Products which are used in building projects throughout Australia will be subject to new requirements relating to minimum information, labelling and digital traceability under changes to building regulation which are being canvassed by the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB).

And designated products will need to be listed on a new national register.

The ABCB has released a discussion paper which outlines the principles and likely scope of a proposed national building product registration scheme.

This follows a direction of Building Ministers in June in which the Ministers instructed the ABCB to develop proposals for a national product register as well as new product requirements regarding minimum information, product labelling and traceability.

Toward this end, the discussion paper outlines key principles behind how a building product registration scheme may operate.

According to the paper, features of the new scheme are likely to include:

• New requirements for minimum product information. As part of the scheme, product manufacturers and suppliers would need to provide minimum information about their products in plain English using a standardised format. If accepted, this change will be introduced via new evidence of suitability requirements in the National Construction Code (NCC). It will apply to all products irrespective of whether or not the product is listed on the new register (see below).
• New requirements for building product traceability. In addition, products which are used in construction will need to have a digital identifier such as a barcode or QR code through which the movement of products can be traced throughout the supply chain. This will link back to the minimum information referred to above. As with the above, the proposed traceability requirements will apply to all products.
• A new risk-based category of ‘designated products’ in the NCC. Exactly what would be a designated product would be determined by the ABCB in consultation with states and territories and would depend upon the product’s uses, safety and risk of defects. Designated product categories are likely to include fire safety systems as well as structural and waterproofing products and products which are difficult to verify or assess.
• Establishment of a national register for building products that will be operated by the ABCB on behalf of states and territories. Registration will be mandatory for designated products as referred to above but will be voluntary for other products.

To avoid unnecessary duplication, the Scheme will leverage existing processes where appropriate and will not duplicate any suitable industry or other schemes that are working well.

The latest proposal comes as building product quality and safety has been a significant concern throughout Australia over the past decade.

In its announcement of the scheme, the ABCB said that Australia like many other countries has experienced significant challenges with building products that do not conform to the NCC.

It says that building product information in Australia is often not adequate.

This can result in:

• products being used in a way that is not compliant with the NCC (e.g. installation)
• slow and/or inaccurate building product choices for NCC conformance
• inferior products in construction and renovation, and/or
• dangerous products being used in construction and renovation (e.g. flammable cladding)

By contrast, the Board says that the scheme will deliver benefits including the provision of product information which is more accurate and trustworthy.

In turn, this will help to improve the quality and safety of newly constructed building, streamline and reduce approval timeframes through provision of clearer and more robust information, facilitate greater innovation and market driven choices and facilitate better and more efficient regulation by providing an improved focus for investigations and enforcement.

The proposed new scheme responds to two of the proposed reforms that have arisen out of work that aimed to produce recommendations to improve building product quality and safety throughout Australia.

That work, in turn, arose out of a recommendation from the Building Confidence Report published in 2018 by Professor Peter Shergold and lawyer Bronwyn Weir that suggested that the Building Ministers Meeting agrees its position on the establishment of a compulsory product certification system for high-risk building products.

In releasing the paper, the ABCB stresses that no firm decisions about the final design of the aforementioned scheme have been made.

Instead, the paper outlines a reasonably detailed proposal for discussion to help interested parties to understand the potential parameters of the scheme.

Feedback will be considered by the ABCB and building ministers prior to any final decisions being made.

In addition to the discussion paper, the ABCB has also released independent modelling which shows that the benefits of a scheme as outlined above would significantly outweigh the costs.

All up, the modelling from the Centre for International Economics suggest that benefits will range from $1.202 billion to $2.482 billion. This will outweigh costs of between $130 million and $289 million.

Bronwyn Weir, co-author of the aforementioned Building Confidence report and a leader in the formation of aforementioned recommendations, welcomed the paper’s release.

“I’m very pleased to see the government is progressing with consultation on these potential reforms,” Weir said.

“I believe that are long overdue and could underpin a significant improvement in building product compliance and transparency if implemented well. The proposal for traceability on products (such as bar codes or similar) could have the added benefit of improving productivity and digitalisation of the industry. “

Feedback on the proposed scheme is open until October 3, 2024.

Enjoying Sourceable articles? Subscribe for Free and receive daily updates of all articles which are published on our site

Want to grow your sales, reach more new clients and expand your client base across Australia’s design and construction sector?

Advertise on Sourceable and have your business seen by the thousands of architects, engineers, builders/construction contractors, subcontractors/trade contractors, property developers and building industry suppliers who read our stories across the civil, commercial and residential construction sector