~ Resources0 comments

Class 1a Dwelling Units
Class 1a Dwelling units have a separating wall between each dwelling unit that extends continuously from the ground to the underside of the roof of the units.

Class 1 buildings cannot be built on top of each other, and each is totally independent of the adjoining class 1a except they share a separating wall.

Please note I did not use the term fire wall. Separating walls function as fire separation, however, they are not fire walls as defined in the BCA Volume 1.

Class 2 Dwelling Units
Class 2 dwelling units are not independent of each other like Class 1a buildings. They can share entries, hallways and roof space, or be built on top of each other.

In a Class 2 Dwelling, the space contained within the floor, walls and ceiling of the dwelling unit, is separated from the other common parts of the building or other Class 2 Dwellings. The separation is achieved by constructing the bounding floor, walls, and ceilings of the dwelling to comply with the required fire, sound, impact and insulation ratings.

Please note I did not use the term fire walls or separating walls. Class 2 buildings do not use fire walls or separating walls to separate dwelling units.

You can read the technical definitions of these classifications here.