In 2013 the Building Commission started a series of compliance inspections for residences throughout WA. As part of these structural inspections, they tested samples of tie down straps in coastal areas and found them to be non-compliant with the Australian Standards corrosion protection requirements. Following these tests they produced Industry Bulletin 32: Durability of roof tie down< connectors (straps), which discusses the requirements for built-in components in residences. It further nominates the minimum requirement for tie down straps in coastal areas to be stainless steel.
The use of stainless steel straps caused a number of issues for the strutural engineering industry, the most prominent being they come with higher costs and stainless steel straps cause dissimilar metal issues in combination with steel connectors. In a direct response to these issues, Structerre researched and tested alternative straps to cater for the industry’s needs and developed an alternative strap to the common stainless steel option.
Structerre’s Struct-tie Blue Masonry straps, available for residential engineering in perth in 1.8m and 3.0m lengths, are easy to use, significantly cheaper than stainless steel straps and don’t have dissimilar metal issues. Due to the special shape and coating of these steel straps they can safely be used in combination with steel connectors saving builders both time and money.
To ensure compliance with clause 5.7 of AS3700, the Struct-tie Blue Masonry straps have been externally tested in accordance with AS2699.2. It has to be noted that the Struct-tie Blue Masonry straps are only certified if used in conjunction with Structerre’s certified Structerre Blue tie down details.
The Struct-tie Blue masonry strap is a proprietary strap of Structerre available from PWP. Please contact Maria Holland from PWP on 0488 516 039 for more information.
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