The recent Western Australian Variation NCC 2022 Buildings in wind Regions B and D highlight the lasting impacts and subsequent lessons learned from a severe weather incident, such as the devastating impact that Tropical Cyclone Seroja made on Kalbarri and surrounding regions.

An industry bulletin released this month declared that the main cause of severe structural damage to buildings in the region, were caused by “a combination of large suction forces on the roof and a rapid increase in internal pressure.”

As a result, design teams (including structural engineers), building surveyors and builders have been instructed to provide design, documentation and subsequent compliance, for new buildings within wind regions B and D that adhere to these variations.

Clearly, the impact of a severe weather event such as Cyclone Seroja dictates the importance of designing to code and to the conditions within the region. As always, we work diligently with the codes to ensure that every design we do meets the required criteria.

As always, we thank the ABCB (Australian Building Codes Board) for their due diligence in the adherence of this most important set of rules and criteria.