Standards Australia is the nation’s peak non-government standards organisation. We engage with stakeholders to ensure that the standards we develop together have a positive benefit for the Australian community. At the same time we are working with our contributors to change the way we develop standards to better meet the needs of the end user.

PLUMBING SECTOR TRIALS NEW PRESENTATION OF DRAFTS TO PUBLIC
Proposed revisions to the AS/NZS 3500, Plumbing and Drainage, series were presented with the changes tracked – a first for Standards Australia.

This was an important step to improve the contributor experience and further support participation in the standards development process – and with plumbing standards leading the way.

The updates to the AS/NZS 3500 series are now being considered by the committee WS-014, Plumbing and Drainage. Publication is targeted for May 2018 to allow adoption into the 2019 National Construction Code (NCC).

Any further feedback should be sent to mail @standards.org.au.

NEXT STEPS FOR DRINKING WATER TREATMENT
In October 2017, Standards Australia hosted a forum to consider a new proposal received for the revision of AS/NZS 3497, Drinking water treatment units – Plumbing requirements.

The objective of the standard is to provide manufacturers with minimum plumbing requirements for the installation, design and test procedures for drinking water treatment units. Participants included stakeholders from industry, government and certification interests.

The forum allowed all interested stakeholders to raise issues for discussion and work together to clarify the scope. Participants also learned about the development process and engagement needed with the Australian Building Codes Board. They actively deliberated on how to progress a revision with the greatest benefit to the industry.

Agreement was reached to refine the scope and specify the proposed changes in the clauses. The updated proposal will also clarify how it will absorb the technical specification WMTS-103:2016.

Standards Australia will continue working with industry to finalise a project proposal.

INTRODUCING THE ‘INNOVATION INCUBATOR’
Standards Australia has recently launched a new Innovation Incubator, a key organisational initiative to bring the agility, thinking, processes and project methodologies of a start up to standards development.

Innovation Incubator program manager Ed McGuire explained the opportunity that lies ahead.

“The Innovation Incubator is all about exploring new ideas and approaches. A key methodology that we will employ will be design thinking,” Ed says.

“Design thinking workshops are a fantastic way to get inside a problem from an end user’s perspective and work backwards towards a solution. We will be facilitating a workshop for building commissioning through which users will have the opportunity to hack a number of different solutions, which may or may not include a standard as an outcome.

“It really depends on what people in the industry see as having the best likelihood of achieving a positive outcome. It could be a set of educational videos or a handbook or we could land on a standard as the solution. We are really excited to see what ideas the group will come up with and which path they will take.”

The Incubator encourages submissions and ideas from stakeholders for trialling new ways of developing standards and delivering content.

If you think you have an idea that should go through our Incubator program, please contact us by email at incubator@standards.org.au.

PLUMBING MEETS PARLIAMENT
Standards Australia chief executive Dr Bronwyn Evans and senior standards development manager Daniel Chidgey presented at Plumbing Meets Parliament 2017, a significant annual gathering of senior management within waste and water services.

Stakeholders across the supply chain connected with Federal Ministers and addressed areas of opportunity and importance for the sector.

At the event Dr Evans explained how plumbing standards fits within the organisation’s wider business transformation.

“Together with our contributors we’re evolving to be faster and more agile, while maintaining the technical level of excellence expected by industry,” said Dr Evans.