Essay Example on Building Services Standards: AS 1668 and BCA Promote Life Safety

Introduction

The building services industry require standards as a guideline for testing specifications and criteria, dealing with construction material requirements, and direct how to build a specific construction element. The overall significance of the standards in the building services industry is the promotion of life safety. The Australian Standard (AS) 1668 and Building Codes Australia are the two regulations for civil engineers in Australia. The AS 1668 deals with air conditioning and ventilation in buildings. The aim of the AS 1668 is to promote uniformity in specifications for mechanical smoke control systems and mechanical air handling to inspectors, installers, regulators, and designers of the systems across the industry. Therefore, AS 1668 facilitates the safety of the building occupants in the case of fire and materials of combustion. The Building Codes of Australia (BCA) is paramount to building services industry in Australia. BCA addresses construction and designing of structures by stipulating the following issues fire resistance, healthy of the occupants, structural adequacy, access and exit, equipment and services, and sustainability and efficiency of energy. In the building services, standards clearly highlight procedures and conditions to ensure the design of products, materials, services, and methods are fit for the purpose and deliver per their intended use.

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The Setting of the Standards

The Australian Building Code Board licenses the Housing Industry Association to sets BCA and then publish it in the National Construction Code. On the other hand, the Standards Australian Committee on mechanical Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and ventilation prepared AS 1668, which updates and releases them regularly to keep the standards up to date.

Introduction of the Standards in the Industry

The AS 1668 has two sections, part one and two. Part one of AS 1668 relates to controlling of fire and smoke within buildings, while part deals with ventilation specifications. The publication of the first edition happened in 1974 in retaliation to the Interstate Standing Committee on Uniform Building Regulation to facilitate uniform requirements when dealing with the fire outbreak in buildings (Australian Standards, 2015, p.6). The release of the second part of AS 1668 occurred in 1976. The new version of the Building Code of Australia came into place in 1996, which replaced the term Codes of Practice (Woodside and McCue, 2016). However, the production of the older version of BCA was in 1988 (The National Construction Code, 2019).

The State of the Building Services Industry Before the Introduction of the Standards

Before the introduction of the BCA, other authorities regulated the industry. The Interstate Standing Committee on Uniform Building Regulations (ISCUBR) was responsible for drafting administrative and technical building codes that benefited all territories and states (The National Construction Code, 2019) since its formation in 1965. ISCUBR anchored their building codes on the local government Act that suited the local requirements. The local government council developed the Australian Building Regulations Coordinating Council (AUBRCC) in 1980, which replaced ISCUBR on coming up with building codes (The National Construction Code, 2019). The primary task of AUBRCC was to continue refining the Australian Model Uniform Building Code, which gave rise to the first publication of BAC (The National Construction Code, 2019). Before the establishment of the BAC, construction enaction of the construction codes depended on the unique requirements in a specific locality. It implies that there was no standardization in the industry. As such, BAC came to bring uniformity in the building service industry across the country.

Effects of the Standards in the Industry

The standards have a paramount impact on the industry since their introduction. Compared with the past codes, the current rules provide additional options to engineers when dealing with a particular situation. For instance, the AS 1668 included paths as a way of allowing the spreading of the smoke in a building contrary to the previous code that restricted smoke spread to ductwork only. In this case, the introduction of the standards has helped designers look for more methods for finding solutions for a particular structure, thus promoting innovation and creativity. Besides, the BCA minimum standards requirements foster national uniformity, consistency, safety, efficiency, health, and sustainability.

The Enforceability of the Standards

The standard is not mandatory except when explicitly referenced in the legislation. The objective of the standards is to enhance safety and uniformity in buildings. Designers and builders should follow BCA to achieve the minimum standard requirement. However, the fact that BCA is there it is no mandatory to adhere to. In their own right, the standards do not have a legal substance except when referenced in the law. Only those standards referred to in the legislation have a legal status (Health Impact Assessment, 2017). In the case of any complaints, the Building Services Act 2011 gives the commissioner enforcement powers to give orders, conduct compliance check-up, investigate, or highlight the necessary discipline required in case of any complaints submitted under the Act.

Consequences of Ignoring the Standards

The standards are not mandatory to follow. However, designers and builders must meet the required standard that guarantees the safety of the people. The building commissioner has powers to investigate a building in case of lodged complaints under the Building Service Act 2011 and impose disciplinary action for non-compliance. The commissioner has the power to investigate the registered building services givers who breach building regulations. The commissioner can use the following enforcement action to compel organizations and individuals to adhere to the set standards; penalties, suspension of the registration, exclusion sanction, exposing offenders to the media to safeguard the general public, monitoring, warnings and consequently educating offenders on how to adhere, informing organizations and individuals through various means to understand their duty, assisting, or encouraging those struggling to comply through compliance campaigns, among others (Building Commission, 2015).

The Nature of the Standards (Static or changing)

The standards relating to the building services industry are dynamic. One of the basic mandates of the Australian Building Code Board is to ensure that the standards are up to date per the Council of the Australian Government's direction. The changes include introducing new codes and revising and improving the existing one. The changes are crucial to comply with specifications for renovations and new homes.

Frequency of Introducing New Standards

The BCA in the building and service industry changes regularly. Mainly, the Australian Building Code Board updates these standards annually to match the building of new structures. The process of introducing new rules includes the preparation of the draft, public participation, analysis of the codes by the Building Codes Committee, impact assessment, and approval by the board (The Australian Building Code Board, 2019). The introduction of AS 1668 part two succeeds AS 1668 part one, meaning that the board publishes new standards as need arises.

Reference list

Australian Standards. 2015. The use of air conditioning and ventilation in buildings. Available at: https://shop.standards.govt.nz/catalog/1668.1

Building Commissioner. 2015. Compliance and enforcement policy. Government of Western Australia Department of Commerce. Available at: https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/

Health Impact Assessment. 2017. Information sheet building services. BCA Standards. Available at: https://hia.com.au/

The Australian Building Code Board. 2019. Updating and maintaining. Available at: https://www.abcb.gov.au/

The National Construction Code. 2019. BCA history. Available at: https://ncc.abcb.gov.au/ncc-online/

Woodside, J. and McCue, K., 2016. Early history of seismic design and codes in Australia. In Australasian Structural Engineering Conference: ASEC 2016 (p. 194). Engineers Australia. Available at: https://aees.org.au/