An out of cycle amendment to the 2019 National Construction Code, to be known as NCC 2019 Amendment 1, proposes to introduce enhanced fire safety measures for early childhood centres in high-rise buildings and address recommendations identified in the Shergold Weir Building Confidence Report.

The changes will include:

  • Proposed new requirements to improve the safety of occupants of early childhood centres not located on the ground level of buildings.
  • A proposed new defined term for ‘Building Complexity’ that will identify buildings for which increased supervision of design and construction is appropriate.
  • Provisions that require the creation of a Performance Based Design Brief wherever a Performance Solution is developed to improve the quality and clarity of such solutions for both approval and auditing purposes.
  • Amendments that clarify the existing concessions for low-rise Class 2 and 3 buildings.
  • Reference to a new Technical Specification for the permanent labelling of Aluminium Composite Panels (ACPs).

A preview of the NCC amendment is expected to be released in mid-March 2020, with States and Territories adopting the NCC 2019 Amendment 1 from 1 June 2020.