Design & Build Professionals’ Modules
NCC Design of Mid-rise Timber Building-Overview
This module provides an overview to changes to the NCC’s Deemed-to-Satisfy (DtS) provisions that allow the use of lightweight and massive timber construction systems in several classes of building up to an effective height of 25m. The contents include:
- The course and the 2016 changes to the NCC
- Timber construction options
- Overview of DtS solutions
- Onsite considerations
Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) members who successfully complete the course’s assessment with a 100% result will also be awarded 1.5 CPD points under the AIA’s refuel program.
NCC Design of Mid-rise Timber Building: Specific Requirements
This module introduces the NCC’s design requirements, terminology and specific fire requirements for the design of mid-rise timber buildings. The contents include:
- Design requirements and terminology
- Sprinklers, fire protected timber, FRL’s and RISF’s
- Cavity barriers and non-combustible insulation
Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) members who successfully complete the course’s assessment with a 100% result will also be awarded 1 CPD point under the AIA’s refuel program.
NCC Design of Mid-rise Timber Buildings: Fire, Sound and Non-Habitable Area Requirements
This module introduces the changes to the NCC’s DtS provisions that allow the use of lightweight and massive timber construction systems in several classes of building up to an effective height of 25m. The contents include:
- Fire and sound rated timber systems, including requirements for floors, ceilings, internal and external walls
- Non-habitable areas and fire isolated stairs and passageways
- Lift shafts and building services
Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) members who successfully complete the course’s assessment with a 100% result will also be awarded 1.5 CPD points under the AIA’s refuel program.
Timber Inspection
Timber and wood products provide rugged and long lasting structural solutions in house construction. As all structural applications in building are regulated, the design and installation of these timber-rich solutions have to comply with the relevant regulations and Australian standards. AS1684 Residential Timber-framed Construction is a key reference document but other Australian standards also influence practice. This topic introduces you to these standards before going through the other aspects important to inspecting and certifying timber for house construction.
This includes:
- The information about the site and project necessary for ensuring a suitable solution.
- Product compliance for major component types including trusses, wall frames and treated products.
- Determining if the components are fit-for-purpose after construction or extended exposure to weather.
Completing the learning resources in this topic that can help you understand: how timber solutions are developed and satisfy regulatory requirements; the way products comply with their requirement; and key aspects of ensuring the finished structure is fit-for-purpose.
Merchants’ Modules
Introduction to Building Regulations and Standards
Most aspects of building are regulated. This topic will help you understand how regulations and standards affect the ways in which timber is produced, specified and supplied for use in construction. The contents cover two related areas:
- Timber Product Standards
This includes the need to comply with timber product standards, the link between standards compliance and regulations, and timber grade definitions in the standards - Building Regulations
This includes the different types of regulations that influence the use of timber in buildings, including the National Construction Code (the NCC)
Completing the learning resources in this topic will improve the way you choose or specify the most appropriate timber for each application.
Design for Durability
This topic explains the basis of good design for durable timber performance in different applications. It will help you understand the main factors that cause timber breakdown, how these factors are identified and classified, and how to reduce their impact in building applications. The contents include:
- Hazards for timber durability
This includes information about how timber breaks down, the major causes of breakdown, and an explanation of Hazard Classes - Ways to reduce these hazards
This outlines how timber can resist breakdown – naturally, or with treatment – and ways to design to avoid the major hazards to timber
Completing the learning resources in this topic will improve the way you choose or specify the most appropriate timber for each application.
Design for Bushfire
This topic introduces the requirements for building with timber in bushfire prone areas. It will help you choose and specify timber appropriate for the task. The contents include:
- Density-related resistance to fire
This explains how fire can lead to breakdown in wood and how timber’s fire resistance is related to its natural density - Complying with AS 3959 Construction of buildings in bushfire-prone areas
This introduces a three-step process for selecting and specifying timber elements that comply with AS 3959 – the Standard that the National Construction Code requires for building in bushfire prone areas
Completing the learning resources in this topic will improve the way you choose or specify timber to comply with the requirements of AS 3959.
Managing Timber’s Moisture Content
Poor moisture content (MC) control generates significant problems for timber producers, distributors and end users, especially in appearance applications. This topic explains how to determine an appropriate MC for timber in various applications and how handle and store timber and wood products to maintain their moisture content. The contents include:
- Wood and water relationships
This outlines how the amount of moisture in timber and wood products changes in the tree, in production and distribution, and in service. - Measuring timber’s moisture content
This can be done by either direct measurement or by using a meter to measures an aspect of the wood that relates to its moisture content, e.g. electrical resistance. The benefits and constraints of each process are explained. - Managing timber’s moisture content in the supply chain
This includes approaches in MC control in timber storage and transport.
Completing the learning resources in this topic will help you understand the nature of the moisture content of wood, how it is measured, how it changes throughout the supply chain and how to store and handle timber to maintain an appropriate moisture content.
Timber and Wood Products
Many types of timber and wood products can be recovered from trees. In a well-balanced industry, everything from the log can be used in some way. This topic provides an overview of the types of products available, their manufacture and major applications areas, the generally available sizes and the major standards controlling their manufacture or use. The topic contents are split into three areas:
- Product overview: This provides necessary background on timber products in general and the ways in which they are manufactured.
- Basic products: This covers the production and use of round timbers, sawn boards, veneered based products, and boards and billets made from strands, particles and fibres.
- Assembled products: This includes glue laminated and nail-plated products.
Completing the material in these areas will help you understand: The diversity of timber products available to satisfy your customer’s requirements, and the major differences between these products. Completing the learning resources in this topic can improve the way you choose or specify the most appropriate timber for the application.
If you successfully complete one or more of the Assessments, you will earn a WoodSolutions Knowledge Certificate. It can also provide pathways through to further education and training. Find out more about these pathways at WoodSolutions Campus Pathways.
Timber and Wood Properties
This topic introduces you to the properties of timber and wood. The contents include:
- Types of wood
This covers the character of the material found in the stem of the tree and recovered to form the resources of timber products - Wood’s structural and visual characteristics
- Properties that influence applications
Factors such as density, hardness and fire resistance affect the performance of timber in different applications
Completing the learning resources in this topic will help you understand the different types of wood and their origins, how wood’s character can influence its strength and appearance and the factors that influence its performance.
Timber’s Environmental Characteristics
This topic introduces timber and wood products’ environmental characteristics, describes their potential contribution to sustainable development and compares them with those of major materials. As forestry practise can have significant impacts on the forest’s renewability and other impacts, the benefits and limits of forest and chain-of-custody certification are discussed. The contents include:
- Timber’s environmental edge
This compares the impacts of timber with those of other major materials - Timber and a low carbon economy
This talks about carbon storage in forests and buildings - Forest and chain-of-custody certification
A look at forest and chain-of-custody certification
Completing the learning resources in this topic can help you understand: the environmental impacts of buildings and building materials, the comparative advantages of timber and the basic and operation of certification.
Selecting Fit-for-purpose Timber for Applications
This topic introduces the requirement for timber suppliers to provide customers with products that are fit for their intended purpose. The topic contents are split into two areas:
- The application and its requirements
This explains the basis of providing fit-for-purpose products, the need for suppliers to understand the customer’s application, and the link between an application’s performance requirements and product performance. - Specific considerations of applications
This outlines the major requirements of common applications, and describes appropriate product responses for them.
Completing the learning resources in this topic can help you to understand the the questions that you should ask to confirm the customer’s requirements, and the aspects of the timber product’s performance that influence whether is it fit for use in the intended application.
Timber Grades and Grading
This topic describes the need to grade naturally variable wood products into groups with similar structural, visual or other properties and characteristics suitable for specific applications. Major grading methods are described and the grade terms used in the marketplace explained. The contents are delivered in two areas:
- Grading basics
The need to grade product recovered from a natural resource and the major grading methods employed - Grades and grading for market applications
The major grading requirements for structural and appearance applications
Completing the learning resources in this topic can help you understand; how timber is graded, the grading schemes used and the link between grades and compliance with building regulations.