Industry has a clear message for Senator Andrew Bragg: fix the National Construction Code, don't rip it up and start again. That's the thrust of recent reporting from The Urban Developer, where builders and property groups pushed back on talk of tearing up the code, arguing the real win is a simpler, more stable NCC. If you price and run jobs for a living, this round of NCC reform debate is worth two minutes of your time, because the outcome lands directly on your quotes, your admin hours and your rectification risk.
Here's where things sit. The NCC is written by the Australian Building Codes Board and updated on a three year cycle, with NCC 2025 the current edition. The full code is free to read at ncc.abcb.gov.au. On top of that, the federal government has committed to pausing most residential changes to the code until 2029, apart from essential safety updates. So the live argument isn't whether the code changes next year. It's what the code should look like when the freeze ends.
Why "simplify" beats "scrap" on site
Tearing the code up sounds satisfying after you've lost an afternoon chasing one provision across volumes and state variations. But think about what a full rewrite actually means on the tools. Every standard detail you know from memory, every spec note in your quote templates, every rule of thumb your crew carries from job to job gets renegotiated. That's years of re-learning, and re-learning time is unbillable admin.
The code itself isn't the enemy. Churn and complexity are. A house built to NCC 2025 is a well built house. The pain is in how hard the answer is to find: multiple volumes, state and territory variations layered on top, and deemed-to-satisfy provisions sitting next to performance pathways. Simplification keeps the technical substance that protects your work and your clients, and fixes the part that burns your evenings.
What NCC reform means for your quoting and admin
Compliance is a line item whether you write it down or not. Time spent checking provisions, resolving a surveyor's query or reworking a detail between editions comes out of your margin unless your quote accounts for it. A simpler, stable code shrinks that hidden line item. Until then, treat it deliberately: note the code edition and any state variations your price is based on, and where a requirement is genuinely ambiguous, exclude it clearly or price the risk, plus GST, rather than absorbing it later.
Edition risk is the other one to watch. Which edition applies generally follows the building approval date, not the quote date, so a job quoted this year and approved next year can straddle requirements. The residential pause takes most of that sting out until 2029, which is one genuine bit of good news: you can build your templates around NCC 2025 and expect them to hold.
This is also where your systems earn their keep. If your take-offs and pricing live in a spreadsheet that hasn't been touched since two editions ago, updating for code changes is a rebuild every time. We've compared the best construction estimating software for AU builders if you're weighing up options.
What to do while Canberra argues
- Quote off NCC 2025 and say so. Reference the edition and your state's variations in your quote conditions.
- Keep compliance checks inside the job, not in your head. Stairs are a classic: risers, goings and the 2R + G rule catch people out every year. Run them through our free stair calculator before the stringers are cut, not after.
- Keep a paper trail. When a surveyor or a client questions a detail three years on, dated photos, approvals and correspondence in one place settle it fast. That's half the case for proper construction project management software over a group chat and a glovebox folder.
- Have your say when consultation opens. The ABCB runs public consultation on proposed changes, and builder submissions carry weight precisely because they come from the tools.
The likely outcome of all this is a code that changes less often and reads more clearly. Good. Builders don't need a bonfire, they need to find the answer in five minutes and get back to work. Whatever Canberra lands on, the builders who come out ahead are the ones whose quoting and job records already assume the code will be checked.
If you want the everyday version of that, the free Built Simple app puts 45 construction calculators in your pocket, no signup required. Download it, run your next set of stairs through it, and keep the admin where it belongs: small.
Related: Construction Estimating Software Australia: Buyer’s Guide for 2026
