NCC 2019 Amendment 1 Public Comment Draft

Overview

The Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) has been directed by the Building Ministers’ Forum to undertake an out-of-cycle amendment for the 2019 edition of the National Construction Code (NCC). The amendment is intended to introduce enhanced fire safety measures for early childhood centres in high-rise buildings and address recommendations identified in the Shergold Weir Building Confidence Report. It will be known as NCC 2019 Amendment 1.

The amendment will include:

• Proposed new requirements to improve the safety of occupants of early childhood centres not located on the ground level of buildings.
• A proposed new defined term for ‘building complexity’ that will identify buildings for which increased supervision of design and construction is appropriate through subsequent initiatives being investigated in response to the recommendations of the Building Confidence Report.
• Provisions that require the creation of a Performance Based Design Brief wherever a Performance Solution is developed to improve the quality and clarity of such solutions for both approval and auditing purposes.  This is also in response to parts of the Building Confidence Report recommendations.
• Amendments that clarify the existing concessions for low-rise Class 2 and 3 buildings.
• Reference to a new Technical Specification for the permanent labelling of Aluminium Composite Panels (ACPs).

Links to the Public Comment Draft for NCC 2019 Amendment 1 are provided below. Please download these prior to providing comments in the consultation. 

• '2019 Amdt 1 Public Comment Draft Volume One' contains proposed amendments for Volume One only.
• '2019 Amdt 1 Public Comment Draft Volume Two' contains proposed amendments for Volume Two only.
• '2019 Amdt 1 Public Comment Draft All Volumes' contains proposed amendments which are common to all volumes.

For all items, comments must be submitted by 11.59PM, Friday 11 October 2019 using the consultation form provided.

Why your views matter

The Public Comment Draft of NCC 2019 Amendment 1 has been released for public consultation to inform the final version of NCC 2019 Amendment 1.

What happens next

Following the public comment period NCC 2019 Amendment 1 is expected to be released as a Preview in mid-March 2020. States and Territories are expected to adopt NCC 2019 Amendment 1 from 1 June 2020.