Industry Stoush Looms Over Construction Code Pause

The property industry is split as the Federal Government signals reform of the National Construction Code, including a possible pause to updates, is on the cards. Tinkering of some kind is a likely outcome of the Economic Reform Roundtable, with Minister for Housing Clare O’Neil signalling an interest in reducing the regulatory burden the code places on construction. While general business bodies such as the Business Council of Australia and the Ai Group have been lobbying for a freeze to the code, the property and construction industry is more divided. There is widespread consensus, however, that reform of the NCC is necessary. Urban Taskforce chief executive Tom Forrest told The Urban Developer that Labor’s newfound receptiveness to a NCC moratorium was welcomed. “We stand there and we sound like squawking banshees trying to oppose Mother Teresa,” he said “But once the detail gets explained—the bureaucratic costs associated with the changes … Labor has apparently moved to an easing or redrafting or moratorium on further changes and additions. “It’s worth noting that South Australia, under Peter Malinauskas, has imposed a freeze—and the world hasn’t ended.” The Property Council of Australia policy and advocacy executive Matthew Kandelaars said “a review of the National Construction Code, as recommended by the Productivity Commission, should aim to simplify processes without losing sight of the core principles of quality, safety, sustainability and cost”. “A short and thoughtful pause on future residential updates may be warranted to ensure that comprehensive and consultative review,” he said. ▲ Review and possible pause of the code hasn ’ t been as well received in some quarters as others. “Any future changes must be backed by strong regulatory impact statements that support increased housing supply and affordability”. Housing Industry Association building policy executive director Shane Keating said a three-year cycle has cut “the rate of change somewhat, in the National Construction Code for example, but it has increased the scale of change when it does occur—which was never the intention of ... moving to a three-year code”. “This doesn’t mean that a three-year code amendment cycle is wrong, rather it highlights that the appropriate systems to support a three-year code haven’t been adequate for the scale of changes”. Pausing the NCC would mean reducing essential liveability to reduce costs, according to Australian Institute of Architects president Adam Haddow. “It’s like saying we’re going to make cars cheaper by taking out the seatbelts,” he told The Urban Developer . “There’s a lot of things about housing affordability that don’t sit in the NCC. The way projects are financed, access to capital—there’s many other things that the roundtable should be focused on before the NCC’s discussed”. However, Haddow said, the NCC remained far from a perfect document. “The NCC hasn’t kept up with construction … with timber construction in multi-unit residential developments, or with pre-fabricated suburban housing modules. “A review should happen. Maybe it turns into a different document and we would be in support of that.” Building homes that are fit for purpose into the future will avoid retrofitting costs for things such as electrification, batteries, and EV infrastructure, according to Haddow. ▲ Property Council of Australia policy and advocacy executive Matthew Kandelaars and Australian Institute of Architects president Adam Haddow. “A cheap house doesn’t mean a cheap life. You want to make sure that you’re investing in things that have manageable costs down the road.” Haddow said that a government-appointed federal architect, as has been done at city and state levels in Australia, could help avoid policy errors similar to the pink batts scheme, while leveraging federal investment in infrastructure to benefit housing. Contention, ambiguity The recent history of NCC reform has been plagued by contention and ambiguity. A 10-year freeze was announced by the-then Coalition leader Peter Dutton, flanked by PCA CEO Mike Zorbas, as an electoral policy in late 2024. Zorbas later qualified that the PCA did not, in fact, support a 10-year freeze. Labor opposed a freeze at the 2025 election, before floating the idea ahead of the roundtable. Industry stakeholders, meanwhile, are at loggerheads. “I get why the builders are frustrated by the NCC,” Haddow said. “They essentially have a vested interest. They want to lower the cost of construction but keep the price of sales up.” Forrest said that architects posed their own cost challenges to housing. “One of the reasons we have cost problems in housing is because architects have gotten involved,” Forrest said. “If everything architects wanted didn’t cost anything, we could have it.”

Industry Stoush Looms Over Construction Code Pause

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