Corrosion can have a significant impact on homes that are built in coastal or marine environments.
In planning and constructing a new custom home in areas close to salt water, it’s vital to follow the appropriate protection requirements to sustain the harsh conditions of coastal environments. There are specific products outlined by the Australian Standards and the NCC 2016 Building Code of Australia (BCA) – Volume Two. Implementing the corrosion protection requirements for coastal conditions will add additional cost to your build but will significantly reduce maintenance costs long-term.
According to The NCC and Australian Standards, the use of specially treated or higher-grade products will vary depending on how close to salt water new house is to be built. The requirements will also depend on whether the home is within certain distance of breaking surf or calm salt water, such as a river. The requirement will be different for:
- Buildings constructed within 10km of breaking surf or up to 1km of non-surf coastline.
- Building constructed within 1km of breaking surf or within 100m of the river. In this case the requirements are stricter than the previous.
Based on distance from salt water, some or all of the below requirements may apply. This list is not conclusive and additional requirements such as wind rating may also apply, based on site-specific conditions.
- Powder coatings to aluminium door and window frames, flyscreen frames
- Marine grade stainless steel post and handrails for balustrades
- Colorbond Ultra steel or Stainless steel range for roofing, walling, gutters, downpipes and fascia
- All structural steels need to be hot-dip galvanised
- Masonry mortar needs to be M4 Class
- Galvanised tie down rods and fixings.
