Last month marked NATSPEC’s 15th year as the key organisation that develops, updates, and distributes AUS-SPEC specifications and information.
AUS-SPEC facilitates local governments to design, construct and maintain their infrastructure assets and is a joint venture between NATSPEC and the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA).
CEO of IPWEA David Jenkins said: “This set of comprehensive specifications has stood the test of time and, with our partners at AUS-SPEC, we remain committed to improving the long-term sustainable service delivery of infrastructure.”
The AUS-SPEC specification system is an essential technical resource that facilitates the life cycle management of assets. This is part of NATSPEC’s objective to improve construction quality and productivity through the leadership of information.
NATSPEC, a national not-for-profit owned by government and industry whose objective is to inform and improve the construction quality and productivity of the built environment, began maintaining AUS-SPEC in June 2007 on behalf of IPWEA and Standards Australia.
AUS-SPEC specifications for the management of minor infrastructure were first released in 1997.
Supported by the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA), this was a joint venture between IPWEA and Statewide Roads through its Technical Management consultancy (SWRTM), part of Sinclair Knight Merz (now Jacobs), in coordination with several councils.
Standards Australia took over as IPWEA’s joint venture partner in 2003.
Since 2007, NATSPEC has restructured AUS-SPEC into the National Classification System and added NATSPEC Basic and Landscape information to relevant AUS-SPEC packages.
In 2018, AUS-SPEC released the Rural Roads package to assist rural and remote councils in managing their sealed and unsealed road networks.
Road owners can compile their specifications online using the work section templates in SPECbuilder.
Click here for more information on AUS-SPEC’s subscription-based service. The eight available packages are Complete, Contracts, Urban and open spaces, Buildings, Roadworks and bridges, Public utilities, Maintenance, and Rural Roads.