Performance Criteria

Certifiers shall plan and undertake the certification activities in an organised manner.

Certifiers shall identify all of the structural elements that are covered by the design certificate(s).

Certifiers shall maintain records of the certificates issued, showing how compliance with the Bye-laws was established.

Background

The Scheme Guide requires that Certifiers must keep records to show ‘how compliance with the Bye-laws was established’.

Additionally, the Scheme Guide requires Certifiers to ‘undertake certification in a methodical manner, for example by using a certification plan or a check list for each project, and record sufficient detail in a form which can be audited by SER’.

Guidance

It is considered that compliance with the legislative and Scheme requirements can be achieved by the use of an effective certification plan/certification record sheet. Information to be recorded will include:

  • Who the designers are and who is undertaking the design check
  • The building risk group and the level of checking that is being undertaken
  • The certification option being used. Guidance on the correct use of options is provided in Guidance Note 2
  • The information (drawings, calculations, reports, specifications, etc.) to be supplied to the Certifier and identification of who is responsible for supplying this information
  • If the application is to be staged, a list of the stages and their content
  • Evidence of planning will be appropriate to the size and complexity of the project

Additionally the plan should include evidence of scoping to determine the elements within the project that should be considered as part of the certification process. Evidence of scoping will be appropriate to the size and complexity of the project but for all but the most minor of projects this should take the form of a checklist retained as part of the certification records. If the schedule to the design certificate has been used for this purpose it must record any items that are not specifically listed on the schedule.

Structure is not explicitly defined in the Bye-Laws and therefore must be inferred from consideration of the requirements of the Bye-Laws. In the context of Schedule 2 Structure Requirement 1.1 it can be implied to mean any part of a building that is required to sustain and transmit load.

It should be noted that the Approved Certifier may not limit the extent of certification by alteration or amendment of the design certificate. Furthermore, certification is not limited to those items which are declared on Schedule 3 to the certificate. Certification covers the structural design of all elements that make up the project described in the application.

Where the permit application is staged, the certificate of design for any stage will also cover the structural design of all of the elements in previous stages. The certificate of design for any stage effectively supersedes the certificate issued for any previous stage.

Examples of Major Non-conformances

No evidence of an organised approach to managing the certification process.

No evidence of an organised approach to identifying the scope of structural design appropriate to the scale of the project.

The approach to certification is grossly inadequate in relation to the size of the project.

Grossly inadequate records of the certification process

Examples of Improvement Issues

Insufficient evidence of an organised approach to managing the certification process e.g. lack of or inadequate certification plan.

Insufficient evidence of an organised approach to identifying the scope of the structural design.

The level of checking in respect of any single aspect of the project has been incorrectly identified.

Inadequate or poorly presented records of the certification process.

October 2016

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