Practice

Standards overview

Last edited 4 November 2011

The increasing complexity of the construction industry and the introduction of new materials and techniques has resulted in architects more frequently specifying in 'performance' or 'reference' form rather than providing detailed specific 'materials and workmanship' clauses. In this way, an identifiable printed document can be incorporated into the documentation simply by means of title reference without the referenced documents attached. Common referenced documents include statutory regulations, manufacturers' data sheets and published standards. The most common standards are Australian standards produced by Standards Australia and published by SAI Global Limited. These documents are nationally accepted building standards and many are referenced in the Building Code of Australia (BCA) which is called up under state building legislation.