No energy-efficiency upgrades for a decade, says SA

The South Australian government has announced that it will freeze housing standards for the next 10 years after October 2024, when the energy-efficiency and liveable housing provisions from the 2022 National Construction Code are adopted.

The Malinauskas Labor government boasted that it will deliver “certainty” to the building and construction industry by ruling out any further energy-efficiency upgrades.

“This decade-long guarantee will ensure there’s stable building conditions in South Australia and provide long-term certainty to the industry,” said the government media release.

The announcement signals a break from the current system, under which the NCC is updated every three years and then adopted by states and territories. This aligns with the Trajectory for Low Energy Buildings – a national plan that aims to achieve zero-energy and carbon-ready buildings in Australia – which was agreed to by all Commonwealth, state and territory energy ministers in 2019. The trajectory is currently being updated in line with Australia’s revised emissions reduction targets.

NCC 2022 was made available in October 2022 and was due to be adopted nationwide in May 2023. The South Australian government subsequently delayed the adoption of the energy-efficiency and liveable housing provisions until October 1, 2024, because of “pressures on the construction and building sectors, including market capacity, supply chain disruption and workforce uncertainty”.

Industry flags national concerns

South Australia’s move has drawn criticism from the building and construction industry nationwide. Many have noted that the decision will cause SA to fall behind in adopting new technologies and practices that could lead to healthier, more sustainable and resilient buildings.

There is also a risk that changes to the trajectory in one jurisdiction might result in other states and territories delaying NCC updates – threatening both the achievement of Australia’s emissions reduction commitments and the productivity benefit of delivering a consistent NCC. For suppliers of building products and services, this includes the challenge and impost of having to work under different rules in different states and territories.

PrefabAUS, the Australian Passivhaus Association, and ArchiTeam released a joint statement expressing disappointment with the SA government’s turnaround.

“The decision to not advance beyond the current building standards (NCC 2022) over the coming decade means that new buildings will forgo the benefits of improved airtightness, insulation, optimisation of the building envelope,” reads the statement.

“This could lead to persistent issues with building performance, mould, and moisture, thereby compromising the quality of the built environment and weakening the government’s commitment to achieving ambitious climate goals.

“By not adopting the upcoming editions of the NCC, the South Australian government is in effect locking the industry and its workforce’s skills to a position a decade behind other states.”

Protecting the status quo

The news comes as organisations representing home builders wage media campaigns in different jurisdictions to stall or even reverse improvements to energy efficiency. Ahead of the state election in late October, Master Builders Queensland is pushing its Home Truths campaign, which calls for the government to roll back the energy efficiency and accessibility provisions already adopted under NCC 2022.

In Victoria, HIA Regional Director Kieth Ryan has claimed that inflated costs associated with ongoing changes to the National Construction Code are contributing to the uncertainty created by rising interest rates. He says this will delay the recovery in home building in Victoria until 2025.