The Victorian Building Commission recently published an article to the building industry titled “Beware of non-compliant external wall cladding systems”. The article specifically relates to polystyrene cladding.

For a polystyrene cladding system to meet the Performance Requirements of the BCA  it needs to be assessed as an Alternative Solution. Please note that these systems are not referenced as a DTS  (Deemed to Satisfy) Solution. This means that a supplier or applicator of a Polystyrene Cladding System must be able to provide either an Appraisal from either CSIRO or BRANZ or alternatively an Accreditation from either from Codemark (National) or the Building Commission (by State).

To date the only systems which comply with the BCA have used CSIRO as the Registered Testing Authority i.e. there are no systems that have a BRANZ Appraisal or a Codemark or Building Commission Accreditation.

The Masterwall System has a current Technical Assessment from the CSIRO, and is in the process of applying for a Victorian Building Commission Accreditation (due mid October 2009) as all CSIRO Appraisals expire on or before 31st December 2009.