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Over the next 5 years, Australia’s multi-dwelling construction industry is expected to experience steady growth, supported by population growth, urbanisation, and ongoing demand for housing. Despite recent challenges, including rising construction costs and market pressures, the industry continues to show resilience, with demand expected to remain strong across major metropolitan areas.

What is Multi-Dwelling Housing?

In Australia, “multi-dwelling housing” refers to residential developments with three or more dwellings on a single lot, each with ground-level access, and excludes apartment buildings.

What’s the difference?

The key difference between single and multi-dwelling housing is the increased level of complexity involved in managing the build, including additional stakeholders, subcontractors, compliance requirements, and coordination responsibilities.  

There are often complex stages of these builds, which are generally run by specialised subbies, e.g., planning (engineers, architects, quantity surveyors), and build stages (civil works, construction management, carpentry/joiners, concreting), etc. These projects may involve more complex designs, increased compliance requirements, and greater coordination between different work activities to ensure construction is managed safely and effectively. 

Multiple dwellings also mean more workers and trades operating on-site at the same time. These sites are often located in established residential areas, creating additional considerations around neighbouring properties, public interaction, access, deliveries, and site safety. 

Multi-dwelling Project Requirements

Due to the increased number of workers, subcontractors, machinery, equipment, and activities taking place, multi-dwelling projects require effective health and safety planning and management.

A Site-Specific Safety Plan (SSSP), also known as a Work Health and Safety Management Plan (WHSMP) where applicable, helps outline how health and safety risks will be managed throughout the project. It defines responsibilities, site expectations, communication processes, and controls required to maintain a safe working environment.

Due to the potential complexity of multi-dwelling builds, we always recommend a more detailed and customised SSSP to manage risks effectively and reduce overall risk to the business and the workers.

The extra complexities that can need extra planning and control include:

• Pre-planning of the project, because there are many moving parts, schedules, and sensitive timelines.
• Identifying key stakeholders, subcontractors, and responsibilities. 
• Managing multiple trades working simultaneously and coordinating activities. 
• When more trades are working at the same time, it’s important to take a more thorough approach to coordination and managing hazards.
• The SSSP allows for the detailing of the hazards and risks that are likely to be faced, and what controls are to be used to reduce or eliminate those.
• Plans for emergencies and the site’s response throughout the build.
• Any specific requirements, e.g., some states have additional safety requirements for multi-dwelling buildings.
• More complex site boundaries, e.g., large areas, houses that are sold whilst construction continues in other parts, site boundaries in close proximity to pedestrians, etc.
• Traffic management needs, e.g., more trade parking, higher traffic flow of machinery or materials, cranes and concrete pump trucks, council requirements, etc.
• This list is not exhaustive, but all of these complexities are often above and beyond a single dwelling build and need planning, controlling, and communicating to ensure the health and safety of workers and others are managed well.

Got a new multi-dwelling build kicking off?

HazardCo Project Pro and the HazardCo system are designed to support the health and safety requirements of multi-dwelling builds, giving you confidence that HazardCo has the right tools and support in place to help your business grow. 

If you are a builder starting to diversify, now’s the right time to review your Health and Safety activity processes.

That’s where HazardCo comes in. If you’re building 3 or more dwellings within a fenced-off section, you will need HazardCo’s Project Pro, which provides a customised solution, specifically tailored to your project. It provides the documentation, systems, and support needed for your build, helping your team and subcontractors manage health and safety requirements on site.  

Here are some key components of Project Pro that will help you cover all your bases.

• 2 x Hazard Board with QR code
• Customised SSSP for the project (in consultation with a H&S Advisor)
• On-site Traffic Management Plan
• Large HazardCo mesh fence banner
• Full access to the HazardCo system to guide anyone scanning onto the site
• In app guided activity to support learning
• Cloud storage of all safety documentation completed on site
• Reporting and analytics to identify opportunities and trends on-site
• Support from our Customer Support and Advisory teams

If you have a new multi-dwelling residential project kicking off, give us a call on 1800 954 702 or email info@hazardco.com to discuss your requirements and what you need to be thinking about from a H&S perspective, and the added complexities that come with it.