BMAA NEXT MEETING – FRIDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2019

As BMAA holds only one meeting per year in Victoria, we encourage all our Melbourne members to attend the meeting. Attendees will hear about the issues that BMAA is currently dealing with, as well as having the opportunity to network with other members.

STRATEGIC PLANNING WORKSHOP
The BMAA Board of Directors participated in a two-day strategic planning workshop on 19-20 August 2019. BMAA engaged an external facilitator to run the event.

The purpose of the two-day workshop was to look at the direction BMAA should take in the future to meet the challenges such as global competition and changes to legislation that may threaten the future of our industry, and to ensure that we remain relevant and of value to our members. The workshop explored the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing both the industry and the association. A wide range of topics were covered, including:

• BMAA’s Vision and Mission
• Branding
• Marketing to both the Industry and Consumers
• Expansion of Training
• Advocacy
• Review of Membership Categories and Criteria

Members will be provided with an update at the next General Meeting to be held on 15th November 2019.

CHANGES TO NATIONAL CONSTRUCTION CODE
Recent changes to the National Construction Code which came into effect from 1st May 2019 effectively prohibit the installation of awnings and blinds on the upper floors of Class Two through Nine Buildings. These building classes include multi-storey residences and basically any commercial building.

BMAA has commissioned a consulting fire engineer to undertake full scale testing of three typical applications – acrylic awnings, PVC mesh blinds and Polyurethane shutters in order to demonstrate the spread of flame risk and to prepare a “Performance Solution” report, which has two objectives. First, to provide the detailed technical data sufficient to convince a certifier that awnings and blinds do not constitute a risk of contributing to the Spread of Flame across a building façade; and secondly, to underpin a “case for change” to the ABCB to remove the ground floor restriction from the “non- combustibility” exemption (i.e. clause C1.14 (i)) , which currently applies to the use of awnings and blinds. The tests were conducted in Canberra in mid-August.

There will be a comprehensive presentation about this very important topic at our General Meeting in November.