Plastic sheeting in the construction industry is used in a number of ways. The most important of which is as a vapour barrier under slab on ground construction.
The plastic sheeting stops water vapour, gases and ground pressure (hydrostatic pressure) from rising up and causing moisture problems which can lead to structural changes in the slab.
Is all plastic sheeting the same?
The answer is no.
It needs to be at least 0.2mm thick.
How do we check the thickness you ask?
The ‘0.2mm’ or 200 micrometers (um) is stamped on the sheeting.
However it is only stamped on one side so you need to be vigilant in checking both sides.
Also impact resistance varies. This means how hard it is to puncture, rip or tear.
In New South Wales Australia the Building Code of Australia requirement is different to most other states. NSW has a high impact resistance rating and other states, a medium impact rating.
How to tell the difference here? Again it is be stamped ‘high impact resistance’ on one side only. The other way is get sample pieces of high and medium impact resistance sheeting put it on the ground and try to puncture it. It is much harder to do with high impact resistance sheeting.
At Certifiers2U we need to ensure the building is built correctly using the right materials to keep you safe.
We are industry leaders and we expect all builders to comply with the minimum BCA requirements before they can proceed with their developments.
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