In 2002 sections of the prefabricated timber roof truss frame at the Riverside Golf Club, in South Australia, collapsed. There were two fatalities as a result. The subsequent Coroner’s report into the fatalities raised concerns about the whole process of design, transport, manufacture, installation and modification of roof trusses.
In 2006, the Minister for Urban Development and Planning established a Ministerial Taskforce to respond to the Coroner’s report and to look at ways of preventing similar roof truss failures.
The final report of the Ministerial Taskforce on Roof Trusses was published October 2008 and sets out a range of proposed changes to the design and manufacture of roof trusses in South Australia.
In response to the report a number of initiatives have been implemented by the South Australian Government, including:
- Building Advisory Notices regarding the identification of faulty trusses have been issued.
- An online checklist that builders or property owners can use to determine the level of risk in their roof or structure is now available online at: www.sa.gov.au
- The Development Regulations have been amended to introduce responsibilities for builders, supervisors and contractors in relation to the installation of roof trusses. Compulsory checklists, notifi cations and inspection policies have also been introduced. Only persons who have
completed a course of training in relation to the installation of roof trusses are able to sign off a checklist. Further information is available on the website of the SA Government: www.sa.gov.au