The VBA Building Technical Bulletin is a quarterly newsletter that provides Victorian building practitioners with up-to-date information about legislative and regulatory changes, education opportunities and industry trends, with a focus on the technical aspects of their trades.
Each newsletter is sent to building practitioners and industry bodies, along with engineers and subscribers.
Welcome to the third edition of the Building Technical Bulletin for 2024.
National Construction Code 2025 Public Comment Draft
On 1 July 2024, the Australian Building Codes Board's (ABCB) consultation on the proposed changes to the next edition of the National Construction Code (NCC) closed.
The Victorian Building Authority (VBA), in consultation with the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP), carried out a technical review and analysis of the proposed changes. We focused our attention on aspects of the technical guidance and regulatory clarity of the proposed changes to help industry comply and the VBA to regulate. This work is aimed to help consumers benefit from the improved standards.
NCC 2025 provisions the VBA's Building Code Committee (BCC) representative made changes to included:
- Waterproofing
- Weatherproofing
- Condensation
- Structural Reliability
- Energy efficiency provisions
- Applicability of performance solutions and alternative referenced documents.
The VBA and DTP will continue to work with the ABCB through established channels and technical committees, including the BCC and Plumbing Code Committee, prior to final decisions and implementation. We will provide regular updates to guidance about NCC 2025 to industry ahead of its implementation.
Kind regards,
Andrew Cialini,
VBA State Building Surveyor
In this edition...
Meeting the structural requirements for stair and barrier design
The VBA has published a new web page that provides an overview of information required for the design, documentation and construction of stairs and barriers, including in accordance with AS/NZS 1170.1 Structural design actions, Part 1: Permanent, imposed and other actions, and highlights the responsibilities of the contributing parties.
Use of pesticides to be carried out by licensed operators
Products impregnated with a chemical are considered pesticides under the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 and a licence is required for their application. Licensed pest control operators are certified to apply or supervise the application of pesticides to control, destroy or repel pests.
Transfer of function requirements for building surveyors
The Code of Conduct for Building Surveyors requires building surveyors to have effective procedures in place to ensure the completion of their work in case of an inability to practice due to absence, incapacity, registration lapsing, suspension or retirement.
Important information about BS-U with conditions working as an MBS
A person holding the registration of Building Surveyor - Unlimited registration with conditions cannot undertake all the required functions and therefore cannot be a municipal building surveyor under the Building Act 1993.
AS 1288 – Glass in buildings changes
Following the introduction of the National Construction Code (NCC) 2022 on 1 May 2023, amendments were made to AS 1288-2021 - Glass in buildings, Selection and Installation.
Dependent person's units can be built until 28 March 2025
The VBA advises that changes were made to the Victoria Planning Provisions and all planning schemes to expand the transitional arrangements for a dependent person's unit until 28 March 2025.
Plumbing expertise essential in building design
The early involvement of licensed plumbers and plumbing system designers in the building design process is critical to compliance and avoiding costly complications.
Solar Victoria's free renewable homes construction training has commenced
Solar Victoria is delivering free training on the design and construction of energy efficient 7-star rated and all-electric homes, as part of the renewable homes construction training program.
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