Davey n Di

Hi All,

Just wondering if anyone can recommend any good Australian building construction books?

I'm a graduate building surveyor moving to Perth in August (hopefully if visa is through) and would like to do a bit of homework on Australian construction, particularly on the materials used.

Many thanks in advance.

Cheers!

Di

The Bloke

www.infolink.com.au
www.timber.net.au/bookshop/
www.masterbuilders.asn.au/ Master Builders Assn of Australia
www.dhw.wa.gov.au Dept of Housing and Works WA
www.mbawa.com Master Builders Assn WA
www.boral.com.au
www.jameshardie.com.au

What a couple of minutes on google gives....
Plenty more where they came from.

Davey n Di

Many thanks, I will have a look on these links.

I have actually already had a look on google and spent some time googling (I wasn't being lazy). As there are so many books to choose from I was just wondering if there was a 'particular' book/s that came highly recommended.

Di

The Bloke

Wasn't being sarky, mate.

Cheers.

pommy

anything by allan stains

Bobcat

Just looking on my book shelf now......... i see :-

The Australian Roof Building Manual (with tables & bevels) by Lloyd Hiddle & Alan Staines

Australian Plumbing and Mechanical Services Books 1 & 2 by J Puffet

Contract Management in Australia by John F James

Haven't got a copy of Rawlinson's Australian Construction Handbook........ but that would probably be very useful too........... albeit a bit costly. I picked up a second hand copy a few years ago at the Good Sammy Hock Shop in Joondalup for $2.50 (it was 4 years old but in good nick and all the info was relevant today).

Rawlinsons Australian Construction Handbook

26th edition

Rawlhouse Publishing Pty., Ltd., PO Box 145, West Perth, WA 6872, Australia, 2008; E-mail: [email protected]. 910 pages, hardbound. AU $340 plus packing and shipping to addresses outside of Australia.

As we have stated in reviews of earlier editions of this "bible" of Australian construction costs, the title is misleading as the book also includes cost information for many locations in other countries of the Asia-Pacific region plus information for Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. The non-Australian information is not extensive but it is nevertheless very useful in making international cost comparisons.

The book primarily provides cost information for medium to large projects (buildings over AU $750,000) but does provide some limited data for smaller projects. The book provides some 465 pages of detailed unit price information for building components in five major Australian cities - Adelade, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney. A 63 page section on comparative costs provides installed cost information, including labor and minor items for building systems substructure, columns, staircases, roofs, walls, etc. Sections on square metre costs and elemental costs provide cost per square metre information for building systems and for complete buildings. Price indices dating back to 1970 are also provided for the five cities with regional indices for adjustment of the data to other locations within Australia. Similar information is also provided for Canberra, Darwin and Hobart although not in as great a level of detail as for the first five cities plus regional indices for the Northern Territory and Tasmania.

Also included are sections on refurbishing and recycling buildings, trade ratios, rentals, building planning, administration and management and much more.

The international section of the books compares labour rates, price indexes, square metre costs, and installed costs for various building components for Sydney vs. Vancouver, Canada; Suva, Fiji; Hong Kong; Tokyo, Japan; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Auckland, New Zealand; Pt. Moresby/Lae, Papua New Guinea; Singapore; Cape Town, South Africa; Bangkok, Thailand; London, UK; Los Angeles, USA; and Port Vila, Vanatu.

As always the current edition of Rawlinsons Australian Construction Handbook is a must have reference volume for anyone concerned with building costs in Australia or with cost comparisons between countries in the Asia-Pacific region.


Good luck

Johnno