The Shergold Weir Report & The National Construction Code
Building Confidence or False Hope?
The report ‘Building Confidence’ by Peter Shergold and Bronwyn Weir, addresses a number of major flaws to the National Construction Code (NCC) in regards to design, certification and the handover processes. But will it be enough to change entrenched organisational silos and industry culture?
The Report was commissioned by the Australian Building Ministers Forum. Its objective is to recommend improvements to compliance and enforcement systems under the National Construction Code (NCC) in Australia.
The Grenfell Tower fire in London, June 2017 and a similar cladding fire in Melbourne in November 2014 raised concerns about:
- the certification and use of building products,
- the design process,
- independent certification and
- owner information.
In January 2019 the Opal Tower debacle (structural defects) added weight to implementing the recommendations of the Shergold Weir Report.
The report makes 24 recommendations. A large number deal with tightened regulations, accreditation, governance, controls and the like. However on page 9 the authors provide an insightful quote that, “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants”. They add – “If the actions of individuals, organisations or government are visible, then pro-social behaviours are more assured and the need for legal or regulatory intervention is lessened.”
The report identified problems including:
- documents do not reflect the as-built building, or
- they contain insufficient detail to properly inform building risk and maintenance requirements
- the standard of documentation supporting performance solutions is poor.
- limited documentation is prepared at the time building work commences
- a full set of final documents for a Commercial building * (which includes all relevant documents for the ongoing management of the building) is not usually collated and passed on to the owner or subsequent purchaser.
The report cited the following comment from the Fire Protection Association Australia;
“The often overlooked importance of design and documentation is its role in the life cycle of the building beyond occupancy approval. Poor design documentation makes verification that essential safety systems and equipment continue to perform to the standard expected throughout the life of the building extremely difficult”.
*‘Commercial buildings’ refers to class 2–9 buildings, which includes multi-storey residential buildings and public buildings.
The following is a summary of recommendations to the National Construction Code that impact the provision of information:
Recommendation 20 is a critical element. In effect the ‘Building Manual’ is the collation of all the data from prior approvals and certification. The report states – “The building manual should be in a digital format and be required to have prescribed information such as:
- as-built construction documentation;
- fire safety system details and maintenance requirements;
- assumptions made in any performance solution (for example, occupant characteristics);
- building product information, including certificates and details of maintenance or safety requirements; and
- conditions of use—such as occupant numbers, loads, replacement of products after certain periods (for example, glass after 25 years).
- There should be a requirement for the manual to be provided to successive purchasers of the building.”
While the above recommendations are very sound, how will it be achieved in the face of an industry culture that sees the provision of proper information a task to be avoided or handed to junior staff. Add to this other regulations such as the Work Health Safety Act which requires both designers and contractors to provide specific information and you have a very complex system with multiple organisational and discipline silos to address.
Dr Tom Crow, Engineers Australia has stated “the industry is very poor in its approach to managing the transition of a project to the operational phase”. And has called for improved processes and education to better equip engineers to understand how to plan and deliver the right information at the right time for the right purpose.
However, organisations like Bunnings are taking a proactive approach. They mandate the provision of completed Manuals as a pre-condition to contract acceptance and also include ‘owner information’ such as planning consents, compliance and certifications that are often early design and non-builder related. In fact clients like Bunnings have reported that the inclusion of a more comprehensive Building Manual has substantially reduced their costs for due diligence and ongoing operation and maintenance.
We have included a link to the 2018 Shergold Weir Report and welcome any useful feedback.
If you would like to learn more about how organisations like Bunnings and others have taken a lead in this area please contact us at WebFM
