Standards Australia has introduced a mobile app, catering to individual users, such as tradespeople, technicians, and workers to view and subscribe to Australian Standards on their mobile phone. The app is designed to be an intuitive and convenient low-cost tool for referencing standards on the go, even when offline.

The app is part of Standards Australia’s program to improve access for users on job sites and in the field. It overcomes the limitations of protected PDF formats and aims to promote convenience for users.

The mobile app also offers significant cost savings to tradespeople. Single users can subscribe to curated sets of commonly used standards, available at store.standards.org.au/curated-subscription, at a reduced cost. For instance, builders requiring access to primary referenced standards in the National Construction Code (NCC) can now pay $110 incl. GST for mobile-only access.

Amongst the standards sets available through the app is the Timber in Buildings Set, coming in handy as timber is the predominant building material for residential construction in Australia, due to its strength, versatility and low cost.

The Timber in Buildings Set provides guidance for its uses in structure design, construction and installation to help meet the engineering needs and regulatory requirements for housing throughout the country. It also includes practical span tables for timber framing in both cyclonic and non-cyclonic areas of Australia.

Most standards within this set are primary references of the NCC, including parts two, three and four of AS 1684 – Residential timber-framed construction, parts three and five of AS 1720 – Timber structures, and AS 3959:2018 – Construction of buildings in bushfire-prone areas. AS 1684 covers framing design and construction in cyclonic and non-cyclonic regions, including practical span tables for various building scenarios. AS 1720.3:2016 outlines the design methods, assumptions, and other criteria for timber-framed buildings, while AS 1720.5:2015 provides the design criteria for nail-plated timber roof trusses commonly used on timber-framed buildings. To complete the set, AS 3959:2018 deals with the suitability and compliance of buildings erected in bushfire-prone areas.

The Timber in Buildings Set is most suitable for builders and carpentry contractors specialising in residential construction. Access to these standards promotes up-to-date industry knowledge, efficiency, and project consistency.

For more information on the Timber in Buildings Set, other sets, and the mobile app subscription, visit standards.com.au/app.