Agencies must document any relevant technical standards or legislative requirements associated with the proposal and the options. These requirements must be scoped to enable adequate evaluation in the economic appraisal and the completion of a statement of compliance.
NSW Government agencies deliver vital services and the construction and delivery of those services may be regulated (e.g. environmental, safety, etc), or at times standardised to meet recognised industry benchmarks of quality or operability. Sometimes technical standards are reflected in legislation or policies and are administered by State and Commonwealth agencies.
Technical standards can often influence the scope, design and performance of services (such as an Australian Standard) and agencies will need to document these requirements at the earliest stages of scoping the service need, or as part of scoping the facility to meet the service need. Compliance with facility standards in particular areas, e.g. for health, education or justice facilities may be a significant driver of the level of design specification, quality and cost of a project. For ICT related business cases, industry-wide standards or the agency's own enterprise architectures may apply. Integrating these technical standards early will enable agencies to demonstrate and monitor compliance through the design process, procurement, commissioning and operation.
The provisions of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 are likely to apply to most construction and property and accommodation projects. Major projects can be considered under different parts of the Act and this can significantly impact on the planning and management of a project, particularly Part 3A of the Act. Agencies are required to identify whether Part 3A of the Act will be triggered at the earliest opportunity. Agencies are encouraged to carefully consider the application of such legislation and discuss the potential requirements with the relevant authority (State or Commonwealth).