The Building Code of Australia, BCA
A Building Code is a set of rules that specify the minimum acceptable level of safety for constructed objects. The main purpose of a Building Code is to protect public health, safety and general welfare, as well as providing specific provisions in relation to access. The Building Code becomes law of a particular jurisdiction when formally enacted by the appropriate authority.
The requirements of a building code are usually a combination of prescriptive requirements that specify exactly how something is to be done, as well as the performance requirements. Performance requirements outline the required level of performance, but allow the designer or architect to decide how this will be achieved. Traditionally Building Codes have been reactive and are only change or amended as a result of a complaint, or where the Code has failed.
The Building Code of Australia (BCA) specifies a uniform set of technical provisions for the design and construction of buildings and other structures throughout Australia. The BCA is produced and maintained by the Australian Codes Board (ABCB) on behalf of the Australian Government and each state and Territory Government and is referenced in all State and Territory building legislation. The BCA is supported by a number of reference documents. These documents provide specific detail on how to comply with the BCA and include a number of Australian Standards.
The first edition of the Building Code of Australia was published in 1988. The BCA is a uniform set of technical provisions for the design and construction of buildings and other structures throughout Australia; it is referenced in all State and Territory building Legislation .
The National Construction Code (NCC) is an initiative of the Council of Australia Governments (COAG) developed to incorporate all on-site construction requirements into a single code. The NCC comprises the Building Code of Australia (BCA), Volume One and Two and the Plumbing Code of Australia (PCA), as Volume Three. All of these apply to new buildings, as well as new building work on existing buildings.
· Volume One pertains primarily to Class 2 to 9 buildings
· Volume Two pertains primarily to Class 1 and 10 buildings
· Volume Three pertains primarily to plumbing and drainage associated with all classes of buildings
All three volumes are drafted in a performance format which allows a dual approach to compliance, with a choice of deemed to satisfy provisions or flexibility to develop alternative solutions. The first step in using the performance based system is to choose the means by which the proposal will achieve compliance:
· A deemed to satisfy solution
· An alternative solution, or
· A mixture of both
If compliance is achieved with the deemed to satisfy provisions, a proposal is considered to have complied with the relevant volume/s of the NCC.
If a practitioner wants to take an alternative approach, they have the opportunity to do so on the understanding that their proposal must meet the relevant performance requirements. The nature of the assessment method will vary depending on the complexity of the alternative solution.
A Building Code is a set of rules that specify the minimum acceptable level of safety for constructed objects. The main purpose of a Building Code is to protect public health, safety and general welfare, as well as providing specific provisions in relation to access. The Building Code becomes law of a particular jurisdiction when formally enacted by the appropriate authority.
The requirements of a building code are usually a combination of prescriptive requirements that specify exactly how something is to be done, as well as the performance requirements. Performance requirements outline the required level of performance, but allow the designer or architect to decide how this will be achieved. Traditionally Building Codes have been reactive and are only change or amended as a result of a complaint, or where the Code has failed.
The Building Code of Australia (BCA) specifies a uniform set of technical provisions for the design and construction of buildings and other structures throughout Australia. The BCA is produced and maintained by the Australian Codes Board (ABCB) on behalf of the Australian Government and each state and Territory Government and is referenced in all State and Territory building legislation. The BCA is supported by a number of reference documents. These documents provide specific detail on how to comply with the BCA and include a number of Australian Standards.
The first edition of the Building Code of Australia was published in 1988. The BCA is a uniform set of technical provisions for the design and construction of buildings and other structures throughout Australia; it is referenced in all State and Territory building Legislation .
The National Construction Code (NCC) is an initiative of the Council of Australia Governments (COAG) developed to incorporate all on-site construction requirements into a single code. The NCC comprises the Building Code of Australia (BCA), Volume One and Two and the Plumbing Code of Australia (PCA), as Volume Three. All of these apply to new buildings, as well as new building work on existing buildings.
· Volume One pertains primarily to Class 2 to 9 buildings
· Volume Two pertains primarily to Class 1 and 10 buildings
· Volume Three pertains primarily to plumbing and drainage associated with all classes of buildings
All three volumes are drafted in a performance format which allows a dual approach to compliance, with a choice of deemed to satisfy provisions or flexibility to develop alternative solutions. The first step in using the performance based system is to choose the means by which the proposal will achieve compliance:
· A deemed to satisfy solution
· An alternative solution, or
· A mixture of both
If compliance is achieved with the deemed to satisfy provisions, a proposal is considered to have complied with the relevant volume/s of the NCC.
If a practitioner wants to take an alternative approach, they have the opportunity to do so on the understanding that their proposal must meet the relevant performance requirements. The nature of the assessment method will vary depending on the complexity of the alternative solution.
