NCC 2025 was published on 1 May 2026, but it did not switch on everywhere at once. Adoption is decided by each state and territory under its own building legislation, and this cycle the country has split: some jurisdictions adopted straight away, several deferred a year, one adopted only the plumbing volume, and at least one has not adopted NCC 2025 at all. If you work across state lines, the edition that applies now depends entirely on where the project is.
Below is a plain-English, jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction summary. Because the picture is fragmented and still moving, treat this as a map and always confirm the current position against the official ABCB NCC 2025 state and territory adoption information for your project's location before you rely on it.
Which states have adopted NCC 2025, and when?
The table summarises the adoption position for the Building Code of Australia (BCA, Volumes One and Two) and the Plumbing Code of Australia (PCA, Volume Three), based on the ABCB adoption information. Transition arrangements, where a jurisdiction runs the old and new editions in parallel for a period, are noted where the ABCB lists them.
| Jurisdiction | Building Code (Vol 1 & 2) | Plumbing Code (Vol 3) | Transition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria (VIC) | 1 May 2026 | 1 May 2026 | — |
| Western Australia (WA) | 1 May 2026 | 1 May 2026 | 12 months |
| Tasmania (TAS) | 1 May 2026 | 1 May 2026 | — |
| ACT | 1 May 2026 | 1 May 2026 | 12 months |
| South Australia (SA) | 1 May 2027 | 1 May 2026 | — |
| New South Wales (NSW) | 1 May 2027 | 1 May 2027 | — |
| Queensland (QLD) | 1 May 2027 | 1 May 2027 | — |
| Northern Territory (NT) | Not adopted | Not adopted | NCC 2022 continues |
The headline is the split: Victoria, Western Australia, Tasmania and the ACT adopted from 1 May 2026; New South Wales and Queensland deferred to 1 May 2027; South Australia adopted the plumbing volume in 2026 but deferred the building volumes to 2027; and the Northern Territory has not adopted NCC 2025, so NCC 2022 continues to apply there. Individual requirements can also start at different times, or not apply at all, because of state and territory variations.
Is NCC 2025 in effect in New South Wales and Queensland?
Not yet for the Building Code. Both New South Wales and Queensland deferred adoption of the NCC 2025 building volumes to 1 May 2027, so projects in those states are still assessed against the previous edition until then. That one-year gap matters most for teams working nationally: the same design can be assessed against NCC 2025 in Melbourne and the earlier edition in Sydney on the same day.
Why does adoption vary so much between states?
The NCC is a national model code, but it only has legal force once a state or territory adopts it through its own legislation, and each jurisdiction sets its own date, transition period, and variations. This cycle those decisions diverged more than usual, which is why NCC 2025 is live in some states, a year away in others, and absent in the Northern Territory. The practical consequence is that "which code applies" is a per-project question, driven by location and approval date, not a single national answer.
What does the split mean for projects across state lines?
It means the edition, and in some places the specific variations, has to be pinned per project before compliance work starts. A national builder or practice cannot assume one baseline. The safest approach is to confirm three things for each job: the jurisdiction, the approval pathway's relevant date, and whether a transition period lets the older edition still apply. Get those wrong and a set checked against the wrong edition can pass internally and still fail at assessment.
How do you check a project against the right NCC edition?
This is exactly the kind of moving-target problem UptoCode is built for. Because you upload the regulation you want to check against, you can point a project at the correct edition and volume for its jurisdiction, add any state variations or your own QA checklist, and UptoCode checks the drawings and BIM model against that specific document and cites every findingto the clause and the drawing it came from. When a state flips to NCC 2025, you check against the new edition by uploading it, not by waiting for a tool's rules to be updated.
For a plain-English rundown of what actually changed in this edition, see NCC 2025: what's changed and how to check your project, and how UptoCode reads a set on the NCC compliance page.
Create a free account and run a cited check against the edition that applies to your next project.
Last reviewed 9 July 2026 against the ABCB NCC 2025 state and territory adoption information. Adoption dates and transition arrangements are set by each jurisdiction and can change; always confirm the current position with the ABCB and your state or territory building authority before relying on it. This article is general information, not compliance advice.