Closed ATM View - 004 - ABCB - 2023/24
Consultancy Services for Development of Technical Content for External Envelopes Weatherproofing Guidance Handbook
The ABCB Office seeks to support industry with commentary and information through a guidance handbook. Given the complex nature of building envelopes with many varying combinations of construction types, details, interfaces and weatherproofing principles, the ABCB Office requires an external consultant to provide technical content for the handbook.
It is expected that the handbook will:
• Describe weatherproofing principles to meet the intent of the NCC Performance Requirements (NCC 2022 Volume One Section F Health and Amenity Part F3).
• Include commentary describing existing testing regimes which are deemed appropriate for demonstrating compliance.
• Include commentary describing construction practices and sequencing to achieve consistent weatherproofing performance at interfaces.
o These may be supported by relevant drawings and diagrams.
• Include commentary describing design practices which accommodate maintenance inspection regimes for acceptable in-service performance.
• Identify an appropriate level of redundancy to ensure that single points of failure do not result in disproportionate damage or deterioration occurring, i.e. weatherproofing systems should be reasonably fail safe. The levels of redundancy set should consider the ability to inspect and remediate failures through regular routine maintenance and inspections prior to significant extended damage occurring.
• Include ‘wall systems’ approach that can be applied to a wide range of envelope constructions taking fundamental weatherproofing principles into account. Wall systems may be grouped broadly as “face-sealed”, “drained” and “drained and ventilated” systems.
• Include typical details of particular wall system components and interfaces, and include relevant drawings and diagrams to practically demonstrate the intent of the weatherproofing principles as an Appendix.
o Note, the intent is to provide a sample of in-principle details to demonstrate acceptable practices, not to provide comprehensive catalogue details.
o Examples include: precast concrete, double skin masonry, cavity masonry (brick veneer), timber weatherboards, glazed curtain walls, EPS cladding, windows, structural insulated panel (SIPs), rainscreen cladding systems (aluminium cladding, GRC cladding, natural stone cladding); and interfaces between elements (joints between windows and walls at openings, joints at abutting walls / roofs / cladding, penetrations).
• Be written in plain English to the Australian Government Style Manual, and meet Government accessibility requirements.
• Include content details as per the ABCB Handbook template sample in Appendix A.
The ABCB is supported by technical experts and stakeholders through its External Envelopes - Weatherproofing Technical Reference Group (TRG). The external consultant is to consider and incorporate feedback, by incorporating review stages into the development process. The ABCB will help support this process. It is expected that the external consultant would attend minimum 4 meetings/workshops of 1-2h duration each.
The external consultant is to provide the final drafting of the Weatherproofing Handbook in the ABCB handbook template format with appendices for various details of external wall types and interfaces for TRG and ABCB Office feedback. The external consultant needs to ensure the content is provided in accordance with ABCB style guides.
As per ATM document
March 2024- Aug 2024