The Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) is a standards writing body responsible for the National Construction Code, WaterMark and CodeMark Australia Certification Schemes.

We are a joint initiative of the Commonwealth and State and Territory Governments in Australia, together with the building and plumbing industries to improve productivity through the consolidation of all on-site construction requirements into a single code.

Our focus is on developing and maintaining minimum, proportionate and cost effective technical requirements that provide for the health and safety, amenity and accessibility, and sustainability of buildings. Moreover, the ABCB endeavours to make sure the Code is an industry staple—working hard to consolidate and simplify the technical requirements, improving industry understanding and ensuring national consistency

Established by an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA), the Board consists of 18 members, including:

  • an independent Chair
  • a representative from the Commonwealth, state and territory agencies responsible for building matters
  • up to 7 industry representatives
  • a representative of the Australian Local Government Association.

The ABCB is an agency within the Department of Industry, Science and Resources. The ABCB reports to the Australian Government Minister and State and Territory Ministers responsible for building and plumbing regulatory matters, known as the Building Ministers' Meeting.

The work of the ABCB is delivered by the ABCB Office.

Members

Name

Representing

Organisation

Glenys Beauchamp PSM

Chair

 

John Tansey

NSW

Department of Customer Services

TBC

Vic

Victorian Building Authority

Ainslie Barron

Qld

Department of Energy and Public Works

Saj Abdoolakhan

WA

Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety

Michael Burdett

SA

Department of Trade and Investment

Ross Smith

Tas

Department of Justice

Ben Ponton

ACT

Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate

Mark Meldrum

NT

Department of Planning and Infrastructure

Deb Anton

Australian Government

Department of Industry, Science and Resources

TBC

Local government

TBC

Penny Cornah

Industry

Master Plumbers’ Association of Queensland

Stephen Kip

Industry

SKIP Consulting Pty Ltd

Richard Choy

Industry

NATSPEC

Kristin Brookfield

Industry

Housing Industry Association

Wayne Smith

Industry

National Fire Industry Association

Dan Perkins

Industry

Perkins Builders

Melissa Chandler

Industry

Lendlease

Public Record of board meetings

The Board meets several times each year, but decisions of the Board are most prominently seen in the published updates to the National Construction Code. From November 2022, we will publish a brief Public Record after each meeting to give interested parties more visibility of our work and the matters we are considering.

Links to the public records of board meetings can be found in the list below.

Public RecordPublication Date
ABCB Board Meeting November 202220 December 2022
ABCB Board Meeting March and April 202317 May 2023