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LATEST BUILDING CODE 2020 UPDATES

29 Oct 2020

Earlier this year MBIE sought feedback on proposals to issue two new Acceptable Solutions and amend twelve existing Acceptable Solutions and Verification Methods. In total, there were 27 amendments proposed across 12 documents.  This consultation was completed, decisions made and the resulting changes are to be published imminently.

Transition
The changes are expected to be published by MBIE on the 5th November 2020 with a 12 month transition period ending on 4th November 2021. During the transition period the old version or new changes of the Acceptable Solutions and Verification Methods can be used, but from the end of transition only the new changed version can be used.

What is affected?
Consultation included the following Acceptable Solutions and Verification Methods:

  • C Protection from Fire: C/VM2, C/AS1, C/AS2
  • E1 Surface Water: E1/VM1, E1/AS1, plus new E1/AS2
  • E2 External moisture: E2/AS1
  • E3 External moisture: E3/AS1 plus new E3/AS2
  • G9 Electricity: G9/VM1, G9/AS1
  • G13 Foul Water: G13/AS1, G13/AS2, G13/AS3

Summary of decisions
MBIE have released a summary of decisions about what changes will be published, however at the time of writing, the details of the changes won't be known until they are published.

The following is an extract from the MBIE summary:

C/VM2 Protection from fire
Item 1 - C/VM2: Cladding requirements.
To be publish with significant changes to the original proposal. Due to feedback, MBIE is publishing these amendments with modifications to the proposed text on the contribution of structural members to vertical fire spread.

Item 2 - C/VM2: Horizontal fire spread.
To be published with minor changes to the original proposal.

Item 3 - C/VM2: Editorial.
To be publish with significant changes to the original proposal. Due to feedback, MBIE is publishing two amendments to the text and withdrawing the proposal to include Appendix D Practice advice for fire modelling (informative) in C/VM2.

C/AS1-AS2 Protection from fire
Item 1 - C/AS1: Scope of risk group SH.
To be published with minor changes to the original proposal.

Item 2 - C/AS2: Means of escape.
To be publish with significant changes to the original proposal. MBIE is withdrawing several proposed amendments and publishing the remainder with minor modifications to the proposed text to clarify the requirements.

Item 3 - C/AS2: Group sleeping areas.
To be publish with significant changes to the original proposal. MBIE is publishing these amendments with modifications to the proposed text and figures to clarify the requirements.

Item 4 - C/AS2: Cladding requirements.
To be publish with significant changes to the original proposal. MBIE is publishing these amendments with modifications to the proposed text and figures to clarify the requirements.

Item 5 - C/AS2: Control of external fire spread.
To be publish with significant changes to original proposal. MBIE is publishing these amendments with modifications to the proposed text and figures to clarify the requirements.

Item 6 - C/AS2: Firefighting.
To be withdrawn and reconsidered.

Item 7 - C/AS2: Editorial.
To be published with minor changes to original proposal.

Item 8 - C/AS2: Errata.
To be publish as proposed.

E1 Surface water
Item 1: E1/AS2 - New Acceptable solution E1/AS2 for stormwater drainage.
To be published with minor changes to the original proposal.

Item 2: E1/AS1 - Changes to rainfall intensities.
To be published with minor changes to the original proposal.

Item 3 & 4: E1/VM1 and E1/AS1 - Changes to referenced standards and correcting a spelling mistake.
To be publish as proposed.

E2 External Moisture
Item 1: Align E2/AS1 with the new E1/AS2 for design of gutters, downpipes and spreaders.
To be published with minor changes to the original proposal.

E3 Internal Moisture
Item 1: E3/AS1 - Overflow of free water.
To be published with minor changes to the original proposal.

Item 2: E3/AS2 - New Acceptable Solution E3/AS2 for internal wet area membranes.
To be published with minor changes to the original proposal.

Item 3: E3/AS1 - Amend E3/AS1 to align with the new proposed E3/AS2.
To be published with minor changes to the original proposal.

Masterspec
From the 5th of November 2020 Masterspec will be analysing the amended and new Acceptable Solutions and Verification Methods. Early next year we will integrate and amend the affected Masterspec sections and we expect to publish them around about April 2021. This should allow those with project specifications substantially under way to be completed under the old versions, and also allow enough time for most of those starting new specifications under the new versions to be ready for the end of the transition period.

During the transition period we will keep you updated of the changes and how things are going.
In the meantime, the article we ran in April's Masterspec Notes "PROPOSED BUILDING CODE UPDATES - CONSULTATION REPORT APRIL 2020" will give you a reasonable idea of what to expect.