Building Regulations Report: Nirimba City Council, Building 1

This report assesses a proposed 4-dwelling townhouse development in Nirimba City Council against the local Development Control Plan (DCP) for medium-density housing. The report analyzes various aspects of the design, including site definition, drainage, site requirements, building setbacks, building design, solar access, building height, private courts, clothes drying yards, common open space, landscaping, setbacks of dwellings, off-street car parking, car park dimensions, accessways, fencing and screen walls, privacy, views, refuse collection, and laundry facilities. The assessment identifies instances of non-compliance with the DCP, such as inadequate street frontage, setbacks, common open space, and the need for shadow diagrams, and recommends necessary modifications to achieve compliance. The report concludes that while approximately 70% of the regulations have been met, specific actions are required to gain full approval for construction to commence, highlighting the importance of adhering to local building codes and regulations.

Building 1.1
BUILDING 1
Student’s Name
Course
Professor’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
City
Date

Building 1.2
Introduction
The National Construction Code (NCC) clearly defines the regulations for buildings and
structures construction. The regulations vary from one geographic location to another. Also, they
depend on the type of building or structure (Armstrong et al 2017). These regulations ensure
safety is observed during and after construction. It is the task of the local authority such as city or
municipal council to implement the regulations and also give or deny permits. The authority
inspectors must be registered under the NCC act and are given the authority to visit construction
sites and oversee the design and assess if it adheres to the local regulations and if yes, issue
approval certificate to commence the construction (Saunders and Tulip 2019). In this assignment,
4No. 2-storey dwellings are proposed on a site located in Nirimba City Council and the task is to
identify if the design meets the set regulations.
Sr.No
. Item Description Site Design Recommendation
1 Definition Medium Density
Housing (3 or more
dwellings on the same
piece of land)
4 townhouses
dwellings each of two
storey
Design conforms
to the requirement
2 Drainage
Adequate provision for
stormwater
No stormwater
management design
has been shown on the
drawings
Stormwater
management
design is required
Medium-density housing
on slope require special
approval from
downstream owners
Site is sloping from
dwelling 1 to 4
Approval from
downstream
owners is needed
3 Site
requirements
Street frontage must be
not less than 18m
Street frontage is
17.78m
Street frontage
should be
increased to at
least 18m
Maximum depth must
not be greater than 3.5
times the width
The depth is 60.96m Depth conform to
the regulation

Building 1.3
4 Building
Setbacks
7.5m in existing
development localities
The setback is less than
required
Setback to be
increased
6m in newer localities The setback is less than
required
Setback to be
increased
5 Building design The maximum allowed
dwellings are 3. Else, 4
dwellings are allowed
where roofline and
height are varied
significantly
4 dwellings have been
designed with roof line
and height not
significantly varied
It is recommended
the developer cut
down the
dwellings to 3.
Else stagger the
roofline which
will compromise
the setbacks
6 Solar access
50% of the common
open area to receive
sunlight for at least 4
hours
The design shows open
areas but no shadow
diagrams have been
provided
Developer to
submit shadow
drawings for
approval
Shadow diagrams to be
provided for approval
7 Building height 2-Storey dwelling to
have less than 7.2m in
height
Dwelling height is
6.8m
Building height
conform to
regulation
8 Private courts Each dwelling to have a
private court of at least
70 sqm for 3 bedroomed
dwelling
Private open courts are
provided. However, the
area is not specified
Private court areas
to be provided
9 Clothes drying
yard
Open clothes drying yard
to be provided
Open clothes yards
have been provided
Design conforms
to the requirement
10 Common open
space
Should be provided at a
rate of 15 sqm per
dwelling
Open common space
has not been provided
Common open
space to be
provided
11 Landscaping All areas not build must
be landscaped with
grass, trees or shrubs
with at least 4 trees per
dwelling
Trees have been
provided. Also
proposed screen
planting areas have
been indicated
Landscaping
conform to the
requirement
12 Setback of
dwellings
2.3m minimum distance
from wall and boundary,
3m setback from
pavement to common
access way, and 2.5m
between two dwellings
The setback has been
provided
Setback conforms
to requirements
13 Off-street car Must be provided at 1 Each dwelling has Design to include

Building 1.4
parking covered space per
dwelling with 1 visitor
space per 2.5 dwellings
been provided with a
car park. No visitor car
parks have been
provided
2 Nos. car parks
14 Car park
dimensions
At least 3m x 5.5m for
covered and 2.5m x 5.2m
for uncovered
The covered car park
has been provided
measuring 3.5m x
6.70m
Covered car park
conforms to
regulations
15 Accessways 6m wide accessway to be
provided
7.2m driveway has
been provided.
Accessways
conform to
regulations
16 Fencing and
screen walls
Clothes drying yard to
have at least 1.8m high
screened walls
Boundary fence has
not been shown on the
drawings
Detailed fencing
and screen walls
to be submitted
for approval
17 Privacy
Habitable rooms to have
screened windows and
set at least 12m from
neighbor's plot
Windows schedule not
provided
Windows
schedules to be
provided for
approval
If windows not screened,
sills to be at least 1.5m
above the floor level.
1.5m has not been
adhered to
Windows sills are
at least 1.5m from
floor level
18 Views Few obstructions to
available views.
Drawings showing
degrees of views
required
No obstruction in the
lines of views
Views conform to
regulations
19 Refuse
collection
Paved bin-standing area
to be provided sufficient
for two 240lts wheeled
bins
No bin yards have been
indicated in the
drawing
Bin paving to be
incorporated in
the design
20 Laundry
facilities
Each dwelling to be
provided with an internal
laundry facility
Laundry facility has
been provided next to
kitchen utility
Design conforms
to regulation

Building 1.5
Conclusion
To sum up, 70% of the regulations have been adhered to. However, the recommendation
column indicates the actions that need to be taken so that the site can fully be approved for
construction to start.

Building 1.6
Reference List
Armstrong, A., Wright, C., Ashe, B., and Nielsen, H., 2017. Enabling Innovation in Building
Sustainability: Australia's National Construction Code. Procedia Engineering, 180, pp.320-330.
Saunders, T. and Tulip, P., 2019. A Model of the Australian Housing Market. Reserve Bank of
Australia Discussion Paper Series, 1.