Masterbuilders Alerts the Industry April 2010
* 6-star energy equivalence rating for housing
* Price increase alert
6-star energy equivalence rating for housing
From 1 May 2010, 6-star energy equivalence ratings for houses and townhouses (class 1 buildings) will become the minimum requirement in Queensland.
Part 3.12 of the Building Code of Australia (BCA) imposes new and increased mandatory requirements for housing, and you should be read in conjunction with the Queensland Development Code (QDC) MP4.1, which includes Queensland specific sustainability measures. These changes will affect all residential house builders in Queensland.
What do you need your builder to do?
Ensure that:
* All building applications after 1 May 2010 comply with the new regulatory requirements outlined in the BCA and QDC
* They price building work to allow for the new regulatory requirements.
What are the new requirements?
1. R-values have increased for walls, floors and roof/ceilings.
2. The benefit of an outdoor living area will be recognised in climate zones 1 & 2.
3. A new requirement for at least half the required insulation to be laid on the ceiling.
4. Revision of the table for adjusting ceiling insulation if penetrations exceed 0.5% (now based on the R-value required, rather than the climate zone).
5. Inclusion of a convection barrier in wall cavities.
6. The tables for floor performance have been revised, so that floors and enclosures are now considered as a system - includes different values for different constructions and ground-to-floor heights.
7. The glazing formulae and allowances have been modified to allow for the benefit of passive winter solar heating (this means an additional table for winter exposure factors).
8. Habitable rooms in climate zone 5 are now to be sealed irrespective of whether the space is conditioned.
9. Where an external door is to be sealed, a draft protection device is now required on the bottom of the door.
10. Air movement opening sizes have been moderated as reduced glazing allowances may result in designers choosing smaller windows.
11. New provisions for the energy source and the performance of supply water heaters, including a new performance requirement, verification method and reference standards.
Should you have any further inquiries regarding this matter please contact Master Builders' Housing & Technical team on (07) 3225 6419.
Price increase alert
The construction industry is about to experience rising material cost increases for key materials, in particular steel, with significant price increases due to occur from 1 May 2010.
As steel price increases will impact on a range of building products,
Master Builders suggests the following approach to tendering/quoting and committing to contracts:
1. Restrict the validity period of any tender or quote to 30 days, at which time the tender/quote will be subject to review, particularly where steel price increases may have occurred or advice by suppliers has been given that they may occur.
2. Nominate a prime cost (PC) item on the basis of a schedule of rates for the cost of the steel (rebar/steel sections) at the rate tendered, which will be subject to adjustment on the supplier invoiced rate, progressively throughout a project.
3. Include a contingency sum in the contract for the purpose of agreed adjustments to the contract sum for the supplied cost of steel being adjusted against the contingency sum.
4. Include an amount in the tender/quoted price based on your assessment of what the price increases may be over the duration of the intended contract.
5. Use a cost plus contract (only applies to commercial work), however seek advice before committing to this form of contract.
6. Use construction management where the principal pays all trades and suppliers and incurs all increases directly (provision would need to be made in the budget estimates for known and anticipated increases).
