Cessation of all forms of sandwich wall sewerage pipe use

Developers, contractors and engineering consultants are to note that as of 1 December 2016, no forms of sandwich wall pipe will be accepted for sewerage construction works on the Gold Coast. Only plain wall uPVC sewerage pipe will be accepted, i.e. one continuous layer of solid PVC throughout the pipe.

Solid core sandwich wall pipe will be allowed up until 1 December 2016. However, foam core sandwich wall pipe is not accepted at all.

This is to conform with Item 230 - 4.1 on the SEQ Water Supply and Sewerage Design and Construction Code Accepted Civil Products and Materials List, which states that plain wall uPVC pipe is only to be accepted for non-pressure sewerage pipes and fittings.

Gold Coast Water is committed to ensuring our customers are satisfied with the Quality, Safety and Compliance of our assets within the City of Gold Coast. To ensure we are delivering on our commitment, a high level of detailed investigation surrounding the construction and inspection of our assets is important.

With sandwich wall pipe, Gold Coast Water has noticed consistent pipe spigot delamination of the internal pure PVC layer in both factory pipes and field cut pipes. This create defects and deformation within the pipe’s internal surface creating obstructions to laminar flow. As a result there is potential for rag catching, pipe blockage, and delamination of the matrix of different PVC formats over time, reducing the pipe’s life expectancy.

The defects caused by the use of sandwich wall pipe have increased the time taken to review and approve the CCTV test packages and have a considerable effect on the overall time taken for plan sealing approval.

For more information, please contact Kerim Sijercic at Gold Coast Water (07 5582 8386).