The Building Code of Australia is now available online for free!
The construction sector is a significant industry for Australia and represents the second largest sector of small business in the economy. As a result, constraining cost growth and improving productivity has the potential to deliver significant economic benefits nationally.
In May 2014, the Building Ministers' Forum agreed to implement a reform package aimed at:
- reducing the costs of compliance whilst maintaining health and safety standards;
- further consolidating consistency in regulatory arrangements across and within jurisdictions; and
- enhancing access to and the utility of key tools needed by users of the building and plumbing control systems to improve outcomes.
The measures used to achieve these improvements include the provision of a free online NCC from 2015 onwards, a reduction in the frequency of NCC changes (from a 1-year to a 3-year amendment cycle), and improved explanatory material and educational material. The following documents - 'ABCB Business Plan' and 'The Next Instalment of Building Regulatory Reform' - provide a more comprehensive overview of what the recent regulatory reform measures entail. The document titled 'What you need to know' provides a concise summary of the reform measures and benefits.
You can now register by visiting the ABCB website http://www.abcb.gov.au/ and following the link on the homepage. Registrations will be for individuals only; there will be no shared access for organisations. Each registration will have its own unique login details for each user.
