@ ) The shadecloth installation industry is largely unregrulatedin Australia. The installer may have little knowledge about the corlect method of desigrn and installation to ensure proper protection. ) Some shadecloths are susceptible to stretching, whether'through incorrect tensioning during installation, or deterioration. This may reduce their W protection. haveembraced theoutdoors'like no A ustralians f ilother nation, withcompact courtyards andrambling backyards readily converted intoextensions of ourliving areas, thanks to synthetic shade. A rangeof smartshade devices comeintrendystyles andvibrant colours, and manyofferreassuring claims of maximum ultraviolet protection. radiation {UVR) hasfound, CHOICE however, thattheUVRratingof theshadecloth is onlyhalfthestory. Theshadecloth industry is largely unregulated andserious knowledge gapsexistinthewaythesedevices should bedesigned andinstalled. lgnorance ofthelevelofshade coverage necessary thechoice ofmaterials andwherea shade structure should beorientated in relation tothesun mayallcontribute towards a structure thatprovides protection dangerously inadequate againstthesun. lf theshadecloth is improperly stretched, thiscould alsoreduce itsstatedUVRprotection. WHYSHADE DEVICES FAIL Accordingto architectJohn Greenwood,directorof the shadeauditfirm, WebShade, there are a few reasons most shadedevicesfait. . The wrong materials are used,such as shade fabric with too low a . . ptastic UVprotection levet,or eventranstucent roofinginstead of onethatis potycarbonate, whichoffers99%UVRbtock. T h es h a d e c to th ' s tru c tu reotbi genough isn to createshadeoverthe targetarea. Po o rp ta n n i nogf w h e res h a dei s si ted,suchas noterectingshadewhereit is needed. 16 IWWW.CHOICE.COM.AU Can you trust the industry? Withtheexceptions of Oueensland andVictoria, where installers mustholda validbuilder's licence, anyone can setthemselves installer. upasa shade Evenwitha builder's licence, thereis noguarantee qualifications, aninstaller willhaveanyspscific experience or advanced knowledge of shadedevices andtheircorrect installation. A high-protection shadecloth in sucha waythat couldbeinstalled protection. its compromisesstatedUV "There process is noformaleducation of howto put upa shadecloth, sotheonlywayisto gooutthereanddo it,"saysJohnSimmonds, director of Billabong in Shades "Theproblem Victoria. withthistrial-and-error method is thatsometimes theerroris madeandthecustomer has to payfor it." Technical aspects of howto design anderectan effective making shade sailinclude suretheclothhas therighttensile strength to takedifferent windloadsand thatthesupports aresufficiently stable. 0rientation to thesunalsomatters;there is littleusehaving theshade yourneighbour's pit. sheltering barbecue What's in a shadecloth? - knitted Therearetwotypesof shadecloth andwoven. Mostfordomestic andcommercial useareofknitted grades, fabric, eachavailable inseveral fromlighttoextra heavy. fabricsgenerally Commercial-grade offersuperior protection intermsof UVRblockandstrength astheyare designed forlarger spans. Domestic-grade shadecloth is (seeDomestic soldathardware stores andCommercial page18),andofferbetween Knitted Fabrics, Shadecloth forbothplants 50%and99%UVRprotection andpeople. Australia recommend Cancer Councils across shade structures havea UVRblockof atleast94%. fabricoff you'rea DlYer upshade sizing Whether a hardware shadesailfrom a readymade theroll,buying supplier, a shadecloth from swatches at or looking store . Choosethe fabric wisety Dark,ctosetywovenand heavyfabric A shadecloth rating. UVR checkfortheshadecloth's bl.ocko s r a b s o r b sm o r e U V r a d i a t i o nt h a n t i g h t e rf a b r i c s .D i f f e r e n t t b i t i t i e st o b t o c ko r a b s o r bU V r a d i a t i o n . f a b r i c s h a v ed i f f e r e n a witha 98%UVRratingmeansit blocks98%of UVR guide,shadectothshoutdprovidesat least 940lo general As a radiation. ultraviolet protectionor greater. " M o sp t e o p lgeof o rc o l o uar n dc o s ti n c h o o s i n g director JohnGreenwood, . Consider saysarchitect shadecloth," a shadeauditof thesitewhere a shadeauditConduct qualified, and "From Youdon'thaveto be professionatty shadeis required. theshadeaudits of shadeauditfirmWebShade. publ .i cati ons canbeusedasa gui del g o A ustrati a' s C ounci t C ancer knowledge is a huge there it is obvious we havedone, the assessing A shadeauditinctudes to www.cancercounci[.com.au). e ake w h i l eb u y i nagn d g a pi nt h ec h o i c epse o p lm currentshadeof a siteaswe[[thetypes,timesandmonthsof use. t hge m . " installin hetpto ptana shadedesignthatmeetstheneeds A shadeauditwil.l. use. of thesi teandi tsi ntended has Greenwood audits shade lnthenumerous he andNewZealand, 0ueensland in NSW, conducted . Setectyour instatler carefutty Checkthe credentiatsof the shade if theyknowtheUVRprotection askshisclients always . o e st h e c o m p a n y p r o v i d e ra n d t h e q u a t i t yo f t h e s h a d e c t o t hD used."l findit andthetypeof material oftheshadecloth i n c l . u d ea s t r u c t u r a Ie n g i n e e r ' sr e p o r tf o r t h e s i t e a n d s t r u c t u r e ? ? o t h e y p r o v i d eo n g o i n gs e r v i c e ss u c h W h a t w a r r a n t ya p p l , i e s D thetypeof materialthe knows veryrarewhensomeone m a i n t e n a n c ea n d c t e a n i n g ?W h a t a r e t h e c h e c k s , a s s a f e t y is madeof andhowmuchUVR bought sailthey shade s p e c i f i c a t i o nos f t h e c t o t h u s e d ?H a s i t b e e ni n d e p e n d e n t ttye s t e d saysGreenwood. blockit offers," t o c o n f i r r pt h e U V r a d i a t i o np r o t e c t i o nl e v e t ?W h a t i s t h e d u r a b i t i t y of stretching. Thenthereistheaddeduncertainty of the ctoth? "TheUVRblockisthesinglemostimportant determinant . D oyouneedapprovat? C onfi rmw i thyourl ocaIcounciwl hether sunburn. against of protection thedegree of assessing youneeda permi tto putup theshadecl oth' dueto improper isstretched Butwhena shadecloth saysChristopher Source:CancerCouncilNSW itsUVRcouldbelowered," installation, a Warehouses, of Nolan director managing Nolan, since1920. shade thathasbeeninstalling company duringthe "Wesimply gota couple Generally, ofguysto pulla shadecloth betakennotto distortclothstructure is no There preparation test specimens'. the of up when open shadecloths Some directions. indifferent knitted in UVR to testthechange testmethod standard Thekeyis in howyouputit andsomedon't. stretched conditions," shadecloths understretched formaterial transmitted JohnSimmonds. Shade's up,"saysBillabong stretchand ofthe scientist seniorresearch shadecloth saysDrPeterGies, of Oueensland-based TonyWatt,director atARPANSA. Section Radiation is alsoconcerned, Ultraviolet Industries, Pro-Knit manufacturer transmit atthe Science andVision of 0ptometry TheSchool betestedunder should fabrics thatshade arguing more testsonshadecloth of NSWhasperformed University thata Heasks:"Whatisthepointofstating tension. UVRthan Dain, Professor Stephen Standard. to theAustralian offers butwhenstretched has97%UVR, shadecloth says Laboratory, unstretched. of its0pticsandRadiometry director a lowerprotection?" with vary will stretches thathowmucha shadecloth a testmethod fordevising whichis a problem installation, Stretching the truth state. a stretched thatincludes no to ourknowledge, thesesuspicions, Despite "How onhow depends stretch much shadecloths in UVR change for any tested been have shadecloths So installation' in the supported they are where and stretched. protection being levelwhen governed not be should manufacturer provided a shadecloth protection by shadecloth theUVR Currently, saysDain."Generally, bywhatis outoftheircontrol," AS4174 andcanbe Standard byAustralian is covered more and dostretch wouldtransmit knitted shadecloths and Protection Radiation bytheAustralian measured donotstretch Wovenshadecloths (ARPANSA), UVRthanunstretched. Wool Australian Agency Nuclear Safety areverysmall. changes (AWIA)andtheUniversity muchatall,sothetransmission of NSW. Authority Testing "Aninteresting project mightbeto takedown andlndustrial Scientific andCommonwealth TheA\MI'A in useforsometimeandtestit has been (CSlR0), that shadecloth tests shade meanwhile, Research 0rganisation wouldbethemajor stretching which in state, in the used strengths. fabrics fortearandtensile quantify applied tension the to need "ARPANSA Wewould change. in testing outshadecloth carries results," of useto drawmeaningful andtheduration forsynthetic Standards withAustralian accordance hesays.> s h a d e c l oTt hh.es t a n d a rsdp e c i f i et hsa t ' c a rseh o u l d BEFOREYOUBUYSHADECLOTH BU R.U A2ROY( )I 9T 7 W W W . C H O I C E . C OF ME. A Domestic Extra-heavy and claimsbetween 84-90% UVRblock. Commercial Heavydutywith 90% U V Rb l o c km , ade of monofilament. r 0 u n 0y a r n s . I I I t, Commercial N o U V Rb l o c kf i g u r e s s t a t e db, u ti s c l o s e l y k n i t t e da n dc l a i m s $H "UVExtrablock". Classification of sun-protective levels of shadecloth Oor.r,l, "Medium" UVRblock of between 640/o-700/o stated onrolls. Common sense A u s t r a l ihaa so n eo f t h eh i g h e sstk i nc a n c e r a t e si nt h ew o r l d , fo r s u n -p ro te c ti cv leo th i n g i n c l udes Th eA us t r alian S t anda rd A ustral i ans aretreatedfor ski nca ncereach Morethan380,000 s y s t ems i mi l ato r th a tu s e dfo r s u n s c re en a cl a s s if ic at ion y e a r- a b o u 1 t 0 0 0p e o p l e a c hd a y .H a l fo f a l lA u s t r a l i a nasr e o u t,th e c l o thm aybe De p ending on howm u c hU VRi s b l o c k e d w i thski ncancerat somestagei n thei rl i fe.Skincancer di agnosed " Go o dp ro te c ti o n""V , e ryg o o dp ro tecti on" , . or e as of f er ing d e sc r ibed cancerseac hyear M for 80%of al lnew l ydi agnosed accounts pr ot ec t i o n " . o r "Ex c ellent i n Aust r alia aredi agnosed ever y than9500newcasesof mel anoma s e rei s a n e e dfo r a si mi l ar TheCanc er CouncN i l SWb e l i e v eth peopl e year,w i thabout1600 dyi ngannual l yfrom ski ncancer . of shadecloth. According to a systemfor the UVRprotection ! lide! ! lopS ! l a pS ! e e kS i l u s t r a l i aS' sl i p S C a n c eC r o u n cA " anA us tra l i aSnta n d a rd fo r s h a d e c l o sthi mi l ar to the sp o k es per s on, w i thclot hing, beseechi ng usto protectoursel ves campai gn, f or s un- p ro te c ticvleo th i nw g i l li mp ro vceo n sumers' cl a ss if ic at ion i s a catch-afor ll t he layer s hat,shadeandsungl asses, sunscreen, products level." witha lowor highUVRprotection abilityto identify yourski nneedsagai nstharmfulU Vrays. of protecti on " S hadei s an essenti al en x p l a i n eth d a ts hadecl oth A S t andar ds A us t r a l isap o k e s p e rs o partof thesunprotecti on c om binat ion, " " The i n th a tfa c to rss u c hasthe provi si on d i ffe rsf r oms unpr ot e c ti vcel o th i n g of str at egically s saysthe counci l 'spokesperson. e mth e subj ects, pl acedshadecanbe hi ghl yeffecti ve d e si gnands iz eof t hes h a d es tru c tu red,i s ta n c fro i n reduci ng U Vradiat ion a n dd i ffu s e ra d d i a ti o na,sw e l la sthe physi cal exposure, th e l ev elof r ef lec t ed morecom f or t able. the envi ronment asw el las maki ng l o ca t ion of a per s onwi th i nth e s h a d es tru c tu rec,a na ffectthel evel S hadeal onecanreduceU Vradi ati on by75 %, " exposure pr ov ide dT.h i si s w h yth e s u n -p ro te c ti vl evel sof e o f p rot ec t ion aboutbuyi ngshadesai l sor havi ngs hadeclot h Forpoi nters an s s u c h ,a r en o ti n c l u d e idn t h e s h a d e c l o t oh r, a c l a s s i f i c a t i o , B eforeY ouB uyS had eclotpage h, see i nstal l ed by a professi onal A u s t r a l i aSnt a n d a rfdo r s h a d e c l o t h . N S W . from the C ounci l 17,toradvi ce C ancer "UV Rc las s if ic ati oi snn o ti n c l u d e idn th e s ta n d a rd for of th e clot h N ol an:" A s far as sel ecti on S aysC hri stopher i t i s d i ffi c u l ttod e te rmi nan s hadec lotbhe c a u s e e syn th et ic the clot h,t he i s concerned, a rul eof thumbi s thatthe heavi er n r i te msw h i c ha ren o ti n cl ose e p ro te c ti ofo a ccu r at em eas ur of greater In myvi ew ,oneshoul dno tgett oo the U Vprotecti on. p ro xim ittyo t he s k inan dth e c o mmi ttedei dn o tw a n tto provi dea therei s al w aysgoingt o hungup aboutthe U V Rbl ock,because t,i t w as fa l ses ens eof s ec ur it yW. h i l eth e c o m m i tteceo n s i d e rei d y uir es ot her refl ected radi ati on, w hi chl ogi cal lreq be si gni fi cant s uchi n fo rm a ti owno u l dg i v ea fa l s el e velof d e ci dedpr ov iding and andsunscreenBlack . suchas cl othi ng formsof protecti on p ro te c t ion t o us er sasth e rea rema n yo th e rfa c to rsto c onsi der," green really for absorpti on, but should arebettercol ours U V dark A u s tra l isap o k e s p e rs o n . sa yst he S t andar ds notdi ctatechoi ce." it hasnotreceived anyproposals Australia toldCH0ICE Standards on of a shadeclotdepends h A s w el l ,gi venthattheperformance for shadecloth but standard or requests to reviewtheexisting finda skilled i t i s i mportantto andi nstal l ed, thew ay i t i s desi gned whowishesto doso (goto wrruw.standards.org.au/). welcomes anyone I andi nstal l er. desi gner andexperi enced 18 IWWW.CHOICE.COM.AU II 'if The risk to childcare centres Lack of knowledge and expertise in the industrY, resulting in shade devices that fail to provide adequate protection, has signiflcant implications for childcare centres, which are legally obliged to have adequate shade as Part of their licence conditions. Under the Children's Services Regulations 2004(NSW),outdoorplay space"must be adequately shaded" in accordance with guidelines published by Cancer Council NSW's Shade for Child Care Services,inctuding, among other things, that shadecloths should have minim:umg4% ultraviolet radiation block' However, CHOICE discovered that childcare centres are left to their own devices when it comes to ensuring adequate sun protection and compliance to regulation' When Juliet Ranieri (above), director of KU Wahroonga Preschool, was looking to replace the mouldy and saggy shadecloth in the school, she called flve shade installers. Ouote-and-leave attitudes and productpushing characterised her experience among the four flrms she didn't choose. Only one flrm took Ranieri through the kind of materials it would use, the UVR block of the material, how it planned to design the shade and how that would suit what she wanted: a simple green shadecloth with the right WR block that was big enough to cover the chrldren's playground. "One installer tried to convince me I needed multicoloured shadecloths, while another told me they could put the new shade sail over the old poles, which I was told later caused the sag in the old shade sail," says Ranieri. "Another took out two business cards; he was both a shade installer and an electrician." in the end, she chose the instalter who offered the most detailed explanation of what the school's $24'000 was being spent on and who was backed up with credentials from past jobs. Not only did she make the reference checks, she drove around to look at the work the installer had done before. She has never had a professional shade audit done but studied the Cancer Council NSW's gmidehnes and SunSmart recommendations closely' A shade audit is not a pre-condition for a childcare service to be certified SunSmart but Ranieri conducted her own shade assessment before she had the shadecloth put up. CHOICE set up and attended a preliminary shade audit for the KU Wahroonga Preschool with architect and shade auditor John Greenwood (below). The preschool scored 9.5 out of a possible 10 for having the right shade materials and shade projected in the right areas' "Juliet understood the shade needs of her site' She knew what material the shadecloth was made of and what protection it offered. This is rare as many people we have done shade audits for do not know where shade is really needed or what UV protection is required. Her efforts in getting the right installer have been a big factor in achieving a successful shade outcome, " saYs Greenwood. When he conducted audits of seven childcare centres between January 2007 and November 2008, Greenwood found none complied fully with regulations, despite two being SunSmart certifled. CHOICE asked the Department of Community Services (DoCS) and the Cancer Council Australia for solutions they may have considered in ensuring what "adequate shade" is in practice, but no one seems to take responsibility for solving the problem' A Cancer Council Australia spokesperson says: "Regnrlation is the responsibility of state govemments' each of which has its own recommendations or gnridelines for sun protection, shade in outdoor spaces and duty of care. " She added that the Cancer Council is a nongovernment organisation, not an enforcement agency, and cannot regnrlate for shade in early childhood services' A DoCS spokesperson told CHOICE: "DoCS supports moves to improve the quality of equipment used in children's services. However, the installation of equipment in children's services, whether it be shadecloths, playground equipment, or kitchen facilities, is managed by the individual children's service. DoCS does not have a mandate to regulate the shadecloth industry." However, the Iicence conditions that adequate shade must be provided as part of a childcare services facilities and eguipment requirement falls within DoCS'jurisdiction. CHOICE with cHoIcE would like to see stare governmentsbetter monitor childcarecentres'compliance by required as shadecloth, any of installation and audits gruidelines. Shade the CancerCouncil those guidelines,shouldbe enforcedas a conditionof licensingfor childcarecentres' . F. A 2O EU BRUAR Y OI91 9 WWW.CHOICE.COM