Skip to content

Appendix 1: Housing for health methodology | Appendix 2: Issues to consider in the design and construction of houses | Appendix 3:
Using this guide for design and specification of a project with reference to the Building Code of Australia, Australian Standards and other relevant guidelines | Useful resources and references | References | Glossary

Appendix 2 – Issues to consider in the design and construction of houses

Consultation and Socio-Cultural Factors

People’s housing needs arise from a range of social, cultural, climatic and environmental factors, which vary between communities and may change over time. This guide is a technical resource and makes recommendations about safety, health, climatic and environmental factors. There are often community specific factors that also need to be considered when designing houses that benefit residents.

Consultation
To develop appropriate design responses, a housing designer needs to determine the specific requirements of each community and the people who will live in the house. This will involve continuous consultation throughout the design and construction process. Housing consultants who have not previously worked with Indigenous people might consider undertaking cross-cultural training before starting work. It can also be useful to employ a community member, such as the local housing officer, to assist with consultation and, if necessary, translation, during the project.

Social factors
There are three main social factors to consider when designing houses for Indigenous people:

Cultural beliefs
Cultural beliefs and practices can affect how Indigenous people interact within the home and there may be a need to consider ways of increasing privacy for individual residents. When cultural groups practice ‘avoidance relationships’, these can place constraints on family relationships, such as the relationship between mother and a son-in-law. Designers can assist people to observe these avoidance relationships by taking these cultural beliefs into consideration at the design stage. For example:
 

In some cultural traditions, young women should not be seen going to the bathroom by their brothers. In situations like this, the design should ensure that all members of the house can access bathroom facilities by providing separate bathroom for male and female, or separate entrances to the wet areas.

There are many cultural beliefs about night spirits that can affect how people use the perimeter of the house. These beliefs may mean that an externally located wet area or outdoor cooking facility will not be used at night; therefore as a minimum, an internal wet area and kitchen should be included in the house design. Alternatively, external lighting and meshed verandah or breezeway connection to the external wet area or outdoor cooking facility could be specified if the residents agreed with this approach.

References

Fantin, S. 2003 “Yolngu Cultural Imperatives and Housing Design” in Memmott, P. & Chambers, C. (ed) Take Two. Housing design in Indigenous Australia. RAIA, Canberra

Universal Access

Universal access means designing houses that can be used and accessed by all people in a community. Over time, houses in Indigenous communities may be occupied or visited by people with different needs and different levels of mobility. High incidences of diabetes, renal failure and other chronic illness can also mean that the mobility of permanent residents will change.

Several different terms are used to describe the level of access available in a house.

In all housing projects, consideration should be given to designing houses that incorporate the principles of universal access. Designers should discuss needs and priorities with the community and develop strategies to provide more houses in the community that can be fully accessed by people with disabilities. Designers should also consider designing all new houses so that a person with a disability can at least visit.

If people with disabilities cannot access all or most of the existing housing stock, it may be necessary to build new houses to an adaptable or fully accessible standard to provide more options in the community. Although this can add to the construction cost of new houses, it will save the community the significant cost of adapting houses in the future to meet the needs of people with disabilities. Housing providers may also have obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act (1992) to meet the housing needs of community residents who have disabilities.

Strategies to achieve greater accessibility in houses are discussed throughout this guide. AS 1428.1 Design for access and mobility and AS 4299 Adaptable housing set out the requirements for accessibility and provide detailed drawings. Many state/territory housing organisations and disability support groups also provide useful references. As a minimum, design should consider the need for:

 

Managing the Construction Process

Sections A and B of the guide include suggestions to improve ‘quality control’ in the construction process. These listed items must be checked during the construction process through rigorous inspections to identify and overcome problems as they occur and guarantee the final quality of the house.

Legal requirements and rules provide one layer of quality control. They are usually administered by state/territory or local governments, and vary between states and territories. It is generally a requirement that drawings and specifications must be checked and approved by a licensed building certifier or local government authority to get a building approval before works start, and that a building certifier inspects works at key stages and at completion. A certificate of completion or occupancy should be issued before residents occupy the house.

In addition to these inspections, it is recommended that the project be inspected at the following stages to ensure that the builder follows all the requirements of the drawings and specifications:

Works must also be inspected and checked prior to making any payments to the builders. There is no obligation on the owner to pay for works that have not been done according to the drawings and specifications. When the works are finished, the builder must provide warranties for many of the items included in the works. Many of these warranties that are needed appear under ‘Quality control’ headings throughout this guide.