NCC 2025 vs NCC 2022: What Changed and What It Means for Your Practice
NCC 2025 was officially released by the ABCB on 1 May 2026. It is now in force in some jurisdictions, paused in others, and being deferred altogether in a couple. The most important point for any practitioner working in 2026 is this: the residential energy efficiency changes that were anticipated did not proceed. The 7-star NatHERS minimum, the Whole-of-Home framework, and the heating and cooling load limits introduced in NCC 2022 have all been retained. Residential changes are paused until at least mid-2029.
What did change sits almost entirely in the commercial and multi-unit space: mandatory on-site solar PV for new commercial buildings, broader lighting controls, refined condensation provisions, carpark fire safety, balcony water management, and several technical pathway strengthenings.
Here is the snapshot:
| Topic | NCC 2022 | NCC 2025 |
| Residential NatHERS minimum | 7 stars | 7 stars (retained) |
| Whole-of-Home energy | Required for Class 1 | Required for Class 1 (retained) |
| Commercial solar PV | Not required | Mandatory under Clause J9D5 |
| Commercial lighting controls | General requirement | Expanded controls (Section J7) |
| Condensation management | Existing provisions | Refined provisions including mandatory wall cavities in colder climates |
| Carpark fire safety | Existing | Strengthened (Volume One) |
| Balcony water management | Existing | Updated requirements |
| Lead-free plumbing | Transition arrangements | Required, no further transition extension |
| Livable Housing (Class 1a) | Mandatory baseline | Unchanged from NCC 2022 |
| EV charging readiness for housing | Not required | Removed from final NCC 2025 |
The detail, and what to do about it, is below.
What NCC 2025 Actually Is, As of May 2026
The Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) released NCC 2025 on 1 May 2026. That is the headline date. Each state and territory then decides whether and when to adopt it. The result is the most fragmented national code adoption in recent memory.
This is the part most readers are getting wrong: NCC 2025 is not nationally in force. NCC 2022 has not been universally retired. Which code applies to your project depends on where the project is and when its application was lodged. There is no national answer.
NCC 2025 State and Territory Adoption Table
| Jurisdiction | NCC 2025 status (as at May 2026) | What applies now |
| Victoria | Adopted from 1 May 2026 | NCC 2025 |
| Tasmania | Adopted from 1 May 2026, subject to Building Act 2016 transitional provisions | NCC 2025 (verify transitionals) |
| ACT | Commenced 1 May 2026, mandatory from 1 November 2026 (six-month transition) | NCC 2022 or NCC 2025 (transition) |
| New South Wales | Adoption delayed to 1 May 2027 | NCC 2022 (as amended) |
| Queensland | Adoption delayed to 1 May 2027 | NCC 2022 (as amended) |
| South Australia | Deferred to 1 May 2027 | BCA 2022 (current SA arrangements) |
| Western Australia | Adoption date not yet confirmed | NCC 2022 (as amended) |
| Northern Territory | Not adopting NCC 2025 | NCC 2022 continues |
Always confirm the current adoption status and transition arrangements with the relevant state or territory regulator before you finalise compliance documentation. The dates above can shift with little public notice.
The Residential Pause: The Single Most Important Fact
Following the Building Ministers’ Meeting on 22 October 2025, ministers formally endorsed a pause on further residential changes to the National Construction Code until at least mid-2029, except where essential safety or quality matters arise. This decision flowed from a Commonwealth announcement on 24 August 2025.
In practical terms, the proposed residential energy efficiency upgrades that were widely expected to lift NatHERS star rating minimums above 7 stars did not proceed. The headline residential provisions of NCC 2022 carry into NCC 2025 unchanged.
Specifically retained:
- 7-star NatHERS minimum for new Class 1 buildings and Class 2 sole-occupancy units
- Whole-of-Home energy budget for Class 1 and Class 2 SOU buildings, including the renewable energy offset framework
- Heating and cooling load limits as set out in NCC 2022
- Part H6 (Volume Two) energy efficiency provisions
- Housing Provisions Part 13 energy efficiency content
- Livable Housing Design mandatory provisions under Part H8 (Volume Two) and Part G7 (Volume One)
Removed from the final NCC 2025:
- Proposed residential energy efficiency upgrades that would have lifted star rating minimums
- EV charging readiness provisions for housing
- Fire separation changes for roofed outdoor areas attached to housing
This matters because a significant portion of practice CPD over the last 18 months anticipated a tightening that did not arrive. If you sat through a course or a supplier presentation in 2024 or 2025 that told you star ratings were going up under NCC 2025, that information is now incorrect. The 7-star baseline is staying.
What Actually Changed in NCC 2025
The changes that did proceed are concentrated in commercial and multi-unit buildings, fire safety, water management, and technical pathways. The notes below summarise the confirmed direction of the changes. As always, refer to the published NCC 2025 volumes and relevant ABCB guidance for the operative clause text.
Commercial Energy Efficiency
NCC 2025 introduces mandatory on-site solar photovoltaic systems for new commercial buildings under Clause J9D5. The DTS compliance pathway now requires new commercial buildings to either cover the available roof area with PV or meet a minimum output per square metre of conditioned floor area, whichever is smaller. This is the most significant operational change in the commercial energy package.
Section J7 broadens the lighting control framework. Motion detectors, time switches, and other demand-operated control devices must be installed to control artificial lighting operation. The intent is greater flexibility in how lighting controls are designed, paired with stricter performance outcomes.
HVAC, ventilation rates, and ductwork performance standards have been tightened across the J provisions, supporting the broader near-zero-emissions direction for commercial buildings.
Condensation Management
Condensation mitigation has been refined. In colder Australian climates, NCC 2025 introduces mandatory wall cavities in defined cases, alongside more detailed specifications for roof ventilation and vapour permeance. The intent is to reduce mould risk and the structural consequences of trapped moisture, particularly in well-sealed high-performance envelopes.
Refer to NCC 2025 Volume Two H4P7 and ABCB Housing Provisions Part 10.8 for the operative provisions.
Water Management and Balcony Waterproofing
NCC 2025 introduces updated water management provisions for commercial and apartment buildings to prevent water ingress, including changes affecting balcony detailing and waterproofing. For practitioners working on Class 2 podium and balcony details, the published clauses should be reviewed in full. Balcony failures remain one of the highest defect-cost areas in Australian residential construction, and the NCC 2025 changes are a direct response to that.
Relevant courses on CPD On Demand: Balcony Waterproofing Under NCC 2025: What Has Actually Changed (and What Hasn’t), The Waterproofing Time Bomb: Defending High-Risk Balconies and Podiums.
Carpark Fire Safety
NCC 2025 strengthens carpark fire safety provisions in Volume One for commercial and apartment buildings. The provisions respond to the increased fire risk associated with the changing composition of vehicles being parked in enclosed spaces. Building surveyors and fire safety engineers should treat this as a section to review carefully on every new commercial and Class 2 project.
Re-entry from Fire-Isolated Exits
NCC 2025 expands signage and door behaviour requirements for re-entry from fire-isolated exits under D3D27. The change addresses the practical problem of occupants becoming trapped in stairwells during evacuations, particularly in tall buildings where re-entry behaviour varies floor to floor.
All-Gender Sanitary Facilities
NCC 2025 Volume One Part F4 permits the optional installation of all-gender sanitary facilities. This is a permissive change rather than a mandatory one. It gives designers a compliant pathway that did not exist under NCC 2022.
Centralised Hot Water for Class 2 Apartments
NCC 2025 amends Clause J3D14 in Volume One to permit DTS elemental and NatHERS pathways for centralised hot water systems serving Class 2 apartments. This addresses a long-standing modelling gap for apartments served by central plant rather than individual systems.
Evidence of Suitability Pathways
NCC 2025 strengthens the evidence of suitability framework under A5G, including refinements to the accredited testing laboratory (ATL) pathway. The intent is to lift documentation defensibility for specified products and assemblies, which has implications for the specification risk practitioners carry on non-conforming building products.
Relevant course on CPD On Demand: Non-Conforming Building Products: Specification Risk, Evidence of Suitability, and Documentation Defence for Building Designers.
Lead-Free Plumbing
Lead-free plumbing requirements apply in Victoria from 1 May 2026 with no further transition extension. Practitioners with VIC projects should treat this as immediately operative. Other jurisdictions will follow as they adopt NCC 2025.
Thermal Break Clarifications
NCC 2025 clarifies the thermal break wording in Housing Provisions clauses 13.2.3(7) and 13.2.5(5). The intent is to reduce inconsistent interpretation between practitioners and certifiers in jurisdictions where thermal bridging documentation has been a contested area.
Livable Housing: Unchanged
Mandatory Livable Housing Design provisions for Class 1a buildings carry forward from NCC 2022 into NCC 2025 unchanged. Part H8 (Volume Two) and Part G7 (Volume One) remain as adopted in NCC 2022. This is consistent with the broader residential pause.
If you have already completed CPD on Livable Housing under NCC 2022, the substance of that content remains current. No additional Livable Housing module is required to bring you up to NCC 2025 standard.
Relevant course on CPD On Demand: Livable Housing Design: NCC Mandatory Provisions.
What This Means by Profession
Architects
If you are working on Victorian projects, NCC 2025 applies now. If you are working in NSW, QLD, or SA, NCC 2022 still applies and will until 1 May 2027. The most consequential changes to internalise are commercial solar PV under J9D5, the expanded lighting control framework in J7, the water management amendments affecting balconies, and the fire safety expansions for carparks and re-entry signage. Residential design remains anchored to the NCC 2022 baseline regardless of jurisdiction.
Building Designers
The residential pause is the headline. Your design baseline for new Class 1 and Class 2 SOU work has not changed. The areas to upskill on are condensation management (now refined), the thermal break wording clarification in Housing Provisions, and the evidence of suitability strengthening. If you do any Class 2 apartment work in Victoria, the J3D14 changes around centralised hot water are worth reviewing now.
Energy Assessors
This is the profession most affected by what did not happen. Star rating minimums did not increase. Heating and cooling load limits did not tighten. The Whole-of-Home framework is unchanged. If you are working in Victoria, your modelling baseline shifts to NCC 2025 today but the residential provisions in that code are materially the same as NCC 2022. In other jurisdictions, NCC 2022 continues. The single most important compliance action is to remove the “increased star ratings under NCC 2025” assumption from your project communications. It is no longer correct.
Relevant course on CPD On Demand: NCC 2025 Energy Assessor Updates and Pause Implications.
Building Surveyors and Certifiers
Surveyors carry the heaviest cognitive load through this transition. You are required to apply the version of the code that was operative when the building application was lodged in your jurisdiction. That means juggling NCC 2022 and NCC 2025 in parallel for projects with overlapping timelines. Carpark fire safety, water management, evidence of suitability under A5G, and re-entry signage are the four areas to be deepest in.
Builders and Trades
The commercial energy changes flow through to builders constructing commercial work, particularly the J9D5 solar PV requirement and the J7 lighting control framework. Residential builders in Victoria need to know that lead-free plumbing requirements apply from 1 May 2026 with no further transition.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does NCC 2025 take effect in Australia?
NCC 2025 was released by the ABCB on 1 May 2026. Each state and territory decides when to adopt. Victoria and Tasmania have adopted from 1 May 2026. ACT is in a six-month transition with NCC 2025 mandatory from 1 November 2026. NSW, QLD, and SA have delayed adoption to 1 May 2027. WA has not yet confirmed a date. NT is not adopting NCC 2025.
Did NCC 2025 increase the NatHERS star rating?
No. The 7-star NatHERS minimum from NCC 2022 has been retained in NCC 2025. Proposed residential energy efficiency upgrades were removed from the final NCC 2025 following the Building Ministers’ Meeting on 22 October 2025. Residential changes are paused until at least mid-2029.
What is the biggest change in NCC 2025?
Mandatory on-site solar PV for new commercial buildings under Clause J9D5 is the most operationally significant single change. Commercial buildings must either cover the available roof area with PV or meet a minimum output per square metre of conditioned floor area, whichever is smaller.
Is Whole-of-Home staying in NCC 2025?
Yes. The Whole-of-Home energy budget framework introduced in NCC 2022 for Class 1 and Class 2 SOU buildings carries through to NCC 2025 unchanged.
Did Livable Housing change in NCC 2025?
No. Part H8 (Volume Two) and Part G7 (Volume One) mandatory Livable Housing Design provisions for Class 1a buildings are retained from NCC 2022 in NCC 2025.
Do I need to redo my NCC 2022 CPD?
For residential work, the substance of NCC 2022 CPD remains current because the residential provisions have not changed. For commercial and multi-unit work, you should complete fresh CPD covering the NCC 2025 changes: commercial solar PV, lighting controls, condensation, carpark fire safety, balcony water management, and the A5G evidence pathway changes.
Which NCC version applies to my project?
The version that was adopted in your project’s jurisdiction at the time the application was lodged. Confirm with the relevant regulator before committing to a compliance pathway.
What to Do This Week
Three practical actions cover most practitioners.
One. Identify which jurisdiction your current projects sit in and confirm the operative code version for each. For multi-state practices, expect to be running NCC 2022 and NCC 2025 in parallel for the next 12 months.
Two. Update your CPD plan to reflect what NCC 2025 actually changed, not what was anticipated. The commercial energy package, water management, condensation, fire safety, and evidence of suitability are the areas with new substance. Residential changes can stay on the same baseline you already learned.
Three. Quietly retire any internal documentation, templates, or training material that anticipated higher residential star ratings under NCC 2025. It is now misleading and creates audit risk if it sits live in a project file.
CPD On Demand publishes practical, product-agnostic NCC 2025 content for architects, building designers, energy assessors, certifiers, and trades. Every course is one hour, mapped against the relevant Performance Criteria codes, with a certificate stored in your dashboard. The NCC 2025 content reflects what actually changed, not what was originally proposed.
Browse the CPD On Demand library or jump to your discipline: architects, building designers, energy assessors, trades.
NCC 2025 has not changed everything. It has changed specific things very deliberately. The professionals who internalise the difference will spend the next two years working with confidence. The ones who do not will spend it apologising for documentation that did not need to be rewritten.