Interconnection of smoke alarms in residential buildings Requirements for a building permit Building surveyors and builders are reminded that mains powered smoke alarms located inside new residential buildings (being Class 1 buildings, sole-occupancy units in Class 2 or 3 buildings and Class 4 parts of a building) are required to be interconnected where more than one alarm is required to be...

The Building Commission is strongly advising home owners against carrying out their own plaster testing. The advice follows recent media reports and social media posts suggesting the use of a tape adhesion or “sticky tape” test to determine whether plaster has been correctly applied. Home owners are warned that testing their own walls could damage the plaster or paint. Tests should only be...

In July 2016, the Building Commission circulated an updated set of Building Commissioner approved forms for use under the Building Act 2011 , and that from 10 October 2016, previous versions of the forms would no longer be considered approved forms by the Building Commissioner. A number of stakeholders have sought to have this period extended in order to transition the new forms into their...

The four month transitional period that delayed the application of the bush fire construction requirements of the Building Code of Australia (BCA) for areas that were newly identified as bush fire prone on the Map of Bush Fire Prone Areas 2016 (that came into operation on 21 May 2016) concluded yesterday. From today, 21 September 2016, applications for building approvals for certain residential...