Reasonably practicable
Reasonably practicable is the standard of care required by the WHS Act. Understand what it means in practice for Australian residential builders.
Ask Chalkline about this →“Reasonably practicable” is the standard used throughout the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 to qualify the duty of care owed by a PCBU. A PCBU must do what is reasonably practicable to eliminate or minimise a risk, not what is theoretically possible or what would eliminate all risk at any cost.
Section 18 of the model WHS Act defines it: a matter is reasonably practicable if it is, or was, reasonably able to be done at the time, having regard to the likelihood of the hazard or risk occurring, the degree of harm that might result, knowledge about the hazard and ways to control it, availability and suitability of control measures, and after considering all of these, the cost of eliminating or minimising the risk (verified 2026-05-10).
In practice: if a guardrail costs $400 and protects workers from a two-storey fall, it is almost certainly reasonably practicable. If a risk is negligible and the control is prohibitively expensive, it may not be. Courts and regulators apply this standard objectively, not based on what the PCBU subjectively believed.
Also known as: SFAIRP (So Far As Is Reasonably Practicable), SFARP.
Category: WHS law
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Last updated: 2026-05-10. Verified: 2026-05-10. Quarterly review for currency.