The future direction of the Australian building surveying profession
Wilkinson, Sara and George Zillante
The introduction of a performance based approach to building regulations in 1996 with Australia marked a watershed in the way in which applications for building permits were determined. Rather than a wholesale reliance on a deemed to satisfy approach whereby designers demonstrated compliance via a fairly narrow selection of ways in which the building would achieve the minimum standards set out in the Building Code of Australia, the new approach allowed designers to submit alternate solutions. The aim was to encourage innovation and use of alternate materials and designs in buildings. However the submission of alternate solutions also involved the analysis of complex calculation especially with regards to structural matters and fire safety. The building profession in Australia has largely been comprised of tradesmen who have supplemented their work experience with education to become building surveyors. There are concerns that the profession is unable to deal with the complex alternate solutions submitted under the new system, so much so that some say the profession is now at a crossroads. There are those who should deal exclusively with deemed to satisfy applications and an elite building surveyor needs to emerge to deal with alternate solutions. What impact would such a move have on the profession? This paper explores the issues surrounding the current situation faced by the profession in Australia. Given that performance based approaches are used in the US, UK and Canada this paper will have relevance to building surveyors in other countries.
Event: XXIII International FIG Congress : Shaping the change
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