Guide to Standards and Tolerances - Durant Building

1 Guide to Standardsand TolerancesFor home builders and renovatorsFT242 July Guide was prepared in consultation with individuals representingvarious industry and consumer Office of Fair Tradingacknowledges and thanks the Housing Industry Association (Victoria) andthe Housing Guarantee Fund Ltd for their work in developing the first Guide to Standards and Tolerances in Office of Fair Tradingalso acknowledges the subsequent work of Australian Institute of Building Surveyors Australian Society of Building Consultants Consumer Affairs Victoria Housing Guarantee Fund Ltd Housing Industry Association Insurance Council of Australia Master Builders Association of Victoria The Institution of Engineers (Australia)

2 Building Commission Victoria Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural ResourcesAdditional copiesThis publication can be viewed or printed from the Publications page ofour Web site of this publication can be requested by calling 13 32 orderquantities of more than five, fax a written request with your street address to Fax: 9619 8618 or post to:Office of Fair TradingMarketing BranchPO Box 972 Parramatta NSW 2124 DisclaimerThis publication is a plain language Guide to your rights andresponsibilities. It must not be relied on as legal advice. For moreinformation please refer to the appropriate legislation or seek independentlegal 0 7347 6010 8 Office of Fair TradingLast revised July 20031 NSW Office of Fair TradingGuide to Standards and TolerancesThe Guide to Standards and Tolerancesis a valuable tool to clarify areas ofbuilding Standards that are notprescribed in a builder and a Building owner,parties to a Building contract, can agree toapply the Building Standards they considerappropriate to a Building project.

3 But theymay not agree to Standards less than thoseprescribed by Government. Sometimes theagreed Standards are detailed in the contractdocuments but often they are purpose of this Guide is to indicate theview of reasonable Standards and tolerancesfor Building work, where such Standards andtolerances are not articulated by the contractdocuments and are not prescribed in: the Home Building Act 1989; the Home Building Regulation 1997; the Building Code of Australia(BCA); and the Australian Standardsreferenced in there is any contradiction ordifference between the Guide and theBCA, relevant legislation or thebuilding contract, the BCA.

4 Legislationor Building contract will Standards and Tolerances includingthose that relate to the passage of time areintended as a Guide may notapply to some Building projects where thespecific circumstances of the project or thecontract conditions of that project requireor imply other Standards or commencement of any time periodmentioned in the Guide is to be taken fromthe date of the occupation certificate for abuilding project. Some information in thisGuide has been extracted from the BCA orreferenced Australian Standardsto document is intended to serve as ageneral Guide only, and is always subject toprevailing legislation and to Standards and TolerancesNSW Office of Fair Trading 1.

5 Application ..42. Appliances ..63. Masonry ..6 Definition of masonry ..6 Masonry distress ..6 Bed joints and perpends ..6 Masonry facing ..6 Mortar ..7 Masonry voids ..7 Damproof courses ..7 Raking of joints ..7 Brick Sills Shrinkage allowancefor timber framing ..7 Flashings ..8 General ..8 Timber frames ..8 Aluminium frames ..8 Render and applied finishes for masonry ..8 Cracking ..8 Matching colour and texture ..8 Cracking at articulation joints ..84. Concrete slab distress ..95. Condensation ..106. Doors ..10 Door handles and latches ..10 Doors and door frames.

6 10 Internal doors ..10 External doors ..10 General ..107. Lightweight substrate with applied finishes ..118. External mouldings ..119. Articulation joints ..1110. Internal fixing ..1111. Floor and wall tiling ..11 General ..11 Tile matching ..11 Tiling workmanship ..1212. Floors ..12 Gaps in enclosed timber flooring ..12 Plywood and particle board flooring ..12 Nail popping ..12 Squeaking floors ..12 Floor levels concrete and timber as built ..1213. Footings and foundations ..13 General ..13 Foundation and site drainage maintenance ..13 Distress.

7 1314. Glazing ..1315. Lyctus borer ..1416. Painting ..1417. Paving & driveways ..14ontentsC3 NSW Office of Fair TradingGuide to Standards and Tolerances18. Plasterboard ..15 General ..15 Peaking or jointing ..15 Plasterboard cracking ..15 Nail popping ..15 Matching existing plaster and texture ..1519. Hard plaster ..1520. Restumping works ..15 Consequential damage ..15 Floor levels ..15 Packing material ..1521. Roofing systems ..16 Metal roofing/components ..16 Pointing ..16 Roof batten alignment ..16 Roof batten spacing ..16 Dry valley construction ..16 Undulating roof lines.

8 1622. Shower enclosures ..16 Shower screens ..16 Shower bases ..1623. Gutters and downpipes ..1624. Steel framing ..1625. Stormwater systems ..1726. Straightness/plumbness of walls ..1727. Termites (white ants) ..1728. Timber shrinkage and splitting ..1729. Water hammer ..1730. Water leaks ..17 Appendix A Interpretation of Tolerances given in Australian Standards Codes ..18 Appendix BEngineering diagrams explainingcontent of table in clause Bed joints and perpends relating to AS 3700 - 2001 Masonry structures .194 Guide to Standards and TolerancesNSW Office of Fair Trading 1.

9 ApplicationThe primary obligation of the holder of acontractor licence (licensee) issued underthe Home Building Act 1989(the Act) is tocarry out residential Building work inaccordance with the Act, as detailed in anyplans and specifications which form part ofthe contract. Further, as set out in Part 2 Cof the Act, statutory warranties are impliedin every contract to do residential contractual obligations and thestatutory warranties require levels ofperformance from the levels of acceptable performanceare normally set out in the buildingcontract and the relevant Building codesand Standards in force at the , there are some particulars ofperformance that are not specified in any ofthese documents.

10 It is the purpose of thisGuide to indicate levels of performancewhich are considered acceptable by theOffice of Fair Trading as well as assistbuilders and owners with matterscommonly the subject of Standards and Tolerances referred to inthis Guide only relate where the Deemed-to-Satisfy provisions of the Building Code ofAustralia(BCA) have been to the BCA in this Guide is tothe Building Code of Australia 1996,Volume2, Class 1 and Class 10 Buildings (HousingProvisions).The Standards and Tolerances inthis Guide may not be applicable where aresidential Building contract involves theuse of the performance standard of theBCA.