First Principles of Building Surveying

So let’s start this from the “First Principles” of building surveying. We can go and find primary data on what this should be, but let’s look at this from the community perspective. Over the journey of the NCC, since 1996, people have become familiar with some “standards” that they expect in a building, whether they know it or not.

Think door handle heights, steps, handrails, the way doors swing, the width of hallways, and even down to how toilets are set up.

No one thinks about how this happened; we just expect that someone makes this happen, right?

The BPC Building Surveyors Code of Conduct gives us a pretty good place to start. It was prepared under section 177A(1)(a) of the Building Act 1993. There are eight principles. Start with acting in accordance with the law and in the public interest. Then there is competence, integrity, and keeping proper records. These are not just nice words on a page. They set expectations for how a registered building surveyor does the job.

Look at Principle 6—Document and maintain records. The Code requires building surveyors to retain records of the basis upon which they make decisions, including plans, calculations, inspection notes, product information, and reports. The Code also requires that records be available to the BPC for audit or investigation purposes. So where is the evidence? Who checked it? What was approved? Can anyone actually find it later?

So when we talk about first principles, it is not just someone looking at the finished building and saying it looks right. There is a process behind it:

Design
Engineering
Community Consent (Town Planning and AHJ)
Permit (NCC Approval)
Construction Oversight
Inspections and Sign-off

The community normally does not see any of this. They just walk into a building and expect the handrail to work, the exit to be where it should be, and the fire systems to work if there is a fire.

That is probably the point. The community expectations come at the end of a process they rarely see.

The Shade Sail

That is

A few years ago, I was pretty keen to put up a shade sail on a rural property for Christmas, so I went out and purchased a 10 m x 10 m shade sail.

Being a know-it-all, I grabbed our 100 HP New Holland backhoe, dug four deep holes, slammed 4 x 4 m, 100 x 100 mm poles into the ground, set them in place, and then proceeded to spend two days erecting the shade sail to end all shade sails!

It looked great. The kids loved it.

Then the wind came……

The wind caused what is known as a “live load” on the shade sail. This caused the shade sail to bend the steel poles in half, rip the chain out of the steel, and required the New Holland’s 100 HP, 7 m boom to put the sail down on the ground.

No one was hurt. I pulled the steel poles out and learnt a few lessons.

The Issue

Without controls in place, without oversight, and without “lived” experience in relation to live loads, how could I have known what was needed to mount my shade sail?

Shade sails are regulated work in Victoria. They require the right process — engineering, design, permits, a builder and inspections.

Engineering
Design
Permit
Builder
Inspections

In my case, no one was hurt, and I was smart enough to decide that if I wanted a shade sail, I needed engineering, permits and oversight. I have done this. We now have permits in place and we are building a nice big carport with proper steel and paperwork.

First Principles of Surveying

Design (What is being certified? How can I verify this is compliant?) Section A NCC
Engineering (Can an engineer verify the design is complaint, or is performance needed)
Community Consent (Town Planning and AHJ)
Permit (NCC Approval)
Construction Oversight (How many inspections are needed? Is this being build to the approved plans)
Inspections and Sign-off

So what are the BPC going to be doing?

In simple terms, they are checking the paperwork and checking that what is being built matches what has been approved.

The BDAP is basically about checking the building documentation and making sure the requirements are being met.

The BPC can select sites and practitioners based on risk and other information available to them.

BPC reference: Building Documentation Audit Program (BDAP)

For fire safety, the BPC has also published guidance on service penetrations through fire-resistant and smoke-proof walls.

This is where the paperwork matters. If you have pipes, cables or other services going through a fire-rated wall, you need to be able to show how it has been dealt with and that it meets the requirements of Part C4 of NCC Volume One.

BPC reference: Fire safety in building design: proper documentation of service penetrations

What do you need to know?

If you’re an engineer, builder, plumber or sprinkler fitter, make sure you have:

If you’re an engineer, builder, plumber or sprinkler fitter, make sure you have:
The actual building surveyor-approved and stamped drawings — only build to these.
The approved calculations.
Your construction method and supporting site records, including instructions on site, approved materials, take-offs, photographs, materials lists, names of workers who worked on the job, and the checks and balances that are in place.
Fire safety issues can become much harder to deal with once construction has moved on. Sometimes they can be almost impossible to untangle.
If you can see the problem while the work is still open, you can fix it. Once the walls and ceilings are closed up, it becomes a much bigger job.
This is why the paperwork and the checks are important, particularly where services are going through fire-resistant or smoke-proof walls.

Stage 1: Documentation Audits

The paperwork gets looked at first.

They are looking for missing information, unclear records or anything that doesn’t appear to line up. If something serious arise, the BPC may come back and ask questions or require a response.

Stage 2: Site Inspections

Then there are the site inspections.

If the project is inspected, the BPC can check what is actually happening on site. If something isn’t compliant, it needs to be fixed.

BPC reference: Our inspections approach

So What Does This Mean If You’re On Site?

If you’re working on one of these projects, have your paperwork ready and let the inspectors get onto site if they need to.

You may also be asked questions about the work or about something they have found during the audit or inspection.

If they find an issue, you’ll need to deal with it.

Stage 1: Documentation Audits

The paperwork gets looked at first.

They are looking for missing information, unclear records or anything that doesn’t appear to line up. If something serious arise, the BPC may come back and ask questions or require a response.

Stage 2: Site Inspections

Then there are the site inspections.

If the project is inspected, the BPC can check what is actually happening on site. If something isn’t compliant, it needs to be fixed.

BPC reference: Our inspections approach

So What Does This Mean If You’re On Site?

If you’re working on one of these projects, have your paperwork ready and let the inspectors get onto site if they need to.

You may also be asked questions about the work or about something they have found during the audit or inspection.

If they find an issue, you’ll need to deal with it.

What Can You Do Now?

The simple lesson here is don’t wait for someone else to find the problem.

If you’ve already got a project underway, have a look at the basics now:

The latest fire safety documents are complete and easy to find on site.
What has been installed actually matches the approved plans.
Passive and active fire safety work is checked before it gets covered up.
Deal with issues as they come up. Don’t leave them until the end.

If you’re working on a Class 2 residential project, it is also worth having the BPC’s Design Documentation Practice Guide handy.

BPC reference: Design Documentation Practice Guide for Class 2 residential buildings

Links to Help

David Chandler – NSW building practitioner discussion

The Point

This is really the point.

Do the paperwork. Check the work. And check it again before it gets covered up.

Once the walls are closed, the ceilings are in and the finishes are done, finding a problem and fixing it can become a much bigger job.

If you’ve got jobs underway, have a look at them now. Make sure the fire safety work is right and make sure you can find the paperwork when you need it.

contact melfire

If you’d like help reviewing your building’s fire protection systems or sorting out an issue before it becomes a bigger job, call Melfire on 1300 134 971.

References