Building the practitioners of tomorrow

In the past few years, the design and construction of safe and healthy buildings have increasingly had to consider the risks of bushfires, floods, earthquakes, storms, droughts and greater variations in temperatures in both warm and cool climates. 

Due to the legislative nature of building codes, it takes some time to adopt provisions that apply nationally and at state/territory levels. For this reason, it is important for professionals to stay up to date with the key changes to ensure the design and construction of buildings in Australia remain world class. 

The new National Construction Code 2022 looks different from past iterations and significant improvements for building codes and building practitioners have occurred including:

Residential energy efficiency

The minimum level of thermal performance of new homes is raised to the equivalent of seven stars under the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (known as NatHERS). This will deliver a significant improvement in thermal comfort for occupants. NCC 2022 provides a mix of practical solutions for homes that can be customised to the climate and location of each build.

Commercial energy efficiency

New performance requirements meant that certain buildings need to have to have features which can accommodate the future installation of on-site renewables and electric vehicle charging. New Deemed to Satisfy (DtS) provisions were designed to facilitate the future installation of solar photovoltaics and battery storage.

Condensation management

There are additional DtS provisions for vapour permeance of certain external wall and roof space materials and enhanced ventilation requirements for certain rooms and roof spaces.

Fire Safety

New, additional requirements are included for early childhood centres (ECCs). The changes better accommodate potential emergency evacuation challenges in ECCs. New provisions for Primary schools in high-rise buildings take account of the challenges these primary schools can experience in emergency evacuations.

Livable Housing

This includes designing our homes to providing step-free access to the home, making doorways and hallways easier to use for people with reduced mobility, providing extra space in the bathroom and toilet, and wall reinforcing in the bathroom and toilet, to make it easier to install grabrails if needed in the future.

Performance

One of the main changes for performance in NCC 2022 is the quantification of more Performance Requirements. These may add some complexity whilst achieving better building outcomes. 

These are just some of the improvements and building practitioners will benefit from knowing in order to implement these changes into their work practices. The task of building practitioners is not to memorise building codes and legislative requirements as these are ever changing. A key skill is to be able to identify applicable legislation, interpret it correctly and apply it to relevant buildings. These skills are important for building surveyors, certifiers, architects, builders and planners alike.

Through the likes of our Advanced Building Regulation course, here at UTS IPPG, we strive to provide the tools and training necessary to provide all building regulation practitioners with the skills and confidence to ensure they remain world leaders in the safety, health and sustainability of buildings in Australia.