March CEO update - Gary Rake

This month the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) Chair, Glenys Beauchamp and I have continued meeting with industry associations and professional bodies. These discussions are to provide an idea of what to expect with the upcoming proposed changes to the next edition of the National Construction Code (NCC). 

Commonwealth, state and territory building ministers met last week to discuss the housing supply shortfall, releasing the next version of the NCC for consultation, and a new round of industry dialogues. Read more about the Building Ministers’ Meeting March Communiqué.

Proposed changes to the next NCC will be published in the NCC Public Comment Draft (PCD) on 1 May 2024. The public consultation period for the NCC Public Comment Draft will be open from 1 May to 1 July 2024. This is your opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed changes. 

Feedback on the NCC PCD can be provided online through the ABCB Consultation Hub from 1 May 2024. Information about the key changes will be provided in our upcoming Roadshow event series and on the ABCB website. 

The Roadshow events will be held in each capital city across Australia, and also online, between Wednesday 8 May and Friday 7 June 2024. During these events you will hear presentations about the key changes and have the opportunity to ask ABCB staff questions about the changes. Registrations for the Roadshows will open in early April, and they are free to attend. If you’re not able to attend one of these events, videos of the presentations will also be available online.

Last week, Glenys and I hosted another ABCB Forum, this time in Melbourne. Thanks to everyone who attended and participated in the conversation. During the event we discussed some of the key proposed changes to the next edition of the National Construction Code and our proposal for change process, as well as some specific subjects like innovation in plumbing, modular and prefabricated construction methods, advancing energy efficiency for buildings, building product certification and more.

The next ABCB Forum will be hosted online on 4 April, which provides an opportunity for people from all over Australia to attend. This event is booked out but keep an eye out for announcements of more forums to be held during the year. 

As mentioned in previous updates, we continue to improve and enhance the educational support for the NCC. The latest resource is a beta version of the new housing energy efficiency calculator. The calculator is a free resource, developed to assist in applying the Deemed-to-Satisfy (DTS) elemental provisions to particular house designs. (see the Deemed-to-Satisfy (DTS) Provision Tables in the Housing Provisions Section 13, NCC 2022). The overall goal of the housing energy efficiency calculator is to help industry implement our new energy efficiency provisions and build better new homes across Australia. 

Releasing the housing energy efficiency calculator as a beta version gives NCC users the opportunity to try this new tool under real conditions and provide feedback for further improvements. I invite you to provide feedback on this resource, to help make it as useful as possible. Please let us know if this resource is helpful for you and if there anything in the calculator that doesn’t quite work.

You can submit any feedback on the housing energy efficiency calculator through our general enquiry online form.

I look forward to seeing you at a future ABCB event and discussing the future of Australian buildings. 

Regards

Gary