On 8 August 2016 the Building Designers Association of Victoria (BDAV) is presenting a webinar on the latest version of the FirstRate 5 manual, which may be of interest to FirstRate5 users. Well-known industry identity, Tony Isaacs, will explain how the manual is laid out; where to look for things; and will run through some of the 'trickier' contents in the manual. This webinar will be useful for all users of FirstRate5, including users already familiar with the manual.

Sustainability Victoria has decided to discontinue the sale by tender of FirstRate5. The tender process for the sale of FirstRate5 was initiated by SV in May 2015. That process has now been discontinued with the software to be retained in Victorian Government ownership.

FirstRate5 v5.2.​3a (3.13) is now available as a free download from www.fr5.com.au. This version is a minor bug fix release with a number of additional enhancements included. Full details are available in the software Release Notes, which can be opened by clicking ‘Release Notes’ under the Help menu.

Sustainable design, construction and building industry sector are now invited to enter their projects into the Victorian Premier's Sustainability Awards and share their achievements. Entries are now open for businesses, organisations, state and local government and individuals who are leading the way in innovative sustainable construction.

We are pleased to announce the following FirstRate5 changes. •Release of the new FirstRate5 manual •Release of FR5 v5.2.3 (3.13) •Updates to the FirstRate5 website See below for further details.