The Mixed Success of Australian Standard 2870 in the Past 30 Years

In the past 30 years approximately 6 million homes have been built in Australia in a time of chaotic weather conditions. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures show that from 2001 to 2015, 93,000 houses were built in the Werribee Plains in the Western and Northern suburbs of Melbourne. This period included the “Millennium” drought and wet periods. Reports commissioned by a number of government organisations estimated that approximately 12% of the houses built in the drought in this part of Melbourne did not meet the footing performance requirements of the Australian footing standard no 2870 after the breaking of this drought. The main factor discussed in this paper is the surface suction which, is recommended as 1.2pF but was greatly exceeded. This paper briefly discusses the weather conditions, the footing designs and the performance of houses with concrete slab footings and the mixed success of the Australian standard characterisation method during this period.