NCC 2016 Volume One
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Part A2 Acceptance of Design and Construction

Part A2 Acceptance of Design and Construction

A2.1 Suitability of materials

  1. Every part of a building must be constructed in an appropriate manner to achieve the requirements of the NCC, using materials, products and forms of construction and designs being fit for the purpose for which they are intended.
  2. For the purposes of (a), a material, product, form of construction or design is fit for purpose if it is—
    1. supported by evidence of suitability in accordance with A2.2; and
    2. constructed or installed in an appropriate manner.
Intent

To explain the quality of work and materials needed to construct a building to comply with the relevant requirements of the NCC.

A building must meet NCC requirements. This means that:

  • all people involved with construction must work skillfully in accordance with good trade practice; and
  • all materials, products, forms of construction and designs must be of a quality to fulfil their function/s within the building.

only applies to matters normally covered by the NCC.

Example

Example

Permit authorities would ordinarily not apply to such matters as:

  • plastering—other than for fire rating, water proofing of wet areas, and sound insulation; or
  • painting—other than that required for weatherproofing an external wall.

While outlines quality of work and material demands, sometimes additional conditions may be required by:

  • other Commonwealth, State or Territory legislation; and
  • contracts that include either specific quality requirements, or requirements for specific materials and the like.

A2.2 Evidence of suitability

(a)

Subject to (b) A2.3, A2.4and A2.5, evidence to support that the use of a material, product, form of construction or design meets a Performance Requirement or a Deemed-to-Satisfy Provision may be in the form of any one, or combination of the following:

(i)

A current CodeMark Australia or CodeMark Certificate of Conformity.

(iii)

A current certificate, other than a certificate described in (a)(i) and (ii), issued by a certification body stating that the properties and performance of a material, product, form of construction or design fulfil specific requirements of the NCC.

(iv)

A report issued by an Accredited Testing Laboratory that—

(A)

demonstrates that a material, product or form of construction fulfils specific requirements of the NCC; and

(B)

sets out the tests the material, product or form of construction has been subjected to and the results of those tests and any other relevant information that has been relied upon to demonstrate its suitability for use in the building.

(v)

A certificate or report from a professional engineer or other appropriately qualified person that—

(A)

certifies that a material, product, form of construction or design fulfils specific requirements of the NCC; and

(B)

sets out the basis on which it is given and the extent to which relevant standards, specifications, rules, codes of practice or other publications have been relied upon to demonstrate its suitability for use in the building.

(vi)

Another form of documentary evidence, such as but not limited to a Product Technical Statement, that—

(A)

demonstrates that a material, product or form of construction or design fulfils specific requirements of the NCC; and

(B)

sets out the basis on which it is given and the extent to which relevant standards, specifications, rules, codes of practice or other publications have been relied upon to demonstrate its suitability for use in the building.

(b)

The form of evidence used must be appropriate to the use of the material, product, form of construction or design to which it relates.

(c)

Evidence to support that a calculation method complies with an ABCB protocol may be in the form of any one, or any combination of the following:

(i)

A certificate from a professional engineer or other appropriately qualified person that—

(A)

certifies that the calculation method complies with a relevant ABCB protocol; and

(B)

sets out the basis on which it is given and the extent to which relevant standards, specifications, rules, codes of practice and other publications have been relied upon.

(ii)

Another form of documentary evidence that correctly describes how the calculation method complies with a relevant ABCB protocol.

(d)

Any copy of documentary evidence submitted, must be a complete copy of the original certificate, report or document.

Intent

To detail evidence which may support a claim that a material, construction or design achieves a Performance Requirement or Deemed-to-Satisfy Provision, or that a calculation method complies with an ABCB protocol.

is subject to compliance with A2.2(b), A2.3, A2.4 and A2.5.

represents the minimum level of documentary evidence needed to show that a material, product, form of construction or design meets the relevant NCCrequirements. There will be times when this evidence will need to be produced and sighted. The evidence can be required by:

  • an appropriate authority;
  • a party to a construction contract; or
  • a person certifying compliance with the NCC.

There is an onus, on any party submitting such evidence, to clearly indicate what is required from that evidence. If a building proponent does not produce exactly what is required, the evidence may be rejected.

It should be noted that the term ‘design’ may refer to engineering design, architectural design as well as product and material design.

Sources of supporting evidence

There are several specifically named sources of evidence available for use.

Certificate of Conformity or Certificate of Accreditation—A2.2(a)(i) and (ii)

This source of evidence applies to materials, products, forms of construction and designs.

CodeMark Australia and CodeMark certificates are called Certificates of Conformity. They are issued for building products and systems that comply with the BCA. Certificates must be current and are not acceptable if expired.

Certification and accreditation authorities issue Certificates of Conformity or Certificates of Accreditation. They are based on detailed technical evidence that the material, product, form of construction or design complies with BCA provisions.

Certificates may be for known materials, building products, forms of constructions, designs or new and innovative systems.

A certificate from a certification body—A2.2(a)(iii)

The Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ) is the peak organisation for the accreditation of third-party certification bodies.

A certificate issued by any group that is accredited, for the purposes to which the certificate relates, by JAS-ANZ is an acceptable form of evidence.

Report from an Accredited Testing Laboratory—A2.2(a)(iv)

A report from this source must:

  • demonstrate that the material, product, form of construction or design has been submitted to specifically listed tests;
  • set out the test results; and
  • include any other information which demonstrates that the subject of the report is suitable for use.

A report from a professional engineer or other appropriately qualified person—A2.2(a)(v)

Approval can be gained by:

  • a professional engineer, as defined in the NCC, who is required to have ‘appropriate experience and competence’; or
  • any other person who is ‘appropriately’ qualified.

In both cases, the term ‘appropriately’ means a person whose qualifications and/or experience satisfy an appropriate authority.

The engineer or technical person should have suitable experience in the area/s being tested. For example, it would not be acceptable for a structural engineer to report on a mechanical ventilation matter.

Another form of documentary evidence—A2.2(a)(vi)

allows for the use of alternative forms of documentary evidence to those included in , as long as they comply with certain specified conditions.

An example of this arises when an authority carries out an inspection of a building site. The inspection alone would not be acceptable as evidence. However, if the authority compiled a written report documenting the results of an inspection then it may comply with the requirements of .

A Product Technical Statement is also an example of another form of documentary evidence.

Determination of appropriate evidence—A2.2(b)

When determining which form of evidence will be used under A2.2(a) it is important to consider the appropriateness of the evidence, as some forms of evidence may be more suitable to materials and products and others to designs and forms of construction. The requirement to consider appropriateness of the evidence is specified in A2.2(b).

For further guidance, refer to the ABCB Handbook for Evidence of Suitability.

Calculation Methods—

There is significant reliance by industry on the use of calculation methods, including software programs, for demonstrating compliance with the NCC. While there is no formal recognition of specific methods, allows suitable evidence to be submitted to demonstrate that a calculation method (including a software program) complies with a relevant ABCB protocol that establishes the characteristics of a suitable calculation method.

Copies of documentary evidence— A2.2(d)

All copies of documents provided as evidence must be unabridged copies of the originals. No part can be left incomplete. (See A2.2(d)).

A2.3 Fire-resistance of building elements

Where a Deemed-to-Satisfy Provision requires a building element to have an FRL, it must be determined in accordance with Specification A2.3.

Intent

To state that, for the purposes of the Deemed-to-Satisfy Provisions, Specification A2.3 must be used to provide a basis for determining the fire-resistance level (FRL) of a building element.

If under a Deemed-to-Satisfy Provision a building element is required to have an FRL, then A2.2 may be used to provide evidence to support the proposal. However, this alone is not enough. The FRL must be determined in accordance with Specification A2.3.

In the case of a test report from an Accredited Testing Laboratory, the report may be either:

  • the test report referred to in clause 2.16.2 of AS 1530.4 (also referred to as a full test report); or
  • the regulatory information report referred to in clause 2.16.3 of AS 1530.4 (also referred to as a short-form report).

In both cases the report must be an unabridged copy of the original report. A test certificate referred to in clause 2.16.4 of AS 1530.4 is not suitable for showing compliance with the NCC.

A2.4 Fire hazard properties

Where a Deemed-to-Satisfy Provision requires a building component or assembly to have a fire hazard property it must be determined as follows:

Intent

To state that, for the purposes of the Deemed-to-Satisfy Provisions, Specification A2.4 must be used to provide a basis for determining fire hazard properties.

If a Deemed-to-Satisfy Provision requires that a building element must have fire hazard properties, then A2.2 may be used to provide evidence of compliance. However, this alone is not enough. In this case, the fire hazard properties must be determined in accordance with Specification A2.4.

Refer to comments on fire hazard properties which includes:

  • Flammability Index.
  • Spread-of-Flame Index.
  • Smoke-Developed Index.
  • A material's group number.
  • Smoke growth rate index.

also sets out which fire hazard properties must be determined in accordance with Clause 4 (b) of Specification C1.10, Specification A2.4 and which must be determined as defined in Part A1.

A2.5 Resistance to the incipient spread of fire

A ceiling is deemed to have the resistance to the incipient spread of fire to the space above itself if—

(a)

it is identical with a prototype that has been submitted to the Standard Fire Test and the resistance to the incipient spread of fire achieved by the prototype is confirmed in a report from an Accredited Testing Laboratory which—

(i)

describes the method and conditions of the test and form of construction of the tested prototype in full; and

(ii)

certifies that the application of restraint to the prototype complies with the Standard Fire Test; or

(b)

it differs in only a minor degree from a prototype tested under (a) and the resistance to the incipient spread of fire attributed to the ceiling is confirmed in a report from an which—

(i)

certifies that the ceiling is capable of achieving the resistance to the incipient spread of fire despite the minor departures from the tested prototype; and

(ii)

describes the materials, construction and conditions of restraint which are necessary to achieve the resistance to the incipient spread of fire.

Intent

To establish, for the purposes of the Deemed-to-Satisfy Provisions, the method of determining the resistance to the incipient spread of fire.

The Deemed-to-Satisfy Provisions of the NCCcontain a number of provisions requiring a ceiling to have a resistance to the incipient spread of fire to the space above. A2.5 sets out the method of determining the incipient spread of fire. The method is based on the method of determining the FRL of a building element and use of the Standard Fire Test.