Building codes and greenhouse construction (VG13055)

This is a final research report from Hort Innovation’s historical archives. Please note that as these reports may date back as far as the 1990s, the content and recommendations within them may be superseded by more recent research.

What was it all about?

Building Codes and Greenhouse Construction was a project that had been funded by Hort Innovation (then Horticulture Australia Limited) and the Australian Government in response to cost of local council compliance concerns raised by growers. This Code of Practice document provided the protected cropping industry in Australia with guidelines to reduce the cost of compliance for greenhouse or grow structure by providing local council with guidelines that encourage a consistent building approval approach across Australia.

The Code of Practice was separated into four sections; these sections covered the four major areas where cost of compliance could be better controlled to achieve a smoother, more cost effective, development/building approval for growers. Sections were:

• Classification of Greenhouse/Grow Structures (G/GS)
  • National Construction Code (NCC) (at the time) building classifications of G/GS;
  • Uniform classification through the International Building Code (IBC)
  • Egress, height and area requirements specific for G/GS
• Fire and Egress Directives
  • Determining fire and egress hazards within a G/GS
  • Quantify risks through the use of a Risk-Point Matrix
  • Determining fire and egress consequences for the aforementioned risk
• Structural Adequacy
  • Identifying alternative design resources to effectively design G/GS buildings
• Farm Management
  • Documents practical farm management recommendations and procedure that decrease the risk and associated consequence of a fire within and around a G/GS structure.

It was recommended that future R&D work included expert and industry review which would lead to recommendations to be included in the National Construction Code.