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Construction material checklist from site conditions

Generate a first-draft checklist of concrete, steel, timber, fastener, glazing, insulation and waterproofing items from a site's screening results, for the project engineer to confirm or rewrite. It is a checklist of topics, not a specification.

  • 5 material checklists per month
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The problem

Site conditions run straight into the material schedule. A coastal site changes the concrete grade, cover, galvanising and fasteners. A bushfire rating changes timber species, glazing and fixings. Reactive soil changes the footing design, a cold climate zone changes the insulation, and a cyclonic wind region changes tie-downs and glazing. Pulling a first list together by hand means working through each condition against several standards, and it is easy to forget one.

A first-draft list keyed to the site's conditions gives the engineer something to mark up, rather than a blank page. What it must not do is fill the gaps: a condition nobody has established is not the mildest condition.

How it works

MaterialSpec doesn't have a page of its own. It is the Material Specs tab inside SiteIQ, the site assessment tool, and the MaterialSpec address redirects there.

  1. Run a site assessment from the address. SiteIQ supplies the wind region, and reports soil, corrosion and usually flood as not assessed.
  2. For a bushfire input, record the BAL from a bushfire assessment on the Bushfire Detail tab, or enter it on the Material Specs tab.
  3. On the Material Specs tab, enter any conditions you hold from your own reports: wind sub-region, BAL, AS 2870 soil class, corrosivity category, NCC climate zone and flood zone. Each is labelled as your input and used as given, unchecked.
  4. Select Generate Material Schedule. The tool returns line items in seven categories: concrete, steel, timber, fasteners, glass, insulation and waterproofing. Each has specification text, the standards it refers to, the reason, any alternatives, and a marker where it needs attention or a condition is still to be determined. General notes follow.

The schedule comes from a fixed set of rules, not from AI. The same conditions always produce the same schedule. Where a condition was not supplied, the item says what has to be determined and by whom instead of naming a grade, a class or a coating. Standard designations carry no edition, amendment or clause number, because the tool tracks no editions and its references were unverified. It is not saved to your Documents list and there is no export button, so copy anything you want to keep.

Worked example

Illustrative inputs, not a real site: the conditions the schedule gets for a rural-residential lot in Victoria, with no BAL recorded or entered.

  • wind Region A, not cyclonic
  • bushfire: no BAL assessment
  • soil class: not assessed
  • corrosion category: not assessed
  • NCC climate zone: not entered
  • flood: not assessed

For these conditions the tool returns 12 line items, of which 6 are marked to determine: concrete grade and cover, the footing system, the steel protective treatment, the timber durability class, the external fixings and the insulation. The other six — structural steel, reinforcement, tie-downs, termite management, glazing and wet area waterproofing — are topic checklists naming the standards to look up, with no grade or value. They do not depend on any of the missing conditions. The notes name every condition that was not supplied and say that its absence is not a finding that the site is mild, stable, dry or clear of bushfire. An automated test runs these conditions through the tool's own code and fails if this result changes.

What you would do next: use the six "to determine" items as the brief for the assessments you commission, and the rest as a checklist of topics. When the geotechnical report and corrosivity category arrive, enter them and generate again; have the engineer write the specification from the confirmed site data and the current standards.

What it doesn't do

  • It is not a specification. The items are indicative. The project engineer must confirm every line before any of it goes into documents.
  • It fills no gaps. A condition that neither SiteIQ nor you have supplied produces a "to determine" item, not a default value. The schedule used to assume a fixed wind region, soil class, corrosion category and climate zone when nothing was supplied.
  • It doesn't know your building. Building size, structure, use and the exposure of each element are not inputs. No concrete grade or cover is stated, and no timber hazard class is chosen: the project engineer sets each one for each element from AS 3600 and AS 1604, using conditions this tool does not know.
  • Its references carry no editions. Standard designations are given bare and the clause numbers have been removed. Check each standard against the current published edition (buy standards from Standards Australia).
  • It is not advice on your site. No one has looked at the site. Bushfire, soil and flood conditions need the assessments that the notes list.

Codes and standards our tools refer to

We refer to Australian Standards by name, designation and clause number only, and show none of their text, values or requirements. Our NCC 2025 entries are summaries of ABCB material published under CC BY 4.0. Buy the full text of a standard from Standards Australia. How we use standards.

  • NCC 2025
  • AS 3600 — Concrete
  • AS 4100 — Steel
  • AS/NZS 1170 — Loads
  • AS 1720 — Timber
  • AS 2870 — Footings
  • AS 3959 — Bushfire
  • AS 4055 — Wind

Questions engineers ask

Is the material schedule written by AI?

No. It comes from a fixed set of rules that map each site condition to line items, so the same conditions always give the same schedule. The rules can still be wrong or out of date for your project, and every line needs checking.

What happens to a condition I haven't supplied?

It produces an item saying what has to be determined and by whom, not a value. The schedule used to default to a fixed wind region, soil class, corrosion category and climate zone, and return AS-cited items derived from all four. The absence of an item is never a finding that the site is mild, stable, dry or clear of bushfire.

Which site conditions does it use?

Wind region, bushfire rating, soil class, corrosion category, climate zone and flood zone. SiteIQ's site assessment supplies the wind region and reports soil, corrosion and usually flood as not assessed; it shows the NCC climate zone, and in Victoria and Tasmania any flood planning control, on its overview, but the schedule takes them only if you enter them. You can enter any of the six you hold on the Material Specs tab, where each is labelled as your input and used as given. A BAL reaches the schedule only if you record one from a bushfire assessment on the Bushfire Detail tab or enter one on the Material Specs tab. No wind class is used: the Wind Detail tab names none.

Why is there no concrete grade or cover, or timber hazard class?

Concrete grade and cover, and the timber hazard class, are for the project engineer to set for each element from the standards that govern them (AS 3600 for concrete, AS 1604 for timber preservative treatment), using conditions this tool does not know. The timber hazard class used to be derived from the site's corrosivity category, which is a different quantity.

Can I paste the schedule into my specification?

Only after the project engineer has checked every line. Standard designations carry no edition or clause number, because the tool tracks no editions and its references were unverified, and the tool knows nothing about your building's structure or use.

Where do I find it?

On the Material Specs tab of SiteIQ, after you run a site assessment. The schedule is not saved to your Documents list and cannot be exported, so copy anything you want to keep.

Related tools

Try it on your next job. Every output is a starting point for a qualified engineer to check.

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StructBy AI outputs are automated or AI-assisted and must be reviewed by a qualified, registered engineer before anyone relies on them. They are not professional engineering, legal or regulatory advice, and they do not replace a site inspection or a formal assessment. Our NCC entries are summaries of ABCB material, not the text of the NCC. Australian Standards are referred to by name, designation and clause number only; their full text is sold by Standards Australia. Verify every value and clause against the current published edition before you use it in design or documentation.