Books and Publications

Need a worksection for a particular project that is not included in your package - no problem! Individual worksections can be purchased on a one-off basis - updated documents are not provided twice a year and do not form part of your subscription.
 

NATsource is the list of documents cited in NATSPEC specification packages. It collects key construction standards together in one handy document.

NATsource cover

Use NATsource to check:

  • Document titles: The reference numbers and years of publication of standards are cited in worksections.
  • Document currency: Dates of listed documents are current at 1 March 2023.
  • Document content: Abstracts are provided for most of the listed documents.
  • Document publishers: Australian and overseas publishers are listed.

Specifying Trees provides guidance and specifications for the supplying and purchasing of trees that will establish rapidly and grow strongly to maturity every time. This book is available as Australian Standard AS 2303.

An essential reference for the whole landscape industry − designers, teachers, students, growers and contractors, this new edition incorporates feedback from the industry and provides:

  • Criteria for assessment of all tree stock irrespective of how it is produced.
  • Benchmarks and calculations.
  • Methods for root development and tree balance.
  • A guide specification, based on the assessment criteria, in NATSPEC format.
  • Inspection sheets, diagrams, tables, glossary and a comprehensive index.

Ross Clark has spent much of the last 15 years devoted to the development of nursery practices designed to produce trees of consistently high quality.

Timber in Context − a guide to sustainable use demystifies the debate about the harvesting of timber and its use for construction.

This balanced guide will help specifiers make informed decisions about the selection and sustainable use of timber based on the application, the anticipated life span and the nature of the project. The properties of more than 50 timber species are tabulated and timber use in Sydney 2000 Olympics projects is discussed.

Anne-Marie Willis is Director of Research and Publishing at the EcoDesign Foundation.

Specifying Architecture - a guide to professional practice, argues that whatever the aesthetic and other design sensibilities of a building, it has to be specified and specified well.

Perhaps with specifications in mind Mies van der Rohe, in his 1959 "less is more" article in the New York Herald Tribune, said "Architecture starts when you carefully put two bricks together. There it begins."

Through projects as diverse in time and technique as the ancient Parthenon, the sixteenth century Chateau Chambord, art deco houses in New Zealand and the National Museum of Australia, specifying, literally "being specific", has become an increasingly sophisticated and essential building design skill.

Specifying Architecture - a guide to professional practice, argues that whatever the aesthetic and other design sensibilities of a building, it has to be specified and specified well.

The book discusses contractual, technical and editorial issues in the planning, production and use of specifications. It sets out best-practice professional guidelines, putting modern specification writing into an historical and international context.

This second edition has a new chapter on practice in the UK and US with expanded historical material and contract extracts. The text on specifying construction methods, performance specifying, design and construct, use of standards and product conformance has been completely revised.

The Australian practice on which the book is based is a blend of UK and US techniques making this book an invaluable reference for building professionals and students anywhere in the world. The book is illustrated and has a comprehensive index and bibliography.

Author John Gelder RAIA RIBA CSI is an architect with extensive experience in construction documentation and in the publishing of master specifications. He was Chief Editor of NATSPEC and is now Special Projects Co-ordinator of the UK National Building Specification.