2022 NCC Seminars: Volume Three - NCC changes overview and performance solution development process

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Welcome to the Australian Building Codes  Board's presentation of the changes to the  

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2022 edition of the NCC Volume Three. My name  is Peter McLennan and I'm a senior project  

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officer for the plumbing at the Australian  Building Codes Board. In this video today  

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I'll I will briefly outline some of the more  significant changes you'll find in NCC 2022.  

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But first you might be wondering how all the  regulatory framework works. As you can see on  

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this slide, the local legislation deals with  administrative matters such as licensing and  

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approvals. At this level, everything is handled  by the relevant state or territory government.  

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This legislation is also what gives the PCA legal  effect. This is where the ABCB are involved. We  

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developed the Plumbing Code of Australia to  set out the policy matters for plumbing as  

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well as looking after our product certification  schemes such as WaterMark. The NCC then references  

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different standards to provide Technical  Solutions. For plumbing, the key reference  

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standards are of course, AS/NZS 3500, which are  developed and published by Standards Australia.

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On this slide it shows some of the  key dates in producing the NCC 2022.  

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We released NCC 2022 for public  consultation in the first half of 2021  

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and received a great feedback from the plumbing  sector. To meet the deadline for the publication  

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of the NCC the key reference documents such  as AS/NZS 3500 were published later in 2021.  

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Hopefully you all know that the 2022 PCA  has already been published in preview mode  

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and is available on the ABCB website. If  you haven't already, jump on the website  

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today and download a free copy. This preview  has been released early to allow industry to  

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become familiar with the changes ahead of the  adoption of NCC and of course these seminar  

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sessions are also intended to assist industry  to become familiar with the changes to the NCC.  

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The 2022 edition of the NCC is the biggest and  most comprehensive update since inception and,  

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in fact, there are still a couple  of big decisions to be finalised.  

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The main one is a decision on the proposed changes  to residential energy efficiency. That decision is  

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expected to be made by the building ministers  before the end of August. We recognize the  

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challenge that presents with the scheduled  commencement of the NCC on 1 September. We  

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understand that the building ministers will also  be considering transition arrangements that will  

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delay the adoption of those provisions and we have  recommended that the adoption of the NCC should  

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not be any earlier than October 1. As soon as we  have more information and the building ministers  

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have made a decision we will let you know by  sharing across our networks as widely as we can.

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The first change I should mention is the change to  

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the structure and the numbering of the NCC  Provisions. The NCC has a completely new  

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referencing system for 2022 as part of  our digitisation strategy for the NCC.  

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The old referencing system wasn't machine  readable or consistent across all volumes  

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so to enable digitisation across the three  codes the referencing system had to be updated.  

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Whilst this isn't a drastic change to the  PCA, which moved towards this approach in the  

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previous edition, this is a big numbering  change for the BCA, and as I indicated,  

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we'll bring all three volumes of the NCC into a  consistent numbering structure. If you use the  

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BCA for areas of work such as roofing, gutters  and downpipes, you'll see some big changes here.

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When looking at Volume One there has not been  a huge change. In fact the only real change  

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at this level for 2022 is that the special  use buildings gets bumped into Section I,  

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which leaves section H empty for a housing  section, which is contained in Volume Two; more on  

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that in a moment. For Volume One things start to  really change when you drill down into the parts.  

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For NCC 2022 the acceptable construct and  practice in Section 3 is picked up and moved  

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into a new reference document - the Housing  Provision Standard. Think of this as being like  

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a reference standard. It's not in the NCC but is  called up by the NCC. It's not our first reference  

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document - we already have the eight three  ABCB reference standards such as the Standard  

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for construction in flood hazard areas so the  idea of an ABCB standard isn't new, though this  

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is our biggest move in relation to Volume Two.  The numbering is broken in four key elements to  

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indicate what area of the code you are looking  at and the type of provision. In this example  

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you will see that the B indicates the section,  B being the water services section of the PCA,  

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the 1 indicates that it's part one of the section  which specifically covers cold water services,  

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the P indicates that it's a Performance  Requirement or if it was a D it would indicate  

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that it was a deemed to satisfy provision, and  the last number indicates that it's a first clause  

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in the provision - in this example Performance  Requirement one, which is for cold water supplies.  

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Another change of interest is actually in the  Building Dode and it's about floor wastes. Before  

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I go into that change the image on the slide  shows a change room and the hand-based scenario  

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of an office building. What might surprise you is  that this floor waste is not required by the BCA.  

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There is three areas that the BCA requires  installation of a floor waste. These are showers,  

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which makes sense I'm sure, but the main areas  are bathrooms or laundries above a sole occupancy  

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unit and rooms containing urinals. In these areas  it's mandatory to have a floor waste installed.  

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Okay now on to the change which relates to the  fall of the floor for the floor waste. In Volume  

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One, as shown at the top of the screen, if you  have a commercial building which is a Class 2  

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or 3 building or a class 4 part of a building and  your bathroom or laundry is above a sole occupancy  

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unit or a public space then you must have a floor  waste. This has always been the case since 1990.  

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In the Housing Provisions in Volume 2, which  relates to Residential Class 1 Buildings,  

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this is slightly different. As you can  see on the bottom part of the slide,  

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the Clause that states where a floor waste is  installed, this Clause isn't making you install  

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a floor waste but if you do put a floor waste in  then the BCA will now require the floor waste to  

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be graded towards that waste. It's always been a  good idea but now it's mandatory with NCC 2022.

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After some major changes for commercial  buildings in NCC 2019, building ministers  

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decided the ABCB should develop an enhanced energy  efficient provisions for residential buildings  

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this will be the first major stringency increase  for residential energy efficiency in the NCC since  

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2010. Besides improvements for building envelopes,  a Whole of Home approach will be introduced in the  

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NCC 2022. The Whole of Home approach is  a holistic approach to assess the energy  

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performance of a building and covers all of the  key appliances as well as the building envelope.  

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A key point for the plumbing sector in relation  to these energy efficiency requirements are that  

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they won't change current work practices  for plumbers but may be used to inform  

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which water heaters are selected through  considerations of the wider house design.  

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The NCC 2022 will be reducing the allowable  lead content in plumbing products.  

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Products which contain copper alloys and are  intended for use in contact with drinking water  

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will be required to have a weighted average  lead content of no more than 0.25 per cent.  

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NCC 2022 will specify new requirements and will  outline the transition period for this change  

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which I'll show you on the next slide. There are  a few reasons for this change. One consideration  

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was for international practices. Australia  is a small market on the global scale and  

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consideration was given to what is happening  internationally to ensure that Australia does  

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not create more stringent requirements  than other countries. If this happened  

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this requirement we would become a barrier to  trade and the importance of plumbing products.  

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As such, this change will align the levels set by  other countries such as as the USA and Canada and  

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this consistency also ensures that there is  suitable technology available to continue to  

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manufacture copper alloy products compliant  with this requirement. The second and major  

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consideration was for the health benefits that can  be achieved through this change. It is important  

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to remember that existing plumbing products  must meet stringent manufacturing and testing  

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requirements to demonstrate compliance with  the requirements of the Australian drinking  

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water guidelines that said there are still  health benefits which can be derived from the  

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use of lead-free plumbing products in further  reducing the potential for exposure to lead.  

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The ABCB undertook analysis looking into this  issue. The analysis also played a key part in  

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defining the appropriate application of  the lead requirements of the NCC 2022.  

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Most people know that lead isn't great for  you. That has long been recognized as a  

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cumulative toxin and once it enters the body  there is no level of lead in your blood that  

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is considered safe. The health impacts  of lead are most profound in children  

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under 4 years of age and pregnant women.  The advice from various health agencies  

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encourage governments to eliminate  non-essential uses of lead where possible,  

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so that's what we have done. The application  of the lead-free requirements is limited to  

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products containing copper alloy and are in  contact with the drinking water. These products  

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include items such as fittings, valves, mixers,  water heaters, water dispensers and water meters.

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I mentioned before that there will be a transition  time frame for the lead-free plumbing products.  

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There will be a three-year transition period  to allow manufacturers and suppliers time to  

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ensure that there is sufficient lead-free  plumbing products in the market by the 1st  

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of September 2025. For now there is  nothing that needs to be done by the  

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installer but beyond the 1st of September in  2025 only lead-free plumbing products will  

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be authorized for installation and existing  products will no longer be able to be used.  

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This is a big change for the industry so we'll  we will talk more about this transition later on.

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So let's move into the  compliance structure of the PCA.  

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As we work our way through the seminar  today, we'll provide an indicator of  

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where the requirements sit within  the compliance structure of the PCA.

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I will take you through the detail of the  changes to the PCA in 2022 which you can use  

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to demonstrate compliance with these Performance  Requirements. There are a number of changes to the  

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Deemed to Satisfy Provisions and I will introduce  to you a few new verification methods which can  

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also be used to demonstrate compliance through  a Performance Solution. The Deemed to Satisfy  

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Provisions are prescriptive, like a recipe book,  they tell you what and in which location things  

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must be done. They include materials, components,  design factors and construction methods that,  

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if used, are deemed to meet the Performance  Requirements, hence the term Deemed to Satisfy.  

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As the slide indicates indicates, it is important  to reiterate that, to meet the performance  

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requirements of the PCA, you can use a Performance  Solution, a DTS or a mix of both. If using a  

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Performance Solution or a mix of Performance  solution and Deemed to Satisfy Provision, the  

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proposed solution would generally require local  government consent prior to the work being carried  

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out. Now we have been through the changes to the  Performance Requirements we will talk a little bit  

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about Performance Solutions. It is important to  remember that if you are using a Deemed to Satisfy  

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solution, such as an AS/NZS 3500, you do not need  to demonstrate compliance with the Performance  

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Requirements as as the solution being used has  already been deemed to meet this requirement,  

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hence the name. NCC 2022 outlines the required  processes for developing a Performance solution.  

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This requires project stakeholders to collaborate  and develop an agreed pathway for the design  

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process to follow. This process will ensure that  the solution produces an acceptable outcome.  

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As you can see on the slide, there are four key  stages. A performance-based design brief is stage  

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one. This is a document that is developed  in collaboration with key stakeholders and  

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proposes how the performance-based solution  will meet the requirements of the NCC.  

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The second stage is analysis. Given that each  performance solution is unique, each proposal  

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will require a specific analysis relevant to its  complexity. Once completed it is then necessary to  

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collate and evaluate the results from the analysis  and draw conclusions which form the final report.  

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The final report will clearly demonstrate that  compliance with the NCC performance requirements  

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has been achieved. The ABCB has a large amount  of resources available on our website to assist  

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you in this area, so if you want to know  more just jump online and take a look.