New South Wales is set to join Queensland in adopting changes to the building code from May next year.

But adoption timeframes among remain uncertain in several other states and territories.

On Wednesday, the New South Wales Government announced that it will adopt the 2025 update of the National Construction Code (NCC 2025) on May 1, 2027.

The building industry in that state will now have just over twelve months to prepare for the changes.

This follows last week’s announcement from the Queensland Government that it will adopt NCC 2025 on that same date.

The announcement comes amid uncertainty about the timing of when updates to the building code will come into force across various states and territories.

The National Construction Code (NCC) is Australia’s primary set of technical documents which governs the design and construction of building and plumbing work across the country.

It sets out the minimum required level of performance which new buildings are expected to meet in terms of safety, health, amenity, accessibility and sustainability.

As things stand, the Code is updated every three years. However, the frequency of future updates is currently the subject of a review of the Code and its governance arrangements.

Changes within the 2025 update of the Code are modest in nature. They include amendments to commercial energy efficiency, water management, car park fire safety, condensation management and provision of all-gender sanitary facilities.

This follows more extensive changes which occurred in the 2022 updates as well as a decision by the nation’s building ministers to defer all non-essential residential amendments until at least the end of the Housing Accord period in 2029.

The latest announcements come amid a lack of certainty about the timing of adoption of NCC 2025 across several states and territories.

Officially, the final version of the new Code is set to be published by the Australian Building Codes Board on May 1 this year.

States and territories may adopt the new version of the Code at any stage on or after this date.

Aside from Queensland and New South Wales, however, only the ACT and Tasmania have made any announcements about the Code’s adoption timeframe (see below).

The ACT has confirmed that it intends to mandate adoption of NCC 2025 from 1 November this year (individual projects may adopt the Code from 1 May should they wish to do so).

Tasmania has announced its intention to freeze NCC changes and delay adoption of NCC 2025.

Elsewhere, adoption timeframes across Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory remain uncertain.

 

Small variations in NSW

In addition to its announcement regarding timing, the NSW Government also announced yesterday that it will adopt several variations to the new code.

In particular, the NSW variations will provide a choice for apartment owners when undertaking remedial work as to whether to use the new waterproofing requirements which are asset out in NCC 2025 or to use current requirements.

In addition, the state will also ensure that new energy efficiency standards which are set to apply to commercial buildings will not apply to common areas of apartment buildings.

 

Transition gives industry time to adjust

In a statement, Minister for Building Anoulack Chanthivong said that the transition period to commencing NCC 2025 will provide the construction industry with adequate time to prepare for the upcoming changes.

As for the variations, the government says that these are designed to ensure that the new building code has minimal impact on the residential construction sector.

“The Minns Labor Government is focused on building more homes to buy and rent for the people of NSW,” Minns said.

“We are working in lockstep with the construction industry to ensure these homes are high-quality, safe and sustainable. The NCC 2025 represents sensible and reasonable steps towards that goal.

“We want to make sure this does not cause disruption to the construction sector’s ability to deliver homes and meet housing demand in NSW, which is why we have provided a 12-month transition period to the new NCC requirements.

“This transition period will also minimise future compliance risk by allowing industry to plan for the changes in the NCC 2025 and factor them into their new projects ahead of time.”

 

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