What is a PS1?
A PS1 is a design statement for the relevant local authority that covers the design and construction of your building work and provides evidence that it has been designed to comply with the New Zealand Building Code. This helps Councils when processing a building consent or a Code of Compliance Certificate by giving them the confidence that certain building work is compliant and safe for users.
In most cases, to issue building consent or a code of compliance, Councils require a PS1 to ensure your building work has been constructed to meet the New Zealand building code.
What’s the challenge?
Producer statements cover things like load ratings, and minimum width of stairs for egress. Obtaining a PS1 for the handrail and balustrades on your project isn’t always easy. Producer Statements can be expensive for suppliers to obtain and some are simply not able to provide them. This can lead to difficult and time-consuming delays for you at council sign-off. Council authorities like to have the confidence that the building work will be constructed to meet the NZ Building Code. Without a PS1, councils may decide not to issue building consent or a code of compliance certificate. This can result in time and costly delays to your project and could include the potential need for a completely new project design.
Moddex make it easy:
Moddex’s wide range of handrail and balustrade systems are pre-engineered, with many year’s research, development, design, and engineering behind every pre-designed configuration. Every system has undergone rigorous testing to meet the New Zealand Compliance Standards which means we are able to provide you with readily available PS1’s for our systems. You can avoid delays and crippling costs at the council sign-off stage, making council sign-off a breeze.
For example, on the Woodend Pump Station Project, Moddex were able to provide a PS1 for our standard tuffrail system. This meant fast council sign-off which resulted in product being on-site within 2 weeks – a seamless process for the customer.
Site-specific PS1s
Different projects have different levels of safety requirements, some more complex than others. Depending on the situation, producer statements cover things like load ratings and minimum width clearances for access and egress. This may mean your handrail or balustrade isn’t covered by our generic PS1. Your project needs are our priority, so in such a case, our engineer can conduct a detailed evaluation of your handrail and balustrade design and produce a site specific PS1 to ensure your Moddex system complies with the NZ Building code.
An example of this was on the Nga Puna Wai Stadium Project. The client required two different systems – one crowd-loaded and the other not – to be coupled together, requiring a degree of flexibility unusual on such projects.
This was outside of the usual design and other suppliers were unable to supply a PS1 to meet these requirements. Due to Moddex’s modular build, different systems could be seamlessly connected, meaning we could offer a compliant solution complete with a site specific PS1 – resulting in seamless council sign off.
Safety is a top priority at Moddex, so we love to go the extra mile to meet your project requirements, however complex. If you are looking to reduce time and costs and speed up council sign-off with a compliant handrail and balustrade system, download our generic PS1s or contact us today on 0800 663 339 or info@moddex.co.nz. We’d love to hear from you.