So far, May has been a big month for the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB), with consultations opening for public feedback, as well as hosting several in person and online events.
The Public Comment Draft (PCD) for the next edition of the National Construction Code (NCC) opened for public consultation on 1 May. The consultation period allows people with industry knowledge and expertise to provide feedback on potential impacts of the changes and the best way to implement them.
Our dedicated NCC PCD webpage abcb.gov.au/PCD includes links to the public comment drafts of Volumes One, Two and Three, as well as the Housing Provisions. These documents detail all the proposed changes for the next edition of the NCC.
On the NCC PCD webpage, you'll also find links to the support materials and associated technical documents for the key proposed changes. The supporting material aims to provide more information on what the changes are and why we’re proposing them. They also outline how we developed the changes, who we consulted with, and the potential impact the changes will have on industry and the community.
We want you to have as much information as possible to make an informed decision about how the change could impact you and your work. This information hub is a great resource, and I urge you to take time to dive deeper into the proposals.
Along with the NCC Public Comment Draft, the ABCB has released several impact analysis consultations for public comment. The impact analyses provide detailed costs and benefits assessments of the proposed changes. The ABCB has also released a consultation on the potential inclusion of all-gender sanitary facility provisions in the NCC. We want to hear if, and how, the suggested changes will impact your work.
All ABCB public consultations are available on Consultation Hub and will be open for feedback until 11:59pm AEST 1 July 2024.
I would like to thank everyone who has attended our ABCB Roadshow events so far. I invite you to register to attend one of our upcoming events if you haven’t already. We also have 2 plumbing dedicated webinars where ABCB staff will discuss key proposed changes for the next edition of the Plumbing Code of Australia (PCA) and an update on the transition to lead free plumbing. Recorded content from these events will be available online soon.
To better support stakeholder awareness and understanding of proposed changes to the NCC, we have been presenting more detailed content to industry organisations. I recently attended the Fire Australia 2024 conference, where I presented a deep dive on proposed changes to fire safety in the next edition of the NCC. I also spoke at an Institute of Architects Q&A in Melbourne, highlighting issues that design professions need to be aware of with the proposed changes to the NCC.
Regards
Gary