Building Connection Summer 2016

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BUILDING CONNECTION SUMMER 2016 27
surfaces and external wall systems. AS 5113 also integrates
international standard test methods where practicable.
“The Australian market has now developed a facade
standard which we eventually hope will be picked up by the
ABCB for use. People are slowly becoming aware of it and
we are hoping people will test to that. The ABCB will also be
hoping the market drives itself for a while and will see how it
goes in terms of putting the pressure on product suppliers
to conduct these tests. To some extent I know this is already
happening, which is a step in the right direction.”
Unfortunately, when it comes to regulations, nothing
happens quickly. The challenge for the ABCB is deciding
when fire testing becomes mandatory. The next set of
changes to the BCA come in effect in 2019 so the ABCB
must decide whether to do something then (and rely on
the industry to self-regulate in the meantime) or be more
proactive.
“It’s a tricky one to implement, particularly when you
need to look at a cost benefit analysis and assess how it will
impact the building industry as a whole. It might prejudice
some products (those that have already conducted
extensive tests) over others,” Mark says.
“There is still a little chaos in the market place. People
are expecting different things and hoping for different
outcomes. They might be asking for things that product
manufacturers don’t have at this stage but the good thing
is, they are asking some important questions. They want to
know about facades and how they are installed and that’s
something that they haven’t asked about in the past.
“For example, a fire on a building could spread due to how
the facade is attached, not just because of the materials the
panel itself is constructed from. There may be gaskets or
sealants that could spread the fire quite well. Fire engineers
want to know how cladding systems are being fixed now. And
that’s important.”
A number of notes have been put out by the likes of the
Victorian Building Authority to define what an external wall
and an attachment is.
“There have been a few grey areas in the BCA in terms of
defining what those things are and it’s quite important to
understand what they are because once you define a wall
as needing to meet non-combustibility requirements that
means the components on the wall have fire performance
attributions as well. So you would expect the insulation, for
example, to be non-combustible.”
Another area that Mark hopes the ABCB will focus on is
that of specification as it is the first step of the building
process and determines which cladding systems will be
used. He uses the example below to highlight one of the
current problems in the marketplace.
“An architect may specify a product which has been
proven to withstand large fires and passed a range of tests
only for a builder to change the specification at the last
minute without knowing why that product was specified in
the first place.
“That is an issue and highlights the importance of getting
a product specified early on. The building approval process
is not fully policed in terms of inspections and sign offs
and unfortunately at the end of the day, the certifier gets
paperwork across his desk which he is asked to sign off on.
Sometimes he can do that, sometimes he cannot.
“Certifiers aren’t fire engineers and they may not be privy
to whether or not a product has been substituted or not on
the building site. I think the ABCB will be having a look at
the approval process in terms of making it more rigid. The
good thing is, there are more onuses on a certifier or the fire
brigade signing off on an occupancy certificate. If there is
any doubt, they are entitled to ask more questions,” Mark
says.
The key to the industry learning more about the
importance of selecting the right cladding materials is
education and while training delivery is typically delivered
by Registered Training Organisations and regulatory bodies,
occasionally manufacturers take it upon themselves. Such
is the case here as Kingspan has demonstrated over the
past several months.
“It’s perhaps unfortunate that there is a range of insulated
panels out there and it’s very difficult to ascertain the
difference in a lot of cases. Once you have a facing material
on a panel, you can’t actually determine what the core
material is,” Mark explains.
“We are trying to educate the market on the different
types of panel systems out there, what we provide and the
fire performance of these panels. That will make it easier
for specifiers to choose panels for their next project. We
are working with fire engineers at the moment but hope to
conduct ongoing educational seminars with a particular
focus on educating builders and all stakeholders in the near
future.”
Before choosing your next cladding material, be sure to
conduct some thorough research of your own, and if an
architect has specified a particular product, do yourself, the
industry and the public a favour and ensure it comes with a
CodeMark Certificate of Conformity.
Until the ABCB brings AS 5113 Fire propagation testing
and classification of external walls of buildings into play, you
play an important role in making sure that cladding systems
and fixing materials are up to the task.
Kingspan Insulated Panels
Australian Building Codes Board