Australian Capital Territory Consolidated Regulations Australian Capital Territory Consolidated Regulations(1) In this section:
"large regulation sheets" means corrugated asbestos cement sheets of material not less than 1 / 4 of an inch in thickness, having corrugations 1 7 / 8 inches and over in depth, the pitch of the corrugations being more than 3 inches but not more than 5 3 / 4 inches measured centre to centre of adjacent crests or troughs.
"longitudinal wires" means the safety mesh wires parallel to the corrugations of the roof sheathing.
"roof" means the roof, or part of it, of any building or structure, except of a private dwelling house and its outhouses, the upper surface of which roof makes an angle of less than 50° with the horizontal.
"safety mesh" means a meshwork of steel wires of size and arrangement required by this section.
"small section sheets" means corrugated asbestos cement sheets of material not less than 7 / 32 of an inch in thickness, having corrugations less than 1 7 / 8 inches in depth, the pitch of the corrugations being 3 inches or less measured centre to centre of adjacent crests or troughs.
"transverse wires" means the safety mesh wires at right angles to the corrugations of the roof sheathing.
(2) No person shall place, lay or fix, or cause to be placed, laid or fixed, on any roof structure, or part of a roof structure, any roof sheathing of asbestos cement or other brittle material unless safety mesh has first been securely fixed in the way provided in this regulation over the area to be sheathed.
(3) However, the chief inspector may, by written notice, exempt from this requirement any roof—
(a) if the chief inspector is satisfied that generally the roof construction is such that it would provide the same degree of safety as would any other roof on which safety mesh has been fixed; or
(b) in which the members immediately supporting corrugated asbestos cement sheathing are spaced—
(i) not more than 1 foot 6 inches apart measured centre to centre for small section sheets; or
(ii) not more than 2 feet apart measured centre to centre for large section sheets; or
(c) vertically below which a substantial and closely boarded floor or like structure is located at a distance not greater than 8 feet, measured from the highest part of the roof.
(4) Corrugated asbestos cement sheathing for roofs shall be mature and free from cracks and defects liable to impair its strength.
(5) The distance between purlins or other immediate supports for corrugated asbestos cement roof sheathing shall not when measured centre to centre exceed—
(a) 4 feet 1 1 / 2 inches for a large section sheet, measured in the direction of the corrugations; or
(b) 3 feet for small section sheets, measured as mentioned in paragraph (a); or
(c) the distance approved in writing by the chief inspector for sheets differing in section from those mentioned in paragraphs (a) and (b).
(6) No person shall place, lay or fix asbestos cement sheets on any roof structure unless the person is wearing sandshoes or other approved footwear.
(7) Safety mesh shall be constructed entirely of steel wire the ultimate tensile strength of which is not less than 35 tons per square inch.
(8) The wire shall be zinc galvanised so that the weight of the zinc coat in ounces per square foot shall not be less than the value, appropriate to the tensile strength of the wire, as provided in British Standard Specification 443, 1939, table 2, for the testing of the zinc coating on galvanised wires, promulgated by the British Standards Institution, London, England, as amended in February, 1945.
(9) Each mesh shall be rectangular in shape and shall not exceed 12 inches in length and 6 inches in width.
(10) The wires forming each mesh shall be strongly secured, one to the other, at each corner of the mesh.
(11) The diameter of the wire with which each type of safety mesh is formed shall be as provided in the table after subsection (13).
(12) Safety mesh shall be fixed to purlins or other anchorages at the spacings set out in the table after subsection (13) in any 1 of the following ways:
(a) if the purlins or other anchorages are of timber the longitudinal wires shall—
(i) be bent down and fixed to the sides of the purlins or other anchorages with galvanised steel staples of the gauges, lengths and spacing as set out in table 158; or
(ii) be fixed to the tops of them with galvanised steel staples of the gauges, lengths and spacing as set out in table 158; or
(b) the longitudinal wires of the safety mesh shall be passed once completely around the purlin, or other anchorage, the tail of each wire being twisted twice tightly around the main part of the same wire; or
(c) the longitudinal wires of the safety mesh shall be secured to the purlins or other anchorages with 10 gauge (0.128 of an inch diameter) galvanised steel wire loops by passing the centre of the tying wire around the longitudinal wire at a point of intersection of a transverse wire, so that a transverse wire shall be between that point and the end of the longitudinal wire, passing both ends of the tying wire once completely around the purlin, or other anchorage, the 2 tails of the tying wire being then drawn in opposite directions over the 2 strands of the tying wire and twisted together with at least 3 complete turns.
(13) All staples shall be driven in such way that a cross wire is between the end of the wire and the staple or the end of the wire is bent back and twisted twice around the same wire, so that individual wires cannot be drawn from the staple.
Table 158
*
Pairs of wires at 12-inch centres, ie wires alternately at
8-inch and 4-inch centres.
(14) Safety mesh shall be deemed not to conform to the requirements of this section unless a complete specification and the samples of mesh, as may be required, have been submitted to the chief inspector and approved by him or her.
(15) Safety mesh shall be fixed immediately and closely under the roof sheathing, without other intervention, and so that it rests on each of the roof members; it shall be free from perceptible sag.
(16) The longitudinal wires shall pass above and across all roof members that immediately support the roof sheathing.
(17) All the transverse wires shall be located above the longitudinal wires.
(18) If the longer sides of a mesh exceed 6 inches, the safety mesh shall be so disposed that the lesser sides are parallel to the corrugations.
(19) If a break of continuity in the longitudinal wires occurs, the wires shall be effectively joined to preserve continuity.
(20) In addition, the longitudinal wires at the adjoining or overlapping edges of adjacent lengths of safety mesh shall be strongly fastened together at intervals not greater than 3 feet.
(21) Adjacent lengths of safety meshing shall not, when fixed, be more than 1 inch apart.
(22) Without limiting subsections (1) to (21), the apertures resulting from junctions or connections of safety mesh shall not exceed those prescribed for the construction of the mesh, or be otherwise oriented.
(23) No person shall carry out or cause to be carried out any roof sheathing work unless safety mesh has first been fully fixed as a margin around all positions where the work is to be carried out.
(24) If not otherwise limited by the boundaries of the roof structure, or boundaries incidental to the application of this section, this margin shall be at least 20 feet in width.
(25) Safety mesh shall not be used if it is likely to be affected by corrosive agencies but purlins or battens spaced as provided in subsection (3) (b) shall be used in its place.
(26) Safety mesh or its fastenings or supports that has been reduced in strength by corrosion or other agency to less than 90% of the strength indicated by this section shall on reduction be renewed by the owner of the building, to comply with this section.
(27) Safety mesh shall not be considered as affording support to the roof sheathing.
(28) The owner of any building (other than a private dwelling house), or any structure, having any roof sheathing of asbestos cement or other brittle material, shall provide and fix on each individual slope, curve, or flat of roofing of it, the warning or danger notices in the positions, and way prescribed in this section.
(29) The owner shall preserve and maintain the notices in good condition, and in a clean and legible state.
(30) The warning notices shall bear the words—
Warning
Stand or walk only on lines of nails or screws in
< THIS > direction
in heavy block lettering in black on a sharply contrasting yellow background.
(31) The words ‘Warning' and ‘This' shall be at least 1 3 / 4 inches in height, and the remainder of the lettering shall be at least 1 1 / 8 inches in height.
(32) The word ‘This' shall be placed centrally between 2 heavy straight black arrows as indicated in subsection (30).
(33) The word ‘Warning' shall be heavily underlined in black.
(34) The warning notices shall not be less than 12 1 / 2 inches in width and 14 inches in depth and shall be of steel not less in thickness than 18 English Imperial Legal Standard Gauge (0.048 of an inch).
(35) All of the wording and its background shall be executed in vitreous (‘porcelain') enamel and the back and other part of the notice shall, if not otherwise enamelled, have at least a grip coat of vitreous enamel.
(36) Warning notices shall be strongly fixed in upright positions directly on and not more than 3 inches above the sheathings of the roofs, closely adjacent to all points of access to the roofs.
(37) In the same way they shall also be fixed closely adjacent to all valleys and other points where persons might reasonably be expected to enter on the roofs.
(38) They shall be so placed that they constitute plain and clearly visible warning to persons about to enter on the roofs.
(39) Each notice shall be so placed and so oriented, that the arrows on them are directly above and point along the line of nails, screws, bolts, or other fastenings that secure the roof sheathing to its immediate supports.
(40) Each notice shall be so placed and so oriented that it clearly indicates those lines that mark the positions and directions of uninterruptedly continuous supporting members of the roof sheathing.
(41) No person shall fix a warning notice on a roof until the person has first ensured that there is an uninterruptedly continuous supporting member along each line of nails, screws, or other fastenings after which to be indicated by the notice, and if any such member is not uninterruptedly continuous the person shall cause it to be made so before fixing the notice.
(42) If any supporting member of the sheathing of any roof is incapable of safely supporting a concentrated load of 300 pounds acting vertically downwards and so placed as to be of most adverse effect, no person shall fix a warning notice as previously prescribed.
(43) Instead, danger notices shall be strongly fixed, as prescribed in this section for warning notices.
(44) Danger notices shall bear the words—
Danger
Keep off this roof
in heavy block lettering in red on a white background.
(45) The word ‘Danger' shall be at least 1 3 / 4 inches in height and shall be heavily underlined in red.
(46) The remainder of the lettering shall be at least 1 3 / 8 inches in height.
(47) The danger notices shall not be less than 12 inches
square and shall in all other respects conform with the requirements of this
regulation for warning notices.
General penalty