The engineering design and certification of alternative/sustainable residential and commercial construction technologies and methodologies is the core business of BSE Consulting Engineers.
We provide the development and engineering certification of Alternative Solutions (also known as performance based solutions) to the performance requirements of the National Construction Code (NCC).
We believe in the intrinsic value of your ideas, aims and goals when it comes to the design of your home/project. We are passionate about developing and verifying sustainable Building Solutions. Essentially, if your ideas, aims and goals are able to satisfy the performance requirements of the NCC then we will find a way to demonstrate it and present it as a Building Solution. If not, then we can tweak the construction details/materials etc to find the Building Solution that best matches your ideas, aims and goals. Please contact us to discuss the use of Alternative Solutions for your project.
The NCC consists of the Building Code of Australia (BCA) Volume 1, BCA Volume 2 and the Plumbing Code of Australia (BCA Volume 3), so a reference to the NCC is a reference to the BCA Vol 1,2 & 3.
Sadly, the requirement to comply with the NCC is widely misunderstood. It is often thought that the code is overly restrictive and places undue burden on those wishing to construct a building. Fortunately, this is not the case. The video on the left explains the key underpinning concept of the performance based NCC.
We incorporate sustainable technologies into contemporary residential and commercial construction at the design stage. This most often includes the development and engineering certification of Alternative Solutions to the performance requirements of the NCC for Class 1 and Class 10 buildings (single houses and sheds) and also to some multi residential and commercial buildings (class 2 to 9). More often than not, this includes the employment of some form of sustainable technology or practice (such as earth building, straw bale building or the use of recycled timber etc) to achieve the performance requirements of the NCC.
A building design that satisfies the performance requirements of the NCC, either by way of the Deemed to Satisfy provisions or by an Alternative Solution, is called a Building Solution. A Building Solution may be a mix of Deemed to Satisfy and Alternative Solutions or may be made up entirely of either. It is important to note that any Alternative Solution is required to be verified by an acceptable assessment method to the satisfaction of the Certifying Authority.