A major update – a Livable Housing Design Standard
The new National Construction Code (NCC) was released for preview on 9 May, 2022.
The NCC is updated every 3 years. This update will include some significant changes that will pose challenges across the industry. One of these challenges will be variations to the clause numbers; for example, NCC 2019 Part D3 is now NCC 2022 Part D4. Helpfully, NCC 2022 includes the previous clause numbers in the margin on the right-hand side.
Livable Housing Design Standard
The NCC 2022 has also incorporated a Livable Housing Design Standard. The Livable Housing Design Standard’s objective is to provide housing that meets the needs of the community, older Australians and those with mobility impairments.
This standard is referenced in both NCC Volume 1 Part G7 and NCC Volume 2 Part H8 and is applicable to Class 2 Sole Occupancy Units (SOU) and Class 1a buildings.
The Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) Livable Housing Design Standard is based on the Livable Housing Guidelines – Silver Level which have been developed over many years by the Livable Housing Association. The requirements include 6 elements.
Architecture & Access have already commenced incorporating the Livable Housing Design Standard into our service offerings. We have been working with the existing Livable Housing Guidelines for some time and have developed significant knowledge and expertise in these areas which puts us in an ideal situation to provide support to our clients to enable them to meet the NCC requirements for Livable Housing.
Recent Editions of Australian Standards
Australian Standards that have been released since NCC 2019 have included AS1428.1:2021 and AS1735.12:2022. Whilst these Standards provide further information and clarification, they have not been referenced in NCC 2022. Architecture & Access will include references to these Standards where they clarify the intent of the referenced Australian Standards.
Project Work
NCC 2022 will come into effect on 1 September this year. Architecture & Access will continue to work and consult with our clients to understand the impact of the new requirements of the NCC.
