Building construction utilising applied coatings is well known and has been used around the world for many years and is now becoming popular in Australia.

One known construction technique which has become popular in Australia is a thermal wall system which uses an insulation board to cover a building frame structure, for example, and then uses an applied coating to cover the insulation board. In many instances the insulation board is cellular polystyrene foam in sheet form which is fixed to the frame structure or to a building internal wall and then covered with an applied coating. The insulation board is generally of a thickness in the range 50-150 mm and is fixed by mechanical fixing means to the building frame or may be glued and mechanically fixed to a building outer wall. The coating is of a thickness up to about 10 mm. The coating may be applied also to more conventional constructions such as over brick wall surfaces.

A problem or more precisely an inconvenience occurs with existing constructions using applied coatings where there is a corner or, where an opening or penetration is present in a building wall, such as, for example, a window, door or other aperture or a join where there is an ending (edge) of the wall. In such cases a tradesman applying the coating has to return the surface coating into the aperture or make a straight and vertical corner in order to cover the edge of the foam sheet and this requires skill to ensure a straight and uniform corner which is perfectly vertical or horizontal as the case may be. This procedure is also time-consuming and hence costly.

In instances where a window or door reveal (as described in our Australian Patent Application 751794 is fitted into an aperture prior to installation of the coating the aforementioned problem does not exist because the reveal projects

outwardly from the wall surface providing an abutment up to which the applied coating is finished. However, not all buildings utilise the reveal and therefore there are many occasions where the labour intensive procedure described above is necessary.

An object of the present invention is to provide a building corner component which at least reduces the labour intensive task described hereinabove.

Accordingly, the invention provides a building component comprising a pair of parallel spaced elongate flat members having a thickness equivalent to the thickness of a coating to be applied to the building wall surface, said members being joined together along adjacent first elongate edges by a flexible joint, and each having a fibreglass or plastics, or like mesh moulded therein so as to extend from the second elongate edge thereof, whereby in use, said mesh is incorporated into said coating.

Preferably said mesh extends along the length of said members.

Preferably each member is moulded from cement fibre-reinforced light weight render and said mesh is E-glass mesh.

Preferably each said second elongate edge is bevelled from a front face of the members outwardly to a rear face whereby the rear face of each member is of greater area than the front face, said rear face being the face which, in use, is against a building wall surface.

Preferably said mesh extends through both members in a single piece and forms said flexible joint.

Preferably said members are spaced apart a short distance sufficient to enable them to be arranged in mutually perpendicular relationship around an internal or external corner of a building.

Preferably said mesh extends between said members at said joint, in a plane substantially mid-way between the plane of the front and the rear face of each member.

Preferably said mesh extends from said second edge of each member in a plane closely adjacent the plane of said rear face.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood a particular embodiment will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: FIGURE 1 is a part perspective view of a building component according to the invention; FIGURE 2 is an end view of the component shown in FIGURE 1 but shows the component in a flat condition prior to use; FIGURE 3 is a perspective view on a reduced scale showing the component in the earlier FIGURES in position on an external corner of a building wall; FIGURE 3a is a plan view of the component as shown in FIGURE 3; FIGURE 4 is a perspective view, on a reduced scale, showing the component of FIGURES 1 and 2 in position on an internal corner of a building wall; and FIGURE 4a is a plan view of the component as shown in FIGURE 4.

As is evident in the drawings the building component comprises a pair of essentially flat elongate members 10 each having a front face 11 and a rear face 12.

Each of the faces 11 and 12 is of rectangular shape and comprises longitudinal edges 13 and transverse end edges 14.

The members 10 are moulded from cement fibre-reinforced light-weight render. The reinforcing comprises fibreglass reinforcing mesh 15 which extends through each member 10 between the front face 11 and the rear face 12. The reinforcing mesh serves to join the two members 10 together in spaced relationship along adjacent longitudinal edges 13. In other words, the reinforcing mesh 15 forms a flexible connection between the two members 10.

The other two longitudinal edges 13, that is, the edges opposite the edges which are joined by the reinforcing mesh 15 are bevelled edges which extend

outwardly from the front face 11 to the rear face 12. Consequently, the rear face 12 has a greater surface area than the front face 11.

The reinforcing mesh 15 is a single piece of mesh which is moulded into the members 10 and extends entirely therethrough. The mesh 15 forms wings 16 which project from the bevelled edges and as is evident in FIGURE 2, the mesh is arranged substantially mid-way between the front and rear faces of each member 10 at the point where the members are joined together and is arranged substantially at the rear face 12 of each member where it projects from the bevelled edges.

In use, as shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, the building component extends around a corner of a building wall structure to provide a uniformly straight edge to which a rendered surface is finished. In other words, the component is attached to the building wall surface either by nailing or by glue or other fixing means to form a straight vertical cover and then render is applied to the wall surface 17 over the wings 16 of reinforcing mesh and up to the bevelled longitudinal edges 13. The thickness of the members 10, that is, the distance between the front and rear faces, is equivalent to the thickness of the render which is to be applied to the wall surface 17. The elongate members 10 extend substantially at 90° to each other when the component is fixed to the corner of a wall and by establishing a vertical corner when the component is installed enables a tradesman to render up to the component without the need to form a perfect corner in the rendering process. In the case of an external corner it is necessary to place render in the join 18 between the respective members 10 in order to close the gap and finish the corner properly. The wings 16 become embedded in the render which is applied to the wall surface 17 and therefore, when the process is completed the component is held firmly in place.

The component may be applied to an external corner as shown in FIGURES 3 and 3a or an internal corner as shown in FIGURES 4 and 4a. Because of the nature of the component, it can be used in corners which are not a true 90° corner.

In other words, since the members 10 can be set at an angle to each other which is greater or less than 90° the component provides flexibility for use in many different situations.

The component may also be used, for example, at expansion joints in a wall and in such a situation the component is arranged in a flat condition as shown in FIGURE 2 with the gap between the two members 10 bridging the expansion joint.

The members 10 form straight vertical ends to the wall surface on either side of the expansion joint and the tradesman can readily apply the rendered coating on the wall up to the respective members 10. The reinforcing mesh extending between the members may then be cut-away or merely left in place.

As will be evident to the skilled addressee the cross-sectional shape of the members forming the component may be varied from that described above as may the material from which it is formed.