Our Services
BASIX Certificates
In NSW, a new home, a renovation of $50,000 or more, or a swimming pool with a volume of 40,000 litres or more will require a Basix Certificate when applying for a Development Application (DA) or Complying Development Certificate (CDC).
This includes for new homes and dual occupancy dwellings, villas, townhouses and multi unit developments.
As of October 1st 2023, new requirements are in place so that some of the fixed items in your home now need to be assessed including hot water systems, air-conditioners, heaters and pool pumps.
NatHERS Certificates
NatHERS is also known as the ‘Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme’. It is used in accordance with the National Construction Code (NCC) to rate the thermal performance of dwellings Australia wide. NatHERS uses a 10-star system with the NCC requiring minimum star ratings for all new dwellings. NatHERS assessments involve simulating the whole dwelling in a NatHERS approved software to determine the amount of energy required to heat or cool the house to a comfortable temperature.
From October 1st 2023, NSW now requires 7 stars for a pass. ACT will require 7 stars from 15th January 2024, Victoria and Queensland will adopt these changes on 1st May 2024 with most other states and territories following after that.
Contact us to see how these changes will affect you.
Section J Reports
We can provide Deemed-to-Satisfy (DTS) Section J reports for Class 3, and Class 5 to 9 buildings.
This applies to commercial properties, industrial buildings, and boarding houses larger than 300m².
There are 6 current parts to Section J and are as follows:
J1 – Building fabric. This is where most of the time is spent on the report and can have the most impact on construction costs
J3 – Building Sealing. Most of this section is generic (although still important) however does specifically document which external doors have to be self-closing
J5 – Air-conditioning and ventilation systems. This is often handled by your HVAC consultant and determines the minimum ratings of heating, cooling and ventilation systems and when they are to automatically switch off
J6 – Artificial lighting and power. We perform calculations to see if your lighting design is within the overall maximum wattage allowance based on the building type, room usage types, room sizes and ceiling heights
J7 – Heated water supply and swimming pool and spa pool plant. This part has requirements for hot water systems and the allowable types of pool and spa pumps
J8 – Facilities for energy monitoring. This is where we determine the type of electrical and gas metering that will be required based on the development size. It may also require a system that records the usage
Whilst cheaper than a JV3 assessment, the DTS requirements of Section J of the NCC are quite restrictive which can mean that construction costs, particularly for glazing, can be prohibitively expensive. It will also require any suspended slab to have under-slab insulation.
These reports can be a great solution for a simple design with not a lot of glazing.
JV3 Assessments
A JV3 assessment is an alternative to the DTS nethod described above. With this method, we model each window and glazed doors and all walls, floors, ceiling and roofs. We can also use shading from eaves and other building features but also neighbouring buildings.
A simulation is done on this building using the DTS requirements for insulation and glazing and this is called the reference building. A second simulation is then done using the desired insulation and glazing and iIf we can show lower energy use on our proposed building when compared to the reference building then we can show compliance.
The advantage of this method is it can allow for a reduction in expensive items such as glazing whilst increasing less costly items such as insulation.
Using our experience, we recommend solutions and design changes that are practical and affordable, but more importantly meets the NCC requirements.
