Application
This unit of competency specifies the outcomes required to audit commercial buildings in classes 2 to 9, up to three storeys, as defined in the Building Code of Australia (BCA), against current requirements of the BCA and local planning policies.
The unit supports the work of private and municipal building surveyors providing advisory code-consulting services, who carry out building surveying audits and advise on building compliance. The unit supports the conduct of commercial building surveying audits required as part of a sales process to inform planned works or upgrades to existing commercial buildings, where advice on compliance requirements related to the proposed change of use of a commercial building or as part of an insurance assessment is required. The audit is primarily concerned with the compliance implications of the building.
Licensing, legislative, regulatory or certification requirements apply to this unit in some States. Relevant state and territory regulatory authorities should be consulted to confirm those requirements.
Elements and Performance Criteria
Elements describe the essential outcomes. | Performance criteria describe the performance needed to demonstrate achievement of the element. Where bold italicised text is used, further information is detailed in the range of conditions. | ||
1. | Scope and plan the building surveying audit. | 1.1. | Application and related documentation requesting building surveying audit are reviewed for property details and purpose of building surveying audit is clarified. |
1.2. | Scope and limitations of building surveying audit are determined and agreed criteria of the audit are negotiated with client and other relevant stakeholders. | ||
1.3. | Building plans and documentation are obtained where possible and reviewed prior to and during building surveying audit. | ||
1.4. | Building ownership, classification and current building use are confirmed and owner or owner’s corporation are contacted to arrange access to the building. | ||
1.5. | Compliance requirements for the building are identified and researched according to building classification, location, and potential change of use. | ||
1.6. | Work health and safety (WHS) requirements are identified and applied to the planning process. | ||
1.7. | Specialist consultants with relevant expertise are identified and engaged where appropriate. | ||
1.8. | Liaison with relevant stakeholders, including local planning authorities, is undertaken as required to confirm compliance requirements and relevant planning permissions. | ||
2. | Conduct building surveying audit. | 2.1. | Visual inspections of building interior and exterior are undertaken, construction elements of the building are noted and documented, and photographic evidence of the building is obtained according to workplace procedures. |
2.2. | Actual use of the building is confirmed, checked against compliance requirements, and documented. | ||
2.3. | Agreed elements of the building are evaluated against agreed criteria according to audit scope and limitations, and areas of non-compliance are documented. | ||
2.4. | Elements of the building that comply with deemed-to-satisfy provisions of the BCA are noted and documented. | ||
2.5. | Construction materials that may pose a risk to health and safety are documented and specialist consultants are engaged where appropriate to investigate and report on findings. | ||
3. | Produce building surveying audit report for client. | 3.1. | Audit scope, purpose, limitations and assumptions are specified in report. |
3.2. | Findings of building surveying audit are documented in an approved format with sufficient detail according to workplace procedures. | ||
3.3. | Findings and recommendations of specialist consultants are included in audit report. | ||
3.4. | Areas of non-compliance and strategies for upgrade works to ensure compliance or other requirements are documented according to workplace procedures, and estimated costings for recommended works are included where required. | ||
3.5. | Compliance strategies are prioritised and suggested timeframes to achieve compliance are provided according to workplace procedures. | ||
3.6. | Final audit report is provided to client and other relevant stakeholders according to workplace procedures. | ||
Evidence of Performance
A person demonstrating competency in this unit must satisfy all of the elements, performance criteria and foundation skills of this unit. The person must plan for, conduct and report on building surveying audits for three different projects involving the following class buildings as defined in the Building Code of Australia (BCA), each building up to three storeys, where:
one project must incorporate classes 2, 5, 6 and 7a
one project must incorporate classes 3 or 9c
one project must incorporate classes 7b and 8.
Each of the building surveying audits must include:
a documented plan outlining the schedule of the building surveying audit, its scope and limitations, and the compliance criteria to be audited
evidence of research undertaken to identify the relevant compliance requirements of the building to be audited, including additional local planning policies that are to be included in the audit
liaison with relevant specialist consultants to obtain expert advice and recommendations on aspects of the building systems and materials, construction materials or methods or other relevant components of the building
a written report on the completed building surveying audit specifying:
inclusions and exclusions of the building surveying audit conducted
items of the building which were compliant or which met deemed-to-satisfy provisions of the BCA
items of the building that did not meet compliance requirements
findings and recommendations of specialist consultants
strategies for achieving compliance in areas where non-compliance was observed, including the level of priority for each area of non-compliance.
Evidence of Knowledge
A person demonstrating competency in this unit must demonstrate knowledge of:
audit methodology
audit report inclusions
BCA classification and definitions for buildings included in classes 2 to 9
construction methods and materials suitable for buildings in classes 2 to 9
drawing symbols, notations, acronyms and construction terminology used in the National Construction Code (NCC), Australian standards, working drawings, building design specifications and building permit documentation
roles and responsibilities of specialist consultants
processes for writing building surveying audit reports, including use of assumptions.
Assessment Conditions
Suitable assessment of performance requires:
equipment:
camera or other equipment to obtain photographic evidence
computer with internet access and business software currently in use in building surveying practices
equipment and personal protective equipment as listed in the range of conditions
materials:
application documentation for building surveying audit
audit checklists
relevant plans and documentation for each building to be audited
specifications:
access to relevant and current building control legislation, regulations, codes and standards and state, territory or local authority development policies
access to the report findings produced by relevant specialist consultants
physical conditions:
access to class of buildings as listed in the performance evidence and as required to conduct audits.
Assessor requirements
Assessors must satisfy the assessor requirements in the Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) current at the time of assessment.
In addition, assessors must also demonstrate current membership of a relevant industry association and have current registration on the National Building Professionals Register in the Building Industry Control category (level 1) or be accredited under the Australian Institute of Building Surveyors (AIBS) National Accreditation Scheme at Building Surveyor level.
Foundation Skills
This section describes the language, literacy, numeracy and employment skills essential to performance in this unit but not explicit in the performance criteria. | |
Skill | Performance feature |
Learning skills to: | independently access and interpret a range of complex technical information relating to compliance requirements for buildings included in classes 2 to 9, including specific requirements for different planning schemes and codes maintain currency of skills and knowledge relating to audit requirements through, for example, email alerts, conferences, or subscriptions to relevant journals. |
Numeracy skills to: | extract and interpret a range of mathematical information contained in technical documentation relating to the design of buildings included in classes 2 to 9, including ratios, rates and proportions. |
Oral communication skills to: | determine client requirements regarding the purpose of audit through open-ended questioning, active listening, paraphrasing and summarising select and use specialised construction industry vocabulary in a variety of situations for example when providing explanations and in discussions with architects, building designers and specialist personnel. |
Reading skills to: | understand technical texts with complex structures, specialised vocabulary, acronyms and diagrams specific to plans and compliance requirements for buildings included in classes 2 to 9 use different reading strategies to locate specific compliance requirements in a range of resources, including the National Construction Code (NCC). |
Writing skills to: | complete audit checklists using appropriate construction industry vocabulary. |
Range Statement
This section specifies work environments and conditions that may affect performance. Essential operating conditions that may be present (depending on the work situation, needs of the candidate, accessibility of the item, and local industry and regional contexts) are included. Bold italicised wording, if used in the performance criteria, is detailed below. | |
Scope and limitations must specify whether the audit will include: | access asbestos and other hazardous materials egress energy efficiency fire services NCC compliance. |
WHS requirements must include: | camera ladder personal protective equipment (PPE): goggles mask overalls tape measure torch. |
Specialist consultants must include one or more of the following: | access consultants energy efficiency assessors fire services engineers geotechnical engineers heritage consultants hydraulic engineers mechanical engineers structural engineers waterproofing specialists. |
Sectors
Construction
Competency Field
Building surveying