Construction World August 2017

PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Broadlands estate residence paving

Aesthetics and finishes have to reflect the lifestyle that owners have invested in, and Technicrete paving is con- sidered to be the leading choice when it comes to paving at the estate. Technicrete’s Trojan paving, well known for its durability and appearance, was recently used at a Broadlands Estate residence for the driveway, house perimeter and carport areas. The home owner chose the Trojan design after looking at the quality of the Technicrete brick product that was installed at a neighbouring residence in 2016. Andre Buitendach, owner of Adri Projects said, “The random shaped edge bevels of the Technicrete Trojan Autumn coloured 60 mm square paving has given an aesthetically smart final finish to the driveway and other paved areas. We installed 1 200 m 2 of the Trojan squares, which we had to install in batches due to time availability of the client. “We appreciated the fact that Technicrete understood our predicament with delivery of product to the estate. The estate’s Body Corporate does not allow vehicles over eight tonnes on the property. Technicrete salvaged the situation by supplying all the paving we required in more lightweight delivery vehicles in a series of shuttles to and from the estate,” said Buitendach. “Technicrete’s Trojan squares and slab formations are ideally suited to residential applications as well as municipal parking areas and pedestrian walkways due to their durability and lifespan. So, we were pleased to have been contracted for further paving installation work at Broadlands Estate. The finish of the paving on this residence, and the previous five projects, is very elegant and befitting of this upmarket estate, and offers owners a long lifespan due to the innate quality of the product,” said Peter Hilton, sales representative for Technicrete ISG in Polokwane. Technicrete’s Keystone paving was installed at five private residences at Broadlands Estate in 2016.  Upmarket residential estates like Broadlands Estate in Polokwane require residents to ensure that any additions or refurbishments done to their properties conform to the high existing standards.

Typical fire break between house and garage trusses must be in two parts.

Timber roof trusses and fire regulations

As with every aspect of building, timber roof trusses must be manufactured and erected in line with the National Building Regulations and SANS 10400, which provide for fire safety. Building regulations, set in place by bodies such as the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) after extensive research and consultation with industry experts, consider all aspects of a given building material’s composition and properties to ensure that it meets the same safety and performance standard as any other building material in the same application. Fire regulations relating to timber roof trusses state the following: • Each independent dwelling unit situated on either side of a fire wall must have its own bracing system within its roof structure, regardless of the fire wall projecting above the roof covering or not. • The fire regulations do not state the size of a permissible gap between timber members bearing on either side of the fire wall. However, trusses passing through a fire wall must be split into separate trusses. • The regulation states that “No part of the roof assembly, made of wood or any other combustible material shall pass through the separating wall.” • No tile underlay or insulation may pass over the fire wall. The Department of Public Works’ revised Guide to Architects on the subject of fire safety (1998: pp. 3), addresses the matter of fire walls in roof spaces as follows: “Fire walls, where required, shall be carried up tightly against the underside of the floor except that combustible minor structural members, such as battens, to which roofing material is directly fastened, may be permitted. Purlins must not penetrate a fire wall for a distance greater than 80 mm, but if they penetrate from both sides of the wall, at least 80 mm of non-combustible material must separate them.” While the Institute for Timber Construction South Africa (ITC-SA) does not make the regulations governing timber construction in South Africa, as part of its endeavours to promote and protect the industry, its players and the general public, it interprets and disseminates them. It is the responsibility of all players, from the manufacture to erection and inspection of timber roof trusses to enforce the regulations; even engineers who sign off on a non-compliant roof structure could well be put to task by the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA). Professor Walter Burdzik of the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Pretoria confirms, “Any failure of a truss plant or roof inspector to insist on the separation of roofs per fire regulations needs to be reported to the ITC-SA. The same principle applies to low-cost housing; just because a roof is over a low-cost house does not justify deviating from National Building Regulations.”  While there are a few misconceptions around timber’s fire performance, structural timber for roofing is both commonplace and performs well under fire conditions.

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD AUGUST 2017