Codes and Compliance - Assignment

Running head: CODES AND COMPLIANCE
Codes and Compliance
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1CODES AND COMPLIANCE
Table of Contents
Australian National Building Code (NCC)......................................................................................2
Australian standards.........................................................................................................................2
NCC- A Performance based Code...................................................................................................3
Rating tools to evaluate the compliance to NCC.............................................................................4
Tools used for assessing compliance...............................................................................................6
Change in the environment of the Building Codes of Australia......................................................7
Essential amendments made in the Building Code of Australia 2015.............................................9
Reasons behind the changes in the Building code of Australia.....................................................10
International Building Code..........................................................................................................11
Inadequacy and challenges arising from the National Construction Codes..................................13
Analysis of the International Building Code against recently adopted Building Codes of Australia
ensuring consistence of the Australian codes with that of the International building codes.........14
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................16
References......................................................................................................................................17

2CODES AND COMPLIANCE
Australian National Building Code (NCC)
The National Construction Code (NCC) of Australia is a governmental initiative that was
created with a view to develop a single code for all the on-site construction requirements in the
country (Board 2015). The NCC consists of the Building Code of Australia (BCA) Volume one
and two and the Plumbing Coda of Australia (PCA) as Volume three.
The Building Code of Australia (BCA) is the main code that assesses building approvals
in Australia. It is a set of technical provisions for the construction and design of the buildings and
other structures applicable throughout Australia. The provisions are uniform in nature. The BCA
is produced and regulated by the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB). The reason behind
frequent review and amendments in the BCA is twofold: firstly, to ensure that the building
related works are being carried out in compliance with the Building Code. Secondly, the
amendments are made with a view to avert any form of contractual disputes that may arise due to
no-compliance (Dimyadi and Amor 2013). A joint initiative of the ABCB and the Australian
government along with the state and territory governments is to address issues related to health,
safety, sustainability and amenity through the National Construction Code (NCC) with an
intention to attain universal minimum and consistent standards.
Australian standards
Several building standards have been developed for the construction and building
industry to ensure safety, cost-effectiveness, efficiency in the building construction throughout
the country. A standard refers to a document that includes all the guidelines, rules, and other

3CODES AND COMPLIANCE
detailed technical provisions that are essential while undertaking any activities within the
building and the construction industry.
Some of the building and construction standards are provided in the regulations stipulated
under the Building Code of Australia, which implies that those standards must be maintained or
followed while undertaking any activities in the specified way (Daly, Cooper and Ma 2014). For
instance, test methods and product standards in relation to the doors, roofing and windows;
product standards and installation of smoke detectors; design standards that is necessary to
ensure accessibility of the disabled; external and internal waterproofing of the residences.
NCC- A Performance based Code
The performance based National Construction Code (NCC) includes compliance
solutions, which enables a plumbing, drainage and building installations to comply with the
compliance level. The performance requirements lay down the minimum level of performance
for all the drainage, plumbing and building installations. It further includes components, relevant
materials, construction methods and design methods (Roetzel, Tsangrassoulis and Dietrich
2014). The requirements mentioned as the performance requirements calls for mandatory
compliance.
There are three options for compliance set out under the Performance based Code which are as
follows:
 Performance based solution: It requires using of approved tools such as calculators,
rating tools, etc, as per the intent of the BCA. This solution refers to any solution that
fulfills the Performance requirements except the deemed-to-satisfy solutions. A