BCA Compliance in a Commercial Development - Report Example

BCA Compliance Assessment Report

44434 Cessnock, Charlestown

Revision 0

Cessnock Developments

30th August 2017

Suite 6, 228 Cessnock, NSW 9320 7088 3060

P.O Box 708 Charlestown

Website: www.pcacertifiersau.com.au

Executive summary

The aim of this project is to carry out an assessment on the proposed commercial development in relation to the BCA requirements. The allotment has two boundaries adjoining a public reserve, in which the reserve forms part of the drainage reserve, with no current development taking place on the intended site. The building is intended to accommodate multiple usages such as pharmacy, café, medical center, government offices, accountant offices and lawyers’ offices. The building will be designed to have three stories in height, in which all the commercial offices such as pharmacy, café and medical centers will be allocated at the first floor. This will be followed by the accountant and lawyers’ offices at the second floor, and finally all the government offices will be in the third floor. The ground floor will have sections for theatre hall, recreation rooms and space for car parking.

The summary will give an assessment of the BCA sections applicable to the project and identify non-compliance areas which will finally need building solution. The non-compliant areas that will require alternate solution include:

• Exit travel distances contained in BCA clause D1.4
• Travel through exists isolated by fire contained in BCA clause D1.7 (b) and (c)
• Protection to the external wall openings in BCA clause C 3.2

There will also be provisions for compliant access to the building for those who are physically challenged. Such provisions will include designing level entrance to the main public entrance and at least half of the remaining pedestrian entrances and a compliant travel path between the buildings such as rampages from one Storey to the next, and also to the accessible car park spaces. These can either be 1:14 maximum ratio for the gradient ramps or 1:33 ratio for the walkways.

Introduction

Property description

This is a report based on the assessment of the proposed commercial building in order to access the building compliance with the Building Code of Australia (BCA) 2016. The report also discusses a summary of all the clauses which are relevant to this project and taken from BCA 2016 requirements. The preparation of the report is on the basis of the review of the documents developed, visual inspection of the site and the information that the client provided, which is intended only for their use (Harvey, 2016).

Aim

The aim of this project was to introduce and reinforce BCA concepts in association with Australian Standards.

The reporting team

The information herein was prepared by me on behalf of the design team for Las Lavington, which is a private certifying consultancy firm.

Documentation

The following documentations has undergone review at the initial stage of preparing this report:

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

Regulatory framework

Pursuant to clause 145 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment (EPA) rules 2000, it is a requirement that all new building constructions should be in accordance to the current BCA, except for the buildings which are already in existence, unless the latter requires to be upgraded in relation to other legislation clauses. Again, clause 143(3) of the EPA regulations 2000 does not allow for certification authority to issue construction certificate in the event that the proposed new work will reduce fire protection and the structural capacity of the intended building.

Building description

The description of the proposed commercial development structure is as follows:

Building Use: pharmacy, café, medical center, government offices, accountant offices and lawyers’ offices, theatre hall, recreation rooms and car parking

Construction type: Type A, which is based on the development of three Storey buildings

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

Climate zone: Zone six (6)

Effective height: Not exceeding 12m

Required level: Three (3)

Rise in Storeys: RIS of three (3)

BCA classification: 2, 7a and 9b

Maximum area of floor and its corresponding volume are as shown in table 1 below

Table 1: Floor area and volume

BCA Assessment

The following BCA 2016 compliant issues will be considered in the construction of the proposed commercial development complex:

Section I: Classification of structures and building

• Clause A2.1 requires that the building should provide evidence of suitability, in that every part of the building should have appropriate construction in order to attain the standard requirements of BCA and to use the right materials which fits the intended purpose (Harvey, 2016).
• Clause A3.1 requires the determination of the principles of classification, in which the purpose for which the building is designed and its adaptability features have to be stated when classifying the building.
• Clause A3.3 deals with multiple classification, in which each part of the building is required to be separately classified, in that in cases of difference in purpose for some parts of the structure, the major use intended for the building will be considered for minor uses if the latter is less than 10% of the floor area for the whole structure.
• Clause A4 which relates with united buildings requires that any two or more adjoining buildings are to form a united building in the event that they are connected through wall openings which divides them and are together in compliance with BCA requirements as if they are one building (Harvey, 2016).

Section II: Structure

• Structural provisions clause requires that all the details of structural engineering which have been prepared by a structural engineer who is appropriately qualified must be provided in order to show compliance with Part B1 which relates to the elements of the new structural building. This thus requires provision of the details which confirm that the design will achieve compliance with the requirements shown below at the time of certifying S109R and is inclusive of the relevant Australian Standards:
• General principles contained in AS 1170.0-2002
• Actions of structural design such as wind loads which include the design for balustrading, that is, live and dead 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
• Glazed and glass assemblies in AS1288-2006-B1.4 (h) (ii B) hinged doors which include the bi fold doors and French doors.

Section III. Fire resistance

• Clause C1.1 requires the construction to comply with type A requirements
• Clause C1.2 deals with the calculation of the rise in Storey of the building which is obtained as the sum of the greatest number of storeys at any point of the external walls for the building, together with any storeys which are within the space of the roof and are calculated in accordance with the requirements stated in this clause (Harvey, 2016)
• Clause C1.3 deals with buildings having multiple classifications, in which the construction type required is that of fire resisting and results from application of clause C1.1 within the classification basis applying to all storeys. The only exception for this clause is that dealing with class 4 buildings. The recommended classification for the building will be type a construction type (Langdon, 2016).
• Clause C1.10 deals with properties of fire hazard, in which the linings, assemblies and materials in class 2 to 9 has to comply with building specifications C1.10 together with additional NSW code requirements. In order to ensure compliance with the above, material data test sheets have to be submitted so as to carry out further assessment, which will be necessary and useful at the certification stage of the construction (Langdon, 2016).

Section IV: Compatibility

Clause C2.6 concerns vertical separation of external wall openings, in which the openings have to be separated using vertical or horizontal spandrel that has an FRL of 60/60/60 in case any part of Type A construction has a window or any opening above 450mm from the lower opening when measured horizontally. Thus the intended building generally complies with this, but will be accompanied with spandrel separation to be used in retrieving any further details during construction phase in case of any non-compliance from the plan. Figure 1 shows the sketch of the plan for the intended building (Langdon, 2016).

• Clause C2.8 deals with separation of the classifications in the same storey, in which a building having different classifications and has location in the same storey and alongside each other have their elements which require higher FRL to undertake the concerned classification. The parts can alternatively have walls of separation for higher FRL as stipulated in specification C1.1 for BCA 2016. Such compliance is readily achievable, but requires further assessment details which finally should earn a certification construction which complies with FRL (Langdon, 2016).

Figure 1: plan of the commercial structure

• Clause C2.9 deals with classification of separation in different storeys, in which different parts of the building situated such that one is above the other, and aims to minimize fire spread in one classification to a different storey. The slab between every storey in the structure should provide FRL of 90/90/90 at minimum.
• Clause C2.10 deals with separation of lift shafts, which applies to all building clauses and gives the specifics for the protection requirements in lift shaft openings and landing doors for the lift shafts. This will be provided has provided for by Type A construction, with an FRL of 120/120/120 at minimum. The stage of construction certificate will provide further details in cases of non-compliance. (Chun, 2015)

• Clause C2.13 deals with electricity supply system, which requires the confirmation of fire ratings, and the electrical services are to be designed such that the fire area achieves a FRL of 120/120/120, and a substation of the electricity is to be located within a building. Again, a main switchboard is needed for emergency operation equipment, and a construction separation required in the main switchboard which can achieve FRL of 120/120/120 or any equal alternative. Finally, these should be a classification according to AS/NZS 2013 for WS52W. In case there is requirement of emergency equipment in the building, all electric installation switchboards for sustaining electricity supply leading to emergency switchgear will be separated from the switchgears for non-emergency operations using metal partitions in order to minimize the possibility of spreading the fault to non-emergency switchgear equipment such as booster pumps for fire hydrant, automatic sprinkler system pumps, fire hose reel pumps, emergency lifts, sound systems for emergency purposes and air handing systems for exhaust and fire spread control and smoke (Chun, 2015).

Section V: Protection of openings

• Clause C3.2 deals with protection of external wall openings, in which FRL requires that if the separation distance between the fire-source and the opening has an exposure of less than 3m from a side boundary allotment, or 6m from another building which is not in a class 10 allotment, it will be protected in relation to C3.4, by locating wall-wetting sprinklers on the external part.

Again, in case of protection requirement, the space they occupy should not be more than 1/3 of the external wall area of the storey except for the class 9b building used as a stand for the open spectator.

• For the building in question, Non-compliance of several windows is within the boundary of 3m. There should thus be a compliant solution or a fire engineer to be engaged at the stage of construction certificate so as to produce a solution for the building which meets the required performance of CP2 (Chun, 2015).

Section VI: Acceptable Protection Methods

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

• Windows-external and internal sprinklers for wall wetting as appropriate for automatic windows or those that are permanently fixed in position or /60/ fire automatic shutters
• Doorways: - external and internal self-closing doors with appropriate wall-wetting sprinklers or /60/30 self-closing fire doors (Chun, 2015).
• Other openings: - excluding voids for appropriate external and internal sprinklers for wall-setting or having FRL construction which is above /60/.

In this regard, the building will give a solution which is compliant. In cases of non-compliance, a fire engineer has to be engaged for the provision of building solution at the construction certification stage, in order to certify CP2 performance requirements for the intended building.

Section VII: Access and Egress

• Clause D1.2 provides provision for escape, in that the clause requires that there has to be provisions for sufficient exit in order to enable safe egress during emergency. The clause further provides that all buildings should have one exit at minimum from each storey as circumstances for several exits will demand (Chun, 2015).

For the building in question, the ground floor will have two exits, which should be more than 1.5m. Levels one to three will have one exists each, with each having vertical height of 1.5m.

Clause D1.3 gives requirements for fire-isolated ramps and stairways by indicating when they are required in order to enable safe egress in case of fire, and sets limits to which non-fire exits can be used in buildings having class 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. There are however exceptions in class 9a which concerns patient care and 9c concerning age care buildings. This clause has to be fully implemented, taking note of the exceptions since the building will offer health facilities for all patients and the aged. Non-compliance issues to be dealt with at the construction certificate stage.

Clause D1.5 deals with distances from the alternative exists, in which there must be uniform distribution of the distance as practicable as can be, within and around the storey in at strategic points with no obstruction to access, and thus the exits should be accessible from all points of the floor, including areas of lift lobby. They should thus not exceed 45m apart for the buildings under class 2, 3 and 9a. Other classes should not exceed 60m apart.

• The structure in question will have to comply with all that is required in these clauses relating to alternative exits. The other compliance relates to the dimensions of the exits, in which the structure is required to have its stairs and corridors together with other travel paths at 1m minimum width and a height of 2m at minimum (Chun, 2015).

Clause D3.2 concerns access to people with disabilities, in that the structure has to provide accessibility to buildings from the main pedestrian point of entry. The minimum accessible width for the doorway has to have opening width that is clear at 850mm at minimum in accordance with AS1428.1

Accessible ramps are defined in the clause AS1428.1 as a surface which is inclined on a path that is continuously accessible of travel between two landings with a gradient that is steeper than 10 but not exceeding the ratio 1:14. The sketch of ramps is as shown in figure 2

Figure 2: Ramp sketch

Exemptions

• Clause D3.4 provides building details or parts of buildings which are not required to be accessible under BCA, in which access provision would not be appropriate due to the nature of the tasks undertaken or the area of the section (Chun, 2015). Access thus does not have to be provided to:
• An area of inappropriate access due to particular purpose of the use made to a given area
• An are viable to posing safety or health risk for those with disability, and
• Any access path of travel only to an exempted area by the first two points above