Australian Capital Territory
Building (Safe Live Load Plates) Approval 2008
Notifiable instrument NI2008–164
made under the  
Building Act 2004, section 81 (Safe live load plates)

1	Name of instrument

This instrument is the Building (Safe Live Load Plates) Approval 2008.

2	Commencement 

This instrument commences on the day after notification.

3	Application and transitional arrangement

This instrument applies to a building if:

(a)	the building has floors designed to sustain a uniformly distributed live load exceeding 3 kpa; and

(b)	 the building has a certificate of occupancy and use issued under part 5 of the Act; and

(c)	the building is a class 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 building.

However, a building is taken to comply with this instrument if it has in place loading notice plates on each storey installed from a previous requirement that provide information to alert occupants about the load capacity of the floor or floors that is equivalent to that required by this instrument.  

4	Approval of way of attaching plates

I approve of the following way of attaching plates.

Plates must be:

(a)	attached permanently using mechanical or chemical (adhesive) fastening so as it will never detach without the use of a tool; and

(b)	attached so as they are between 1 m and 1.5 m above the top of the floor they refer to.

5	Approval of the number of plates

Plates must be fixed in a sufficient number of prominent locations on walls so they are readable at an eye height of 1.5 m when entering each storey. 
Multiple access ways in close proximity may share a single plate provided that the plate is readable when entering from each of the multiple access ways.  

6	Approval of the size and form of plates

I approve the following size and form of plates.

The plate must:

(a)	be metal that resists detrimental atmospheric corrosion that it is likely to be exposed to during the life of the building or a material with at least equivalent long term durability and damage resistance as that kind of metal plate; and

(b)	have no face dimension less than 50 mm; and

(c)	have lettering characters and other required information legibly engraved, embossed or cast into the plate with lettering characters not less than 5 mm high; and

(d)	if parts of a storey have different maximum live load capacities the notice shall include an appropriately scaled floor plan of the storey that indicates by hatching and a legend the relevant areas of the storey and the corresponding maximum live load capacity for the areas; and

(e)	the notice must state the following with the relevant figures appropriately inserted—

FLOOR DESIGNED MAXIMUM LIVE LOAD

DISTRIBUTED:	KILOGRAMS PER SQUARE METRE
CONCENTRATED:	KILOGRAMS

EXCEEDING MAXIMUM LIVE LOAD IS AN OFFENCE

Craig Simmons
Construction Occupations Registrar

14 May 2008