Public record: Board Meeting 2022-3

Meeting opening and administrative matters

• The meeting opened with Acknowledgment of Country.
• The Board noted attendance, apologies and disclosure of any potential or actual conflicts of interest related to matters on the agenda.
• The Board dealt with meeting administrative matters and received reports from the Chair and Chief Executive Officer.

Governance – transparency, accountability and stakeholder engagement

• The Board discussed options to enhance our disclosure, recording and management of interests.
• The Board also discussed options to improve our stakeholder engagement with a particular focus on sharing more information about the way the ABCB operates and explaining how our decisions are made.
• The release of this Public Record is the first action resulting from that discussion.

(a) Supporting EV uptake and the safe use of lithium-ion batteries in buildings

• The Board received an initial report on options for further supporting the uptake of electric vehicles (EVs) in Australia. This responds to a request from Building Ministers in August 2022.
• The Board also received a report and presentation on current knowledge about the safety of lithium-ion batteries in buildings.

(b) Early childhood centres and primary schools

• The Board discussed the safety improvements included in NCC 2022 and reaffirmed its commitment to continue close coordination with education and early childhood centre regulators on our shared responsibility for safety and wellbeing in these facilities.

(c) External envelopes

• The Board received a report and discussed options for finalising the scope of a project to improve weatherproofing and fire safety of building external envelopes for the next amendment of the NCC. The Board agreed that external walls and wall systems would be the primary focus for the first stage of this project.

(d) NCC CPD activities

• The Board decided to support industry adoption of NCC 2022 by developing base course content that could be provided to partner organisations for their use in Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programs.

(a) PCA Key Project – Pipe Sizing – Presentation

• The Board received a presentation and report on progress of a plumbing research project on pipe sizing. This project is working towards development of a new Verification Method for inclusion in the next amendment of the PCA.

(b) Improved Robustness of Performance Solutions

• The Board received an update report and discussed early progress on a project aiming to improve the use of performance solutions. This project continues the ABCB’s investigation of quantifying the NCC’s fire and structural safety standards and other key aspects of the NCC.

(c) Report on the review of NCC resilience provisions

• The Board received an update report and discussed progress on a project that involves undertaking a baseline assessment of the NCC against key weather hazards in a changing climate.

Board steering committee updates

The Board discussed the work of project steering committees and committee chairs answered questions from Board members.

Published on 20 December 2022