The 2016 update focussed on the 01 Planning and Design workgroup, which includes 15 specification templates that cover design criteria and documentation requirements for open space, road reserves, bridges, public utilities and bushfire protection for development and subdivision of land in urban residential, rural residential, rural, and industrial and commercial areas.

The structure and content of the templates have been reviewed and revised. They are complemented by the new techguide TG 201 process and procedures for development and subdivision of land (formerly the 0011 Development and subdivision of land work section).

New technote gen022 using AUS-SPEC for asset delivery

AUS-SPEC has released a new TECHnote which outlines how AUS-SPEC can assist Councils with documentation templates and guidance material for a systematic approach to the planning, design and construction of new infrastructure assets. This adds to the extensive range of supporting information to assist subscribers with the preparation of their contract documentation. AUS-SPEC makes some of this information is freely available on www.natspec.com.au under technical resources.

IPWEA Sustainability in Public Works Conference 2016

A paper titled Developing AUS-SPEC for More Sustainable Communities was presented at the Sustainability in Public Works Conference held 24-26 August 2016, in Melbourne by Nandini Mehta, AUS-SPEC Manager. The paper summarises the evolution of AUS-SPEC and the addition of sustainability requirements in the documents, since NATSPEC was engaged by IPWEA and Standards Australia to develop and maintain the AUS-SPEC specifications. The paper is available at www.natspec.com.au