GLOSSARY

Accommodation

Buildings primarily providing short-term or temporary accommodation, and includes the following categories:

• Self-contained, short-term apartments (e.g. serviced apartments)
• Hotels (predominantly accommodation), motels, boarding houses, cabins
• Other short-term accommodation n.e.c. (e.g. migrant hostels, youth hostels, lodges).

Aged care facilities

Building used in the provision or support of aged care facilities, excluding dwellings (e.g. retirement villages). Includes aged care facilities with and without medical care.

Agriculture/aquaculture

Buildings housing, or associated with, agriculture and aquaculture activities, including bulk storage of produce (e.g. shearing shed, grain silo, shearers’ quarters).

Alterations and additions

Refer to Type of Work.

Alterations and additions to residential buildings

Alterations and additions carried out on existing residential buildings, which may result in the creation of new dwelling units. See also Explanatory Notes, paragraph 13.

Building

A building is a rigid, fixed and permanent structure which has a roof. Its intended purpose is primarily to house people, plant, machinery, vehicles, goods or livestock. An integral feature of a building’s design is the provision for regular access by persons in order to satisfy its intended use.

Commercial

Buildings primarily occupied with or engaged in commercial trade or work intended for commercial trade, including buildings used primarily in wholesale and retail trades, office and transport activities.

Conversion

Refer to Type of Work.

Dwelling unit

A dwelling unit is a self-contained suite of rooms, including cooking and bathing facilities and intended for long-term residential use. Regardless of whether they are self-contained or not, units within buildings offering institutional care (e.g. hospitals) or temporary accommodation (e.g. motels, hostels and holiday apartments) are not defined as dwelling units. Such units are included in the appropriate category of non-residential building approvals. Dwelling units can be created in one of four ways: through new work to create a residential building; through alteration/addition work to an existing residential building; through either new or alteration/addition work on non-residential building or through conversion of a non-residential building to a residential building.

Educational

Buildings used in the provision or support of educational services, including group accommodation buildings (e.g. classrooms, school canteens, dormitories).

Entertainment and recreation

Buildings used in the provision of entertainment and recreational facilities or services (e.g. libraries, museums, casinos, sporting facilities).

Factories

Buildings housing, or associated with, production and assembly processes of intermediate and final goods.

Flats, units or apartments

Dwellings not having their own private grounds and usually sharing a common entrance, foyer or stairwell.

Health

Buildings used in the provision of non-aged care medical services (e.g. nursing quarters, laboratories, clinics).

House

Refer to Type of Building.

Industrial

Buildings used for warehousing and the production and assembly activities of industrial establishments, including factories and plants.

New

Refer to Type of Work

Non-residential building

Refer to Type of Building.

Offices

Buildings primarily used in the provision of professional services or public administration (e.g. offices, insurance or finance buildings).

Other dwellings

Includes all dwellings other than houses. They can be created by: the creation of new other residential buildings (e.g. flats); alteration/addition work to an existing residential building; either new or alteration/addition work on a non-residential building; conversion of a non-residential building to a residential building creating more than one dwelling unit.

Other residential building

Refer to Type of Building.

Religious

Buildings used for or associated with worship or in support of programs sponsored by religious bodies (e.g. church, temple, church hall, dormitories).

Residential building

Refer to Type of Building.

Retail/wholesale trade

Buildings primarily used in the sale of goods to intermediate and end users.

Semidetached, row or terrace houses, townhouses

Dwellings having their own private grounds with no other dwellings above or below.

Transport

Buildings primarily used in the provision of transport services, and includes the following categories:

• Passenger transport buildings (e.g. passenger terminals)
• Non-passenger transport buildings (e.g. freight terminals)
• Commercial car parks (excluded are those built as part of, and intended to service, other distinct building developments)
• Other transport buildings n.e.c.

Type of building

Buildings are classified as either:

Residential building

A residential building is a building consisting of one or more dwelling units. Residential buildings can be either houses or other residential buildings.
• A house is a detached building primarily used for long term residential purposes. It consists of one dwelling unit. For instance, detached ‘granny flats’ and detached dwelling units (e.g. caretaker’s residences) associated with a non-residential building are defined as houses. Also includes 'cottages', 'bungalows' and rectories.
• An other residential building is a building other than a house primarily used for long-term residential purposes. An other residential building contains more than one dwelling unit. Other residential buildings are coded to the following categories: semidetached, row or terrace house or townhouse with one storey; semidetached, row or terrace house or townhouse with two or more storeys; flat, unit or apartment in a building of one or two storeys; flat, unit or apartment in a building of three storeys; flat, unit or apartment in a building of four or more storeys; flat, unit or apartment attached to a house; other/number of storeys unknown. The latter two categories are included with the semidetached, row or terrace house or townhouse with one storey category in table 11 and 12 of this publication.

Non-residential building

A non-residential building is primarily intended for purposes other than long term residential purposes. Note that, on occasions, one or more dwelling units may be created through non-residential building activity. Prior to the January 1998 issue of this publication, they have been included in the ‘Conversions, etc.’ column in tables showing dwelling units approved. They are now identified separately (e.g. see table 9). However, the value of these dwelling units cannot be separated out from that of the non-residential building which they are part of, therefore the value associated with these remain in the appropriate non-residential category.
Non-residential building’s are further classified by their functional use at time of approval.

Type of work

The Type of Work classification refers to building activity approved to be carried out and consists of:

Alterations and additions

Building activity carried out on existing buildings excluding conversions. Includes adding to or diminishing floor area, altering the structural design of a building and affixing rigid components which are integral to the functioning of the building.

Conversion

Building activity which converts a non-residential building to a residential building, e.g. conversion of a warehouse to residential apartments. Conversion is considered to be a special type of alteration, and these jobs have been separately identified as such from the July 1996 reference month, though they have only appeared separately in this publication from the January 1998 issue. Prior to that issue, conversions were published as part of the ‘Conversions, etc.’ category or included elsewhere within a table. See also Explanatory Notes, paragraph 13.

New

Building activity which will result in the creation of a building which previously did not exist.

Warehouses

Buildings primarily used for storage of goods, excluding produce storage.