Standards and specifications

Last updated: 8 November 2023

Standards and specifications play a critical role when developing, selecting and specifying the most appropriate products and materials for projects.

What are standards?

Standards are published documents that set out specifications and design procedures to ensure products and services consistently perform safely, reliably, and the way they're intended to.

There are Australian and international standards, standards developed by certain regulators, and industry standards developed by professional industry associations which relate to the performance of particular activities within the industries.

Standards are living documents which are updated to suit the changing needs of the economy and community. Standards are everywhere in your daily life, from the buildings you live in, to the way seatbelts operate in your car.

What are specifications?

Specifications outline the requirements of a specific company or product. A specification provides specific requirements for the materials, components or services used in an application. Sometimes, a specification will also dictate the installation or design layout of those components. Specification requirements may go above and beyond what is required in the standard.

Recycled content standards and specifications

Department of Transport (formerly VicRoads)

The Department of Transport (DoT) is a national leader in the use of recycled products in pavement construction. They take an equal opportunity approach to specification that is intended to allow contractors to choose between equivalent recycled or virgin quarry materials, based on price and availability.

Below are some DoT sections that include considerations for recycled content.

Reference number	Title	Recycled materials
Section 405	Regulation Gap Graded Asphalt	RAP (Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement)
Section 408	Sprayed Bituminous Surfacings	Tyres/rubber
Section 204	Earthworks	RAP (Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement), tyres/rubber, aggregate, glass
Section 407	Hot mix asphalt	RAP (Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement)
Section 421	High Binder Crumb Rubber Asphalt	Tyres/rubber
Section 422	Light Traffic Crumb Rubber Asphalt	RAP (Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement), tyres/rubber
Section 610	Structural concrete	Slag, fly ash
Section 701	Underground Stormwater Drains	Slag, fly ash
Section 702	Subsurface Drainage	RAP (Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement), slag,aggregate, glass
Section 703	General concrete paving	Slag, glass
Section 705	Drainage pits and covers.	Glass, slag, fly ash
Section 707	Fencing	Slag, fly ash
Section 765	Noise attenuation walls	Recycled products with physical properties that comply
Section 801	Materials Sources for the production of crushed rock and aggregates	RAP (Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement), crushed concrete, Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) slag, glass and brick (supplementary material only)
Section 812	Crushed rock for pavement base and sub-base	Aggregate, glass, crushed brick, crushed concrete
Section 813	Base and Subbase for Lower Trafficked Roads	Aggregate, glass, crushed brick, crushed concrete
Section 815	Cementitious Treated Crushed Rock for Pavement Subbase	Aggregate, glass, crushed brick, crushed concrete
Search 107 at: Technical note 107	Use of recycled materials in road pavements	RAP (Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement),tyres/rubber, aggregate, glass, crushed concrete, crushed brick

Please note: Some of these standards cross-reference each other creating opportunities to use recycled materials. For example, Section 705 (Drainage Pits) references Section 703 (General Concrete Paving) which allows the use of slag and unwashed glass.

Organics

Reference number	Title	Recycled materials
AS 4454-2003	Australian Standard for Compost and Mulch	Organics
AS 4419-2003	Soils for landscaping and garden use	Organics/soils