NATSPEC

Fibre Reinforced Facade Encyclopedia: Design and detailing

NATSPEC is Australia’s national building specification system, published by NATSPEC Construction Information Systems Limited, a not-for-profit company owned by the major industry and professional bodies. It provides a maintained master library of worksections that a consultant edits down into a project specification, together with guidance notes, reference documents and the National BIM Guide. Most Australian architectural specifications are written in the NATSPEC format, which is why a facade submission that does not map onto it is harder to assess.

At a glance

What NATSPEC is, and what it is not

NATSPEC is a specification system: a maintained library of master text, kept current against Australian Standards and the National Construction Code (check the edition adopted in your jurisdiction), from which a project specification is edited. It is not a code, it is not mandatory, and complying with a NATSPEC worksection does not by itself demonstrate compliance with anything. Its value is consistency. A contractor, certifier or fabricator reading a NATSPEC-based specification knows where to look for the submission requirements, where to look for the tolerances and where to look for the schedule of finishes.

It is also not a product catalogue. NATSPEC text is written generically and is deliberately performance-based, so it describes what a product must do and what evidence is required rather than naming a brand. Naming a proprietary product is a decision the consultant makes, usually in the Selections schedule, and the master text supports either approach. See specification for the general principles of writing a facade specification.

How a worksection is structured

Every NATSPEC worksection follows the same four-part order, which is the most useful thing to know about the system.

• GENERAL. Responsibilities, cross references to other worksections, the standards the work must comply with, interpretation and definitions, submissions required from the contractor, inspection and hold points, and testing requirements.
• PRODUCTS. Materials and components, including composition, performance properties, finish, and any product-specific requirements.
• EXECUTION. Installation, preparation, tolerances, sequencing, protection and completion requirements.
• SELECTIONS. The project-specific schedules: which product, which colour, which finish, which size, at which location.

For a facade worksection, that structure decides where a manufacturer’s information has to land. Test evidence and third party certification belong in GENERAL, under standards and submissions. Material properties belong in PRODUCTS. Fixing method, joint width and installed tolerance belong in EXECUTION. Panel type, finish, colour and location belong in SELECTIONS, as a schedule that can be read on its own.

Worksection numbering

NATSPEC worksections are identified by a number and a title, grouped by trade or element, and the numbering is stable enough that experienced users navigate by it. Facade cladding, linings, sealants, glazing, structural steelwork and concrete each sit in their own worksection, and a single facade package will normally draw on several of them at once.

Do not cite a worksection number from memory or from an older specification. Numbering and titles are revised between releases, and a specification that cross-references a superseded number sends the reader nowhere. Check the current release before citing one.

Mapping manufacturer data into the template

A facade manufacturer’s technical information does not arrive in NATSPEC order, so someone has to map it. The mapping is mechanical once it is understood.

• Material composition, density, thickness and weight per square metre: PRODUCTS, materials.
• Structural properties such as modulus of rupture, limit of proportionality and flexural strength: PRODUCTS, with the test method named.
• Fire test reports, group number classifications and combustibility results: GENERAL, standards and submissions, naming the standard, the classification and the testing body.
• Durability, expected service life and maintenance requirements: PRODUCTS, with maintenance cross-referenced to the relevant worksection.
• Fixing systems, anchor types and substructure interface: EXECUTION, installation.
• Dimensional and installed tolerances: EXECUTION, tolerances.
• Sample, prototype and mock-up requirements: GENERAL, submissions and inspection.
• Panel schedule, finish, colour and texture: SELECTIONS.

A submission that is organised this way can be assessed in an afternoon. One that arrives as a brochure has to be taken apart first, and the parts that are missing are usually the parts in GENERAL: the named standard, the named testing body, and the exact product and thickness the report applies to.

Common errors in facade worksections

The recurring faults are predictable. A performance requirement is written but no evidence is required, so nothing is submitted. A proprietary product is named in SELECTIONS while the performance clauses in PRODUCTS describe a different material. Fire requirements are quoted as a marketing phrase rather than as a standard, a classification and a testing body. Tolerances are omitted entirely, so the installed result is whatever the site achieves. And a SELECTIONS schedule is issued with items still marked to be confirmed, which means the tender is priced on a guess.

For external walls, name the pathway as well as the property. Whether the wall is being justified as Deemed-to-Satisfy or through a Performance Solution determines what evidence is relevant, and a worksection that asks only for a test report without naming the route leaves the fire engineer and the certifier to reconcile it later. See ncc-external-walls.

Standards and references

• NATSPEC Building package worksections
• NATSPEC TECHnote series and NATSPEC Reference documents
• NATSPEC National BIM Guide and NATSPEC BIM Reference Schedule
• AUS-SPEC, the NATSPEC system for infrastructure and asset management
• NCC 2022 Volume One (check the edition adopted in your jurisdiction)
• AS 1530.1, AS 5637.1 and AS 5113, commonly cited in facade worksections
• AS/NZS ISO 12006-2 Building construction: organization of information about construction works
• NBS (United Kingdom) and MasterSpec (United States and New Zealand) as international equivalents

Related terms

• Specification
• NBS
• MasterSpec
• NCC external wall requirements
• Tolerances
• BIM and facade modelling

Questions specifiers ask

Reviewed by Richard Halvorsen, General Manager, ShapeShift Technologies. Last updated September 2026.