| Most people are now aware of a group that was formed in 2003 to promote “best practice” in waterproofing, following the huge number of waterproofing failures
in the industry, the inconsistencies and poor acceptance of AS3740, the lack of adequate industry training and the NSW Parliamentary Report into the Quality of Buildings. In order to bring about reform, the Master Builders Waterproofing Technical Committee was formed comprising of a diverse group of people including builders, building consultants, applicators, suppliers a plumber and a TAFE teacher. The primary objective of the group was to formulate a best practice plan and strategy to lift the general standard in the waterproofing industry. A major weakness in AS3740 identified by the Technical Committee was that it maintained a waterproofing perimeter in unenclosed showers of 1.5 metre radius from the shower rose. Given the high occurrence of leaking showers, clearly, “someone forgot to tell the water not to go any further than 1.5 metres.” Other objectives of the technical committee include: 1 - The creation of a suite of Best Practice Guides for Wet Areas, structured to the National Training Package in Waterproofing, and to include internal, external, below ground and remedial waterproofing. The guides are also to incorporate standardised work methods for common waterproofing systems at a best practice level. 2 - The integration of these best practices through training to provide consistent industry wide training, establishment of a waterproofing traineeship and recognition by the Office of Fair Trading for licensing purposes. 3 - The accreditation and Continual Professional Development for contractors, suppliers, consultants and trainers in the waterproofing industry, which follows the best practice regime and to abide by a Code of Best Practice. Creation of a suite of Best Practice Guides for Wet Areas After hundreds of voluntary hours of work by the Master Builders Association Waterproofing Technical Committee, together with the support and facilitation of the Master Builders staff, Book 1-Guide to Internal Wet Area Waterproofing was published. The draft of the book was presented to a cross-section of industry including; builders, building consultants, TAFEs, waterproofing applicators, government officials for feedback prior to release. The final draft document went unchanged to the publishers and this is indicative of the dedication and expertise of the technical committee. This book was released in February 2004 and sales to date have exceeded 1000 copies. The high sales indicate the void that exists on available user-friendly literature for such a critical construction trade, underpinned by a mandatory inspection. Feedback has been positive, with the main negative comments being that it has taken so long to get this much-needed publication and resource into the market place. This book has been well received by local councils, private certifiers and is the “textbook” for the TAFE course. Book 2 - Part A - Balconies and Planter Boxes The Master Builders Waterproofing Technical Committee is near completion of the first draft of Book 2-Part A. This guide covers balconies and planter boxes and is the first in the external waterproofing series. This major exercise necessitated the recruitment of persons with specialised expertise in this area to the Master Builders Waterproofing Technical Committee. The members of Book 2-Part A Technical Committee are:- Paul Ratcliff, (chairman) David Viles, Mike Anderson, Eric Byrne, Colin Cass, Bob Hearn, Bill Straw and Michael Herder. Due to the extensive work and diagrammatic detail for Book 2-Part A, the target date for publishing is December 2004. Following the publication of Book 2-Part A, work will commence on Book 2-Part B (Roofs) followed by Book 3-Below Grade Waterproofing and Book 4-Remedial Waterproofing. Essentially, all these books follow the National Training Package for Waterproofing and will provide the syllabus material for TAFE and other courses and seminars. Integrating these best practice guides through training The Master Builders Association has commenced training for building supervisors, project managers and building contractors on the Best Practice for Internal Wet Area Waterproofing Guide. In partnership with Local Government and Shires (LGSA), the Master Builders Association has up-skilled over 200 NSW local council inspectors and private certifiers in August with a further six sessions planned in September and October, concentrating in the regional areas. The Master Builders Association in partnership with TAFE (Sydney Institute) and the Construction Industry Training Advisory Board (CITAB) have created a nationally recognised training pathway for existing workers and those people wishing to gain a qualification in waterproofing. This has been recognised by the Department of Education and Training with the partnership winning the NSW Training Initiative Award in September 2004. The assessment and skills gap training will be offered in all TAFE NSW institutes that can run a simulated waterproofing exercise and that have teacher accredited by the MBA. The Office of Fair Trading has advised the Master Builders Association and TAFE at a recent meeting, that they will accept persons with the joint MBA/TAFE certificate III waterproofing qualifications for licensing in NSW. The training and assessment incorporates the competencies set down in the National Training Package. Waterproofing licence categories will be: 1 - Internal 2 - External 3 - Below grade 4 - Remedial Accreditation and Continuing Professional Development MBA Waterproofing Council Application forms for membership into the Master Builders Waterproofing Council are now available. This membership will be a new category under The Master Builders Association of NSW Rules and Constitution and will be overseen through a Waterproofing Council of Management. This Committee will be established to regulate membership, educate members and provide CPD training opportunities, in order to lift the professionalism within the waterproofing sector. A ballot for committee positions will be held in February 2005, contact the Master Builders Association NSW for further details. |
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