BCA Compliance in a Residential Building - Report Example

Project surveyor

Executive Summary

This project aimed at carrying out an assessment on the proposed residential building in compliance with BCA requirements. The building is intended to be a two-storey building meant for dwelling. The first floor will be for the living room, conference room, the quest room, kitchen and the common wash rooms. The second floor is to have the main bedroom for the parents and another bedroom for the children. The two bedrooms are to have separate washrooms each. The ground floor will have the parking area, laundry room, recreation room and the store section. There will also be an open ground in front of the building.

The summary gives the assessment of BCA sections which are applicable to this project. The compliance and the non-compliance are also identified giving the building solution. The areas of non-compliance will require alternate solution including:

• Travel exit distances as contained in clause D1.4 of BCA 2016
• Exit travels isolated by fire as contained in clause D1.7 b and c of BCA 2016
• External wall protection openings in clause C 3.2 of BCA 2016

Provisions for compliance access are also made to the building for the physically challenged persons. The provisions of these kinds will include design level entrances to the main living room, together with other remaining pedestrian sections in the building, which include transition sections in between the floors like rampages from one given storey to the next. There will be 1:14 maximum ratio and 1:13 for the gradient ramps and the walkways respectively.

Introduction

Property description

The report is based on the residential building assessment in order to ensure that the building is in compliance with the Building Code of Australia (BCA) 2016. All the relevant clauses to the building are also discussed in relation to the BCA 2016 requirements. This report is prepared on the basis of the documents reviewed, visual site inspections, and the client information on the requirements, all of which are intended only for application in this purpose (Harvey, 2016).

Aim

This project aimed at introduction and reinforcement of the BCA concepts which are associated with the requirement standards of Australia structural building code

The reporting team

The information given herein has been prepared by me as an employee and also on behalf of the Private Certifiers Australia (PCA) which is a certifying and consultancy firm for private apartments.

Documentation

The following documentations have been reviewed from the initial stage when this report was being initiated:

• NCC 2016-Territories and States, Variations and Additions
• Architectural drawing works from Design International A602-A010
• BCA 2016 Guide

BCA 2016

Regulatory framework

Considering clause 145 of the 2000 EPA rules, all new buildings are required to comply with the current BCA, with exception of only those buildings which already exist before the BCA requirements were in place, except for requirements of upgrade for the latter. This upgrade will be in accordance with the other relevant legislation clauses. Again, clause 143(3) of the 2000 EPA regulations restricts certification of authority for issuance of construction certificate on realizing that the new work proposed will lead to reduction in fire protection and capacity of the structure for the intended building.

Building description

The description of the proposed residential building structure is as below:

Building Use: living room, kitchen, washrooms, bedrooms, conference room, quest rooms, recreation rooms and car parking

Construction type: Type A, based on the two-storey buildings

Floor area for fire compartment: should not exceed 5,500m2 as required by type A construction

Climate zone: Zone six (6)

Effective height: Not exceeding 9m

Required level: Two (2)

Rise in Storeys: RIS of two (2)

BCA classification: 2, 7a and 9b

The Maximum floor area and its corresponding volume will be as shown in table 1 below

Table 1: Floor area and volume (Harvey, 2016)

BCA Assessment

The following are the compliant issues for BCA 2016 to be considered when constructing the proposed residential building

Section I: Classification of structures and building

• Clause A2.1 gives the requirement that the building should give evidence of suitability, such that every part of the construction has to have appropriate order for attainment of standard requirements of BCA and to apply right construction materials which fit the required purpose (Harvey, 2016).
• Clause A 3.1 requires that there be classification principles, with the purpose of designing the building and its features of adaptability to begin at the classification of the building.
• Clause A3.3 concerns multiple classification, in which every part of the building is supposed to be classified separately, such that where there is difference in purpose for parts of the building, there will still be consideration for the major use of the building at the expense of the minor uses in case the latter requires floor area which is less than 10% of the whole size of the structure.
• Clause A4 concerns united buildings and requires that in case of two or more adjoining buildings, they form a united building when connected through the openings of the wall dividing them and together comply with the requirements of BCA 2016 as is they were a single building (Harvey, 2016)

Section II: Structure

• Clauses for structural provisions gives requirement that all the structural engineering details which are prepared by any qualified structural engineer has to be provided so as to show compliance with Part B1 relating to the elements of the structure for the new building. For this reason, the details confirming that the design is able to achieve compliance have to be given when certifying the S109R. This has to include the relevant BCA standards as follows:
• General principles as found in AS 1170.0-2002
• Structural design actions like wind loads including the balustrading design, that is, dead and live loads in AS1170.1-2002
• Earthquake loads in AS1170.4-2007
• Masonry code in AS3700-2001 (Harvey, 2016)
• Concrete code in AS3600-2009
• Steel structures in AS4100-1998
• Cold formed steel in AS4600-2005
• Building windows in AS2047-1999
• Glass and glazed assemblies in AS1288-2006-B1.4 (h) (ii B) hinged doors including the French doors and bi fold doors.

Section III. Fire resistance

• Clause C1.1 concerns the compliance of the building with type A construction requirements
• Clause C1.2 relates to the calculation of the rise in storey of the intended building which is calculated from the sum of the largest number of storeys from any point of the external wall of the building, plus other storeys within the roof space. These are calculated in relation to the requirements found in this clause (Harvey, 2016)
• Clause 1.3 deals with multiple classifications of buildings in which the required type of construction should be resistant to fire. This clause originates from the application of clause C1.1 under the basis of classification which applies to all storeys. This clause is only exceptional to the 4 storey buildings and is recommended for type A building types (Langdon, 2016).
• Clause 1.10 deals with fire hazard properties, such that the assemblies, linings and materials found in class 2 to 9 to be in compliance with building specifications C1.10 as well as NSW code compliance requirements. For there to be compliance with the above requirements, there has to be submission of material data sheets for further assessment as deemed useful and necessary at the construction certification stage (Langdon, 2016).

Section IV: Compatibility

Clause C2.6 deals with vertical separation of openings in the walls. These openings need to be separated using horizontal or vertical spandrel having FRL of 60/60/60 for type A constructions. The clause also applies for windows whose openings are above 450 mm when the horizontal measurement is considered. The intended building thus will comply with this clause, and will be accompanied by separations of spandrel for retrieving further details at the construction phase when there is any non-compliance plan. Figure 1 indicates the plan for the intended construction

Figure 1: plan of the residential structure (source, design manual, 2017 )

• Clause 2.8 deals with classification separations within the same storey building, in which a building that has different classifications and whose location is in the same storey requires higher FRL for the concerned classification to be undertaken. Such parts alternatively have separation walls if the FRL is high as found in clause C1.1 of BCA 2016. Although this compliance is readily achievable, it requires to be given further assessment details in order to ultimately earn a compliance certification for FRL (Langdon, 2016).
• Clause 2.9 deals with classification in the separation for different storey buildings such that different parts of the building are situated in a way that one is on top of the other. This aims at minimizing the spread of fire from one classification of storey to another different storey. Every storey has a slab between them in the structure which must comply with minimum requirements of FRL as 90/90/90
• Clause C 2.10 deals with lift shaft separations which is applicable to all clauses of the building and gives the protection requirement specifics in the openings of the lift shaft together with those of the landing doors. This will be applied as provided for by Type A construction. This requirement should have a minimum FRL of 120/120/120. Further details for non-compliance (Chun, 2015)
• Clause C 2.13 which deals with electricity system of supply, requiring the fire rating confirmation and the designed electrical systems such that the fire area is able to achieve FRL of 130/120/120. Again, the electricity substation to be located within the building. In addition, there will be need of a switchboard for emergency equipment operation and a construction operation which is required at the main switchboard for FRL 120/120/120 or an equal alternative. In the event of emergency equipment requirement in the building, there will be separation of all emergency switchgear from the non-emergency operation switchgears by the use of metal partitions. This is helpful in minimizing the possibility of the fault spreading to the non-emergency switchgear devices like fire hydrant booster pumps, system automatic springer pumps, reel fire horse pumps, sound emergency systems, emergency lifts and air systems for handling fire outbreaks and exhaust gases within the room (Chun, 2015).

Section V: Protection of openings

• Clause 3.2 concerns the openings in the external walls, in which FRL states that in case of a separation distance between the opening and the fire source with less than 3m exposure from the allotment of side boundary, or a distance of 6m from a different building not within the class 10 allotment, its protection will be in relation to C3.4 by locating sprinklers for wall-wetting on the external part.
• The building in question has non-compliance on several windows within the limit of 3m. there should thus be a solution to the compliance or an engagement of fire engineer at the stage of construction certification in order to produce a solution for the building that is able to meet the required performance of CP2 (Chun, 2015)

Section VI: Acceptable Methods of Protection

The protection for doorways, windows and other openings where necessary will be as follows

• Windows- internal and external self-closing doors with wall-setting sprinklers which are appropriate or fire doors 60/30 which are of self-closing type (Chun, 2015)
• Other openings- this excludes voids for internal and external sprinklers having FRL construction and wall setting which is above /60/. The building under question will give a solution which is compliant with the BCA requirements. Where there will be non-compliance, there will be a fire engineer engaged to provide the solution to the building at the certification stage of construction, so as to certify CP2 requirements for performance in the intended building.

Section VII: Access and Egress

• Clause D1.2 gives provision for escape. This clause requires that the provisions have to be there for exit which is sufficient in order to ensure that there is safe egress during emergency. This clause has further provision for all buildings to have a minimum of one exit for every storey as demanded by circumstances for several exists (Chun, 2015)

The ground floor for the building in question will have two exists floors 1 and 2 will have one exist for each floor, with a vertical height of 1.5m for each exit door.

• In clause D1.3, there should be fire isolated ramps and stairways which indicate when they are required, for there to be safe egress in the event of fire outbreak. It also sets limits for non-fire exists which fall within the class of 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. This clause however gives exception for class 9a which deals with patient care, and 9c dealing with buildings for age care. The clause requires full implementation, taking into considerations the exceptions since the building is intended to be a dwelling place in which health issues and aging are inevitable. For the issues of non-compliance, it will be handled at the certification stage of the construction.
• Clause D 1.5 concerns distances in relation to the alternative exists, which requires that there should be uniform distribution of distances as much as is practicable, within the localities of the storey building at strategic points in order to prevent obstruction to access. The exits should thus be 45m apart at maximum for the buildings falling under the class of 2, 3 and 9a. The remaining classes need not exceed 60m apart. Clause AS1428.1 defines the access ramps as an inclined surface on a path which is continuously accessible between two landings of travel having a gradient whose steepness is 10m but not more than the ratio 1:14. Figure 2 shows the sketch of such a ramp

Figure 2: Ramp sketch (Harvey, 2016)

Exemptions

Clause D3.4 gives the details of the building parts which do not have to be accessible under BCA. This is because the access provision is not appropriate as a result of the nature of the tasks to be carried out on the section of the area (Chun, 2015). It is thus not conditional for access to be provided to: health risk areas, safety reduction areas, and construction areas. Figure 3 shows the intended building.

Figure 3: proposed two-storey residential building (Design Manual, 2017)