This video from the 2022 NCC Seminars discusses Section F Health and amenity from NCC 2022 Volume One.
Transcript
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[Music]
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Hello my name is Graham Moss, I'm the Principal Building Surveyor for the Australian Building Codes Board
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and this video is an update on NCC 2022 Volume One Section F health and amenity.
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I'll get into the technical changes in Section F shortly but first I want
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to show you the structural changes or the changing to the referencing system.
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What we've done for 2022 is we've taken what was F1 in 2019 and broken that into three parts.
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Now F1 today in NCC 2019 is not a very long part it's about nine pages in my hard copy BCA.
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But it's grown in 2022 we've got some additional Deemed-to-Satisfy provisions and once more we're
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doing some work at the moment and we plan to put more provisions in NCC 2025 the next scheduled
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edition of the NCC. So it made sense for NCC 2022 to split Part F1 into three different parts.
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So part F1, the new part F1, is surface water management, rising damp and
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external waterproofing, water outside the building. Part F2 is where there
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is an overflow protection, water inside the building and Part F3 is roof and wall cladding.
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So as a result of splitting Part F1 from 2019 into three parts for 2022
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Section F in 2022 has changed its structure quite significantly, what was six parts is now eight.
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So to the technical changes F1D4 is the first one I'll talk about today it's a new clause
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that recognizes that construction joints are where leaks tend to happen. So under the Deemed-to-Statisfy
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provisions for NCC 2022 your construction joints, your control joints, expansion joints, key joints in
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fact any type of joint that is a part of a roof or a balcony or something like that that needs
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to be waterproofed in accordance with AS 4654.2 that's a standard already referenced by the NCC.
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If these joints are part of a roof balcony or something like that that needs to be
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waterproofed then that joint needs to be waterproofed in accordance with 4654.2 that
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is it needs to be protected. Now note subclause (b) in F1D4 here, our analysis showed us that there
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are enough situations where control joints have been installed under fish ponds, under
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green roofs, under plantar boxes and things like that which are consistently wet there's enough
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control joints in those scenarios to make it necessary to include that subclause, which
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is saying don't put those control joints there because that's where a failure is going to occur.
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Now I need to clarify a few things about F1D4 exposed joints to help you use it in NCC 2022.
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The first thing I want to clarify is this term here drainage surface,
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so what is a drainage surface, well put simply it's what the rain falls on.
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F1D4 is about surfaces exposed to weather so think flat roofs, podiums, rooftop courtyards,
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things like that so the rain falls on these surfaces and that rain has to drain somewhere
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so of course that makes it a drainage surface so when we're talking about drainage surfaces
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of course we're talking about things that the rain falls on and therefore needs to drain away.
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The next thing I want to clarify in F1D4 here is in this notes box we talk about an
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exposed joint which is directly below the drainage surface. Now this is a notes box which is normative
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it's not information it's explanatory it's not commentary it's actually a part of the provision
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and sets out something that needs to be complied with. What this notes box is saying is that an
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exposed joint which is directly below the drainage surface is one which needs to be protected also.
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So what sort of scenario is that what are we getting at when we're talking about an exposed
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joint directly below the drainage surface. Let me explain using this example so consider
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this concrete slab we'll consider it a podium and so the rain is falling on this podium
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and so of course the top of this concrete slab becomes a drainage surface and so you might be
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thinking okay I've got a control joint in this drainage surface therefore F1D4 is telling me
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I need to provide protection in accordance with AS 4654.2. However someone might think here's an idea
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I don't want that to be the drainage surface I'll introduce a new drainage surface, I put down some
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grout, put down some tiles on top of that and now the tiles become the drainage surface and the
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control joint is no longer in the drainage surface, great idea? Well no it doesn't work that way.
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It's true that the tiles have become the drainage surface but the notes box that I pointed out for
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F1D4 clarifies that we're also talking about construction joints that are directly below
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or just below the drainage surface. So backing rods, some grout and tiles isn't going to cut it
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when it comes to F1D4 for NCC 2022. Instead the solution might look something like this
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this is a representation of one of the details in AS 4654.2, as you can see we've got a membrane which
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is bonded to the slab either side of the control joint, we've also got a tape over the backing Rod
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so as to allow movement and then another membrane goes over the top of the tape and buns to the
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membranes either side and then the grout and tiles can go down. Just one last thing on F1D4 exposed
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joints you may have noticed that among other things this provision applies to joints in roofs
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and you may be thinking well what about a metal roof or a tiled roof or a conventional
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sort of roof that's not a concrete slab do I have to go and treat those joints as well?
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Well the answer is no of course and that's taken care of by Part F1's application clause which is here
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on the screen F1D2. Now F1D2 is setting out that F1D4 the joint clause does not apply to a roof
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covering that complies with F3D2 (a) to (d) which I have listed there the conventional types of roofs.
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Note also application of part that F1D5 a provision I'll show you shortly does not
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apply to a roof with a covering complying F3D2 so a conventionally covered roof and also
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it doesn't apply it to a perforated surface or a surface which is directly above ground.
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What's F1D5, well I'm glad you asked that's the next change I want to show
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you and that's external weatherproofing membranes, external waterproofing membranes.
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Now F1D5 is a development of what's in NCC 2019 as F1.4. Now in NCC 2019 F 1.4 simply says that
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waterproofing membranes for external above ground use must comply with AS 4654.1 and AS 4654.2.
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Now strictly speaking F1.4 under NCC 2019 doesn't say that you have to install it,
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read strictly it's saying that if you do install it you need to comply with the AS 4654 series.
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So as you can see in the changes on the screen here F1D5 is saying that
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yes every roof, every balcony, every podium, every similar horizontal surface or part
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of a building must be protected with a waterproofing membrane.
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If you want to do something different, for example if you want your balcony to have a plain concrete
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finish then that would have to be a performance solution on account of this new provision F1D5.
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So remember how I showed you application of Part F1D2 I'm showing you this photograph to
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demonstrate how F1D5 doesn't apply to a balcony that is directly above the ground. So consider the
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ground floor apartments in this photograph here, the one for instance closest to the photographer.
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The ground floor apartments here are directly above the ground and therefore that balcony
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would not need to be treated for weatherproofing. In accordance with AS 4654.2 it won't need a
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membrane, however the other balconies pictured in this photograph, the ones that aren't directly
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above the ground would need to be provided with a membrane on account of the new provision F1D5.
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Next is Part F2 wet areas and overflow, now not much has changed but at the same time a lot has
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changed, what do I mean by that? Well not much has changed there hasn't been many technical changes
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I will show you the technical changes in a moment but at the same time a lot of the old requirements
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are presented in a new way, especially Table F1.7 part of which I have shown on this
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slide here. Now being the Australian Government we're confined to publishing guidelines and
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under those guidelines we can only use tables for representing data, tabulated data, we can't
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use tables for presenting text in the way that F1.7 does now. So we've had to make amendments
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for NCC 2022 where this tabulated text is taken out and placed into clauses. I'll show
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you what that looks like in a moment but first note the technical requirements in NCC 2019
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for shower walls, note that water resistant was all that's required for shower walls up to the 1800mm
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of course the junctions have to be waterproof also the first 150mm has to
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be waterproof but the walls need only be up to the 1800, the walls need only be water resistant.
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This is what that information looks like in NCC 2022, first note the technical change the walls
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of the shower area must now be waterproof not water resistant for that full 1800 millimeters
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but note also how what was presented in a table is now presented as a clause in a new specification
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Specification 26. Now you might remember that handheld bidet spray suddenly became popular
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recently, so the BCA is keeping up with the times we now have additional waterproofing requirements
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for toilets with a bidet spray so you'll note that this is more stringent than a room that contains
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only a toilet without the bidet spray. Before we leave Part F2 here's another technical change it's
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a change to do with floor waste, this photograph is of a change room in an office building in the hand
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basin area I have shown here a floor waste, now that floor waste is not required by the NCC.
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There's only three times that the NCC makes you install a floor waste that's when it's inside
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a shower, that's when you have a shower you need to have it install a floor waste for the shower
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that's when you have a bathroom or laundry above a sole-occupany unit or a public space for Class 2, 3 and 4 buildings
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or Class 4 parts of a building of course that's F1.11's requirements
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in NCC 2019, which remains the case for NCC 2022. And also if you have a room containing a urinal
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there's a requirement to provide a floor waste but those are the only times that a floor waste
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is required by the BCA. So this floor waste in the photograph here is a voluntarily provided floor
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waste because it's not serving a shower a bathroom above an SOU or a room containing a urinal.
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Now this floor waste photographed here is a little bit like if I chose to install a fire hose reel in
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my garage at home, now my garage at home is not required to have a fire hose reel it's only a
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Class 10a building. So if I choose to put a fire hose reel in my garage at home because I like
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fire hose reels well I don't have to put that fire hose reel within four meters of an exit I don't
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have to put that fire hose reel with a spindle height at 1500 millimeters all these requirements
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that would apply to a required fire hose reel don't apply to one that's installed voluntarily.
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Now that's the case under NCC 2019 for this particular floor waste photographed here because
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that floor waste is installed voluntarily there is no need to grade the floor to that floor waste.
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However if it was a required floor waste like in a shower or a bathroom or laundry above an
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SOU or a public space in a Class 2, 3 building or a Class 4 part of a building or in a room containing
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a urinal, if the BCA said yes you must have that floor waste then the BCA also says you must grade
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the floor to that floor waste but a voluntarily provided floor waste under NCC 2019 the floor
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does not have to be graded to it. That changes for NCC 2022, this is a change for both volumes
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I've got both volumes shown here F2D4 in Volume One and 10.2.12 for Volume Two. Now note that F2D4
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subclause (2) we're saying that where a floor waste is installed whether it be a floor waste that's
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required otherwise by the BCA or a floor waste that's installed voluntarily, if a floor waste is
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installed then the floor must be graded along the line of the parameters shown on that slide.
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Next is Part F3 roof and wall cladding so I have a photograph of a roof here, now this is the roof of
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Terminal 3 at Sydney Airport, not every commercial roof is covered in gravel I admit that but under
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that gravel will be a concrete slab with a waterproof membrane and that's a very common
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way of finishing roofs in commercial buildings in Australia. However it's also not a Deemed-to-Satisfy
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solution because F1.5 lists the Deemed-to-Satisfy solutions for a commercial roof
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and includes tiles metal sheet and a few other things but it does not under NCC 2019 contain
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waterproof slabs. That changes with NCC 2022 we've added a new option in F3D2 what used to be F1.5
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and as you can see there an option for a roof is an external waterproofing membrane
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complying with F1D5 which is that provision that we covered recently.
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Now speaking of a lack of Deemed-to-Satisfy provisions for a long time we've had this note
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in F1.0 of Volume One, it's an information box not a normative note just an informative information
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box reminding you that there are no Deemed-to-Satisfy Provisions for weatherproofing
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of external walls in Volume One. Now I'm glad to say that this box is deleted in NCC 2022 and
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that's because in NCC 2022 we now have Deemed-to-Satisfy provisions for wall cladding, you can
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use masonry to 3700, autoclaved aerated concrete to 5146.3 or metal wall cladding to AS 1562.1.
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We've included those standards because each of those have provisions covering the weatherproofing
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of the external walls and so they can be called up for the purposes of demonstrating weatherproofing
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compliance with relevant performance requirements. Now this might seem restrictive, commercial
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buildings are clad in more ways than just these three ways so that's why we're working
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on introducing further Deemed-to-Satisfy provisions for commercial cladding in Volume One and we plan
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to have these additional provisions in NCC 2025, the next scheduled edition of the NCC.
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So in the meantime it might not seem like many but of course it's better than nothing which
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is what we've got currently in NCC 2019 so an inclusion and an improvement for NCC 2022.
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This next change is in Part F4 and it's a clarification currently the BCA has this line in
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NCC 2019 requiring that in certain circumstances an ambulant facility must be provided for use by
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males and females. Now apparently this has been interpreted by many as meaning that it's okay
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in normal circumstances to have a single unisex ambulant facility because it can be used by males
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and females, well that's not the intent. Which is why F4D5 which is the development of this
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provision for NCC 2022 contains this clarification and as you can see we really spell it out we've
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taken nine words and replaced them with 37, the sentence is now much longer but it is clear it's
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pointing out that a facility for males and a separate facility for females must be provided.
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Now of course F4D4 applies that's F2.3 in the current BCA and F4D4 or F2.3 in NCC 2019 sets
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out some circumstances where you don't have to provide separate facilities for males and females,
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these are the only reasons where you might have a single ambulant facility a single sex ambulant
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facility but other than these circumstances outlined on the slide you must have at least
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two ambulant facilities, one for males and one for females in circumstances where the building
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is required to have ambulant facilities. Now the last change to cover in Part F is in Specification 28
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which is currently known as Specification F5.2 under NCC 2019 that's a table of forms of
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construction that meet specified sound insulation ratings, now Spec 5.2 has been in the BCA since
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its first edition BCA 1988 and this particular table row, this particular item has been in there
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since 1988 since BCA88 19 mm tongue and groove boards, not yellow tongue we're talking 19 mm
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floorboards with insulation placed as shown in the specification here. Now not many people have
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used this particular table row inside the last decade, what I'm saying is that Spec F5.2 has
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been modernized we've included more modern forms of construction like this one here. We've taken out
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the floorboards and replaced it with timber flooring that's that's current conventional construction.
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Now of course just as it's always been you don't have to use Specification 28 you're welcome to
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use other systems that are shown to comply through lab testing and a manufacturer might demonstrate
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that for their floor systems or of course you can use one of the verification methods.
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That's all we're covering in this video for Part F but I can't leave
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Part F without a watch this space note for condensation management.
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At the time of the recording of this video final sign off was yet to occur for condensation
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management provisions so therefore I'm not able to provide you an update in this video. However we do
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plan to support these provisions with education so please keep an eye on our website abcb.gov.au.