Is NCC the same as BCA?

NCC is the National Construction Code of Australia which has the legal technical provisions for the construction and design of structures all over the country. The same statute was previously known as the Building Code of Australia or BCA. Therefore, we can say that NCC is the updated version of BCA. 

Standards Australia, based on as-needs, publishes the regulations and it is a time-demanding process. There are approximately 200 Australian Standards referenced in the Building Code of Australia and more than 1000 are indirectly referenced in it. 

The legal impact to NCC is provided by the statute of building regulations in each state and territory. The relevant legislation comprises subordinate regulations and an Act of Parliament of Australia. 

The issues of safety, health, amenity, and sustainability in the building structures are addressed by the Board of Australian Code through a series of NCC. Moreover, the building code board also oversees the development of effective regulatory systems.

In addition to this, NCC is also applicable to new building work, new drainage, and plumbing work on the new or existing structure, and in some cases; it can also apply to the adjacent or pertinent structures. Gas fitting and electrical are kept outside the scope of NCC. 

The aim behind the development of NCC was to incorporate relevant codes and regulations into a single code, along with all on-site requirements for building and other structures. Volume I and II of Building Code of Australia or (BCA), Volume III of Plumbing Code of Australia has been integrated into it. Volume I and Volume II have the effect of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. The present edition of this Code is its 2019 version and it has been effective since May 2019. 

In terms of volumes of NCC, technical requirements for the design and construction of buildings are manifested in NCC Volume I. The building may be of a multi-residential type, commercial building, industrial and public assembly buildings and some of the adjacent structures.

Volume I deals with these aspects through clarification, illustration, and examples for intermingled NCC provisions in construction and design. Volume I of NCC deals with the requirements of buildings of Class ranging from 2 to 9 buildings.

It also includes requirements and standards for people having a disabled status in Class 1b and 10a buildings. In addition to this, some Class 10b building structures include the requirements of access for disabled people in Class 10b swimming pool, in Volume I. 

Provisions and regulations about small buildings are covered by NCC volume II, and small buildings may include houses, carports, small sheds, and other associated buildings. While constructing a residential building, the required volume is volume II.

Moreover, requirements for Class 1 and 10a buildings not including the requirements of access for people having a disability in Class 1b and 10a buildings have been covered in Volume II of NCC. Volume II also includes Class 10c private bushfire shelters and some of the structures which are of Class 10b. 

Lastly, yet importantly, for installation of plumbing and drainage systems, NCC volume III covers technical requirements regarding construction and design Its area of application also covers the sites where services are being installed in independent buildings. 

Governing and performance requirements, technical compliance options to meet the performance demands, and State and Territory variations and additions are covered by each volume of NCC. The plumbing standards which are applicable in Western Australia are prescribed by The Plumbers Licensing and Plumbing Standards Regulations 2000.

Minimum possible requirements of the structure, fair safety, accessibility, health, and amenity are pronounced by NCC which is a performance-based code. Adherence with NCC can be attained by fulfilling the performance requirements which can be further done by ensuring the compliance with the described Deemed-to-Satisfy Provisions, making the performance solution development, and combining them both. 

The latest version of NCC can easily be retrieved online from the ABCB website. For transition period energy efficiency, there is a transition period of 12 months which has been implemented for the sake of changes to the energy efficiency provisions in NCC 2019. 

Therefore, now it is incumbent that new buildings and relevant building work along with plumbing and drainage systems must follow the rules of NCC, not BCC. In terms of amendments, NCC is prone to change after the interval of three years, and for this purpose, technical proposals to change NCC are paid attention to during this cycle. The ultimate aim of NCC is to enable the achievement of nationally consistent standards of safety. 

ABCB is the Australian Building Codes Board which is the department responsible for the NCC, WaterMark, and CodeMark Certification Schemes and adjacent regulatory reform in the construction and building sector. For the understanding of users, ABCB has introduced free tools and relevant resources. 

Through these tools and resources, users can understand the applications of the NCC. These tools are resources that provide building industry practitioners with information on some specific area. It also includes some important advisory notes, glazing and lighting calculators, YouTube Clips, and some of the important case studies like developing performance solutions. 

While concluding, these regulations and statutes are made for the safety of residents, workers, and for the amenity. Moreover, there is no denying the fact that it is difficult to understand the provision of NCC and therefore, it must be simplified.

According to some stakeholders, the building industry in Australia is in deep crisis and the entire building regulatory system is not up to the mark. Despite the presence of NCC and other construction-related provisions, residential buildings are burning, cracking, there are exploding windows, rooms in the residential buildings have intolerable heat stress and are not fit for the occupation. 

The changes in the code are being invoked by fire safety and the new NCC has extended the fire sprinklers provisions to residential buildings which are not high rise. The protection of sprinkle is still permitted to those areas where the measures of fire safety meet the deemed minimum possible acceptable standard.