As promised the long awaited new Department of Building and Housing guidelines for foundations in TC3 land have now been released. The Press also highlighted some of the key points.
While one would be a little naive to suggest that this is a “cure all” for all TC3 land it does equip professionals, local authorities and insurers with relevant and up-to-date guidelines for constructive assistance in this critical rebuild phase of our properties and city. The following quote from the DBH document reinforces this:
This guidance is intended for the engineering design, construction and insurance sectors, local authorities, and their professional advisors and contractors to clarify the technical and regulatory requirements for TC3 land. Given that all foundation repairs and reconstruction in TC3 require specific engineering design, the principal users of this document will be professional geotechnical and structural engineers.
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Residential sites in TC3 with foundation damage require professional engineering input (investigation, assessment and design) to determine what is an appropriate repair or rebuild solution for each particular site (if in fact repair or rebuilding is required).
As is always the case, it is easy to get bogged down with technical data and facts, however I think it would be fair to say that there has been, and remains a concerted proactive effect by professionals and the powers that be to pull together vital resource and knowledge in order to provide a clearer and more certain path ahead. For that we are grateful.
