Building regulations and standards
Building regulations exist to ensure the safety and comfort of building users. In Australia’s States and Territories, this is regulated through the provisions outlined in the Building Code of Australia (BCA).
The BCA provides detailed guidance on performance and construction requirements for various building types and frequently references applicable Australian Standards. These documents detail specifications and procedures designed to ensure that products, services and systems are safe, reliable and consistently perform the way they were intended to. The BCA covers several areas that directly relate to our products, as outlined below.
Fire resistance / Fire door assemblies
The BCA regulates the fire resistance of building elements in Part C and stipulates what level of fire-resistance is required when fire doors are required in a building’s design.
Specification C3.4 details the requirements for fire door assemblies and mandates they comply with the requirements of AS1905.1: 2005.
Bushfire risk
The BCA regulates construction in bushfire prone areas for Class 2 to 9 buildings in Section G, Part G5; and for Class 1 and 10 buildings Part 3.7.4; and requires construction in accordance with AS3959 :2009. As State and Territory requirements vary, please check with your local regulatory authority as to what regulations may exist for your region.
To learn more please view our Fire Seals page.
> AS1530.4: 2005 Fire resistance tests of elements of building construction
> AS1530.8.1 :2007 Part 8.1: Tests on elements of construction for buildings exposed to simulated bushfire attack—Radiant heat and small flaming sources
> AS1530.8.2: 2007 Tests on elements of construction for buildings exposed to simulated bushfire attack—Large flaming sources
> AS1851:2005 Maintenance of fire protection systems and equipment
> AS1905.1: 2005 Components for the fire protection of openings in fire resistants walls Part 1: Fire doors.
> AS3959: 2009 Construction of buildings in bushfire prone areas
> 
AS1530.4: 2005 Fire resistance tests of elements of building construction
This Standard provides building designers, manufacturers, test laboratories and regulatory authorities with a set of uniform requirements and criteria for determining a building element's fire resistance level by subjecting it to standardised fire exposure conditions.
AS1530.8.1 :2007 Part 8.1: Tests on elements of construction for buildings exposed to simulated bushfire attack—Radiant heat and small flaming sources
This Standard specifies methods for determining the performance of external construction elements when exposed to radiant heat, burning embers and burning debris.
The objective of this Standard is to provide building designers, manufacturers, test laboratories and regulatory authorities with a set of uniform requirements for heating conditions, test procedures, and criteria for determining the resistance to fire of a single building element or multiple building elements. This will be to a radiant heat profile, simulating exposure to radiant heat from the fire front of a bushfire with additional exposure simulating ember attack to external surfaces and exposure to direct flame impingement from small secondary fires simulating burning debris.
AS1530.8.2: 2007 Tests on elements of construction for buildings exposed to simulated bushfire attack—Large flaming sources
This Standard specifies methods for determining the performance of external construction elements when exposed to direct flame impingement from the fire front.
The objective of this Standard is to provide building designers, manufacturers, test laboratories and regulatory authorities with a set of uniform requirements for heating conditions, test procedures, and criteria for determining the resistance to fire of a single building element or multiple building elements - to classify the performance of elements required to resist exposure to direct flame impingement from the fire front and large secondary fires.
AS1851:2005 Maintenance of fire protection systems and equipment
This Standard sets out requirements for the inspection, testing, preventive maintenance and survey of essential fire protection systems and equipment, including fire and smoke door assemblies. It aims to ensure that such equipment meets the requirements of the relevant design, installation and commissioning standards, and provides a systematic and uniform basis for building owners and managers, regulators, contractors, insurers and others to implement and administer inspection, testing and preventive maintenance.
AS1905.1: 2005 Components for the fire protection of openings in fire resistants walls Part 1: Fire doors.
This Standard specifies requirements for the construction and installation of fire-resistant door assemblies used to protect openings in walls and partitions. The fire-resistance level of a fire door assembly is determined by testing in accordance with AS1530.4
AS3959: 2009 Construction of buildings in bushfire prone areas
This Standard specifies requirements for the construction of buildings in bushfire-prone areas in order to improve their resistance to bushfire attack from burning embers, radiant heat, flame contact and combinations of the three attack forms. The Standard is limited to those buildings where the Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) has been determined as BAL-LOW, BAL-12.5, BAL-19, BAL-29, BAL-40 or BAL-FZ (Flame Zone), and provides detailed guidance on construction requirements for each attack level.
Door bottom seals from the Integrity range, incorporating silicone rubber gaskets, provide door sealing solutions as required by this standard.
• Gasketing and Edge-sealing Materials for Fire Doors, Positive-pressure Tested
This category covers UL10C positive pressure tested gasketing materials for fire doors intended for installation on certified fire doors and/or certified fire door frames or in their thresholds, INCLUDING:
o Steel covered composite / hollow metal doors rated to 3 hours
o Wood or plastic covered composite doors rated to 90 minutes
o Wood core doors rated to 20 minutes
• Gasketing Materials for Fire Doors
This category covers gasketing materials intended for installation on certified fire doors and/or certified fire door frames or in their thresholds, as specified in the individual certifications.
• Gasketing Materials for Fire Doors Certified for Canada
This category covers gasketing materials intended for installation on certified fire doors and/or certified fire door frames or in their thresholds, as specified in the individual certifications.