D-t-S or Performance Solutions - it's your choice! There has been a spate of misinformation about Performance Based Solutions and Building Surveyors overextending their field of influence in so far as the exercise of their duty. It’s important not to be bullied into doing something you just do not have to do. You might also consider legal action to recoup the costs and any delays for being forced to do something you DO NOT HAVE TO DO. Here's some useful links and info from the horse’s mouth:- The Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) Performance or Prescriptive Solution...
Have the Australian Standards become a design Crutch? It's of great concern to us to see architects leaning on building codes and standards as architectural templates instead of their own imagination and creativity. Any decent self respecting species on the planet knows that diversity is the key to survival so what's the evolutionary advantage of standardising design? It didn't work for Mao Zedong or Stalin and there's no evidence that stifling evolution will work for us and there's every reason to motivate our designers to innovate solutions to today's lifestyle problems. When to...
Any stairstep falls or even falls on the same level in public building should be taken seriously for reason that they never occur in isolation and the probability of more serious falls increases with time. We usually become involved in stairstep falls claims following a fall or near miss. If you've had a stairstep fall or have a business premises with problem staircase or ramps then we advise to follow up with a stair audit to identify the problem and take advice on fall prevention and control strategies. It's important to note that stairstep falls are rarely the fault of person or...