9/1 Caryota Court Coconut Grove NT

PO Box 36659 Winnellie NT 0821

Phone: 08 8948 2040

Email: mail@pbc.com.au

March 2019

Building Compliance Report

Tindal Airport – Hangar Building

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Contents

Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................. 2

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 2

Inspection Results ................................................................................................................................... 2

Report Assessment ................................................................................................................................. 3

Fire Resistance .................................................................................................................................... 3

Access & Egress ................................................................................................................................... 4

Service & Equipment ........................................................................................................................... 6

Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 7

Date Issue Status Prepared By Approved By

15/03/2019 1 Final Tom Jessica

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Executive Summary A review of the hanger building has been undertaken to determine compliance with egress,

access and fire requirements in accordance with the National Construction Code, Building

Code of Australia Volume 1 2016 Amendment 1 (BCA). The building is located at Katherine

Airport and is a service facility for the airport.

The review has found significant defects in the current use and occupation of the building. In

particular the building poses a life safety risks to sleeping occupants and should not be used

for this purpose at all in the current condition of the building.

The building was constructed in an era prior to current disabled access requirements,

however due to the lack of previous building approvals, the building is to be treated as ‘new’

and as such needs to meet today’s standard in all aspects.

The building lacks basic compliant emergency egress, firefighting systems , fire, smoke

detection and emergency lighting.

The review of the building has found the building would require much reconstruction to bring

the works into conformity with its current use as temporary accommodation, workshops, and

offices.

Introduction The Katherine Town Council has a number of buildings at the Katherine Airport leased out to

airport users. The Council would like a fire safety report for these building to insure they are

fit for purpose and to identify any hazards and works that may be required for their current

use. This reports deals with the airport terminal building.

Project Building Certifiers Pty Ltd has facilitated an inspection of the building by Mr Clayton

Holland on 7/3/2019. The inspection undertaken was to identify the current use of the

building, its general construction and compare the constructed works to the Northern

Territory Building Branches file for the property.

The report has benchmarked the current use of the building with the National Construction

Code – Building Code of Australia Volume 1 amendment 1 2016 (BCA)

Inspection Results The hangar building is a single storey building with a floor area of approximately 563m2. The

buildings structure is a mixture of steel portal type frames, infill framing most probably

timber framing, cement fibre board sheeting and metal cladding.

The building is in fair repair only and will require significate maintenance to ensure that the

building remains viable to use.

There are no building records available for the hangar building that we have been able to

obtain. It is possible the building was built by the Commonwealth Government prior to

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novating the building to the Katherine Town Council. The current use of the building is office,

workshop and short term accommodation which would receive the following classifications

under the BCA - , class 5, 8 and 3 respectively.

Report Assessment Our report assessment is set out using the Building Code of Australia main sections that are

Fire Safety related. These are;

• Part C - Fire Resistance,

• Part D - Access and Egress,

• Part F - Services and Equipment.

Each part of the report discusses the current BCA requirements for the Building in

accordance with its current use at the time of our inspection.

We have not undertaken a Structural Engineering review of the building as the service was

not requested. However we note that the building if it was to be upgraded in accordance with

its current use would require that the structure comply with BCA Part B – Structural

Provisions.

Fire Resistance

The fire protection requirements for this building are mainly concerned with protecting the

bedrooms from the remainder of the building. The bedrooms require a Fire Rating Level

(FRL) to the walls of 60/60/60. This separation requirement is to be constructed from the

floor to the underside of the roof with no members to penetrate through these walls.

Additionally all service penetrations through these walls would also need to be protected with

suitable fire collars or appropriate construction. The doors to the bedrooms are required to

be self-closing, tight fitting, solid core and not less than 35 mm thick.

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BCA PART C CODE ASSESSMENT

Part C1 Fire Resistance & Stability

C1.1 Type of construction required Type C

C1.2 Calculation of rise in storeys 1

C1.10 Fire hazard properties Require confirmation of materials used in construction

Part C2 Compartment and Separation

C2.2 General floor area and volume limitations

Floor area compliant

C2.8 Separation of classifications in the same storey

Fire separation required between bedrooms and office/workshop areas, bedrooms require a fire isolated exit

Part C3 Protection of Openings

C3.11 Bounding construction: Class 2 and 3 buildings and Class 4 parts

Protection of door to bedrooms required

Access & Egress

Disabled access is a major element that will require significant design consideration. The

reconfiguring of the floor plan to achieve compliant circulation spaces at doorways.

Additional items that need to achieve compliance include light switch heights/locations, door

handle heights/type, disabled and ambulant toilets. All access ways including corridors will

need to be approximately 1300 mm wide to allow for circulation spaces at doorways. All

doors will need to be 920 mm with appropriate door hardware. Light switches etc will need to

be lowered to between 900 mm and 1100 mm.

The egress compliance for the Hangar building requires reconstruction works to be

undertaken to bring the building into compliance. The travel distances are generally

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compliant, however this depends on which door is the defined exit (In our assessment the

Hangar and office doors have been used as the exit doors). The corridor width is too narrow

to be a compliant path of travel to an exit and as such needs to be reconfigured. Exit signs

will be needed to show the path of travel to the exits.

BCA PART D CODE ASSESSMENT

Part D1 Provision for Escape

D1.4 Exit travel distances Exit travel distances for office/workshop areas can achieve compliance. Travel distance from bedrooms is greater than 6m, therefore a choice of 2 exits is required.

D1.5 Distance between alternative exits

Distances between exits can achieve compliance.

D1.6 Dimensions of exits and paths of travel to exits

Width of corridor is too narrow, does not comply.

D1.13 Number of persons accommodated

10 people based on area, excluding bedrooms, garage, ablution, kitchen.

Part D2 Construction of Exits

D2.20 Swinging doors Exit doors to swing in the direction of travel.

D2.21 Operation of latch Exit doors to be openable without a key from inside.

Part D3 Access for People with a Disability

D3.1 General building access requirements

Access required to and within building

D3.2 Access to buildings Compliant accessway to be provided to building

D3.3 Parts of buildings to be accessible

Stairs are required to comply with disabled access

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requirements and a ramp would be required to be installed and comply with disabled access requirements.

D3.4 Exemptions Workshop areas could be exempt from disabled access, justification of this would need to be provided for assessment.

Service & Equipment

The floor area of the building as measured in accordance with the BCA is greater than 500

m2 and as such requires a compliant fire hydrant and fire hose reel system to be installed.

A hose reel is in place within the building, however is installed in a non-compliant location. A

hydrant seems to have been installed, but has since been removed. Portable fire

extinguishers are required and are to be distributed in accordance with AS 2444 with correct

signage. The portable fire extinguishers need to be tested and tagged.

A smoke detection system is required to the bedrooms. Additionally emergency lighting is

required throughout the building.

These items need to meet the BCA and its appropriate design standards.

BCA PART E CODE ASSESSMENT

Part E1 Fire Fighting Equipment

E1.3 Fire hydrants Floor area is greater than 500m2, hydrant coverage required.

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E1.4 Fire hose reels Floor area is greater than 500m2, hose reel coverage required.

E1.6 Portable fire extinguishers Type and location to be in accordance with AS 2444

Part E2 Smoke Hazard Management

E2.2 General requirements Bedrooms to be provided with automatic smoke detection and alarm system

Part E4 Visibility in an emergency, exit signs and warning systems

E4.2 Emergency lighting requirements

Emergency lighting to be installed in accordance with AS 2293.1

E4.5 Exit signs Exit signs to be installed in accordance with AS 2293.1

Conclusion Generally the Hangar Building has significant deficiencies for its current use when assessed

against the benchmark of the Building Code of Australia Volume 1 amendment 1 20016.

These deficiencies are life safety issues and the building should not be used to

accommodate sleeping occupants without fully upgrading the deficiencies noted in this

report and Occupancy Certification has been issued approving the building for its current

use.

Disability access throughout the building has not been provided and the building fails to meet

the minimum access requirements.

The works will require approval in accordance with the Building Act with all appropriate

supporting documentation and certification by the appropriate building practitioners.