The National Construction Code is updated on a three-year cycle, and the latest edition, NCC 2025, has now been released. If your last project was drawn to NCC 2019 or NCC 2022, it is worth knowing what has changed, when it applies where you work, and how to check a project against the current Code without doing it all by hand.
This is a plain-English summary, with links to the official sources so you can confirm the detail for your jurisdiction.
When does NCC 2025 take effect?
The Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) released NCC 2025, with adoption beginning 1 May 2026, subject to each state and territory's own implementation arrangements. Adoption is not uniform: several jurisdictions adopt from 1 May 2026, while others, including New South Wales and Queensland, adopt from 1 May 2027, and transition periods vary.
Because variations and timing differ, always confirm against the official NCC 2025 state and territory adoption information for your project's location.
What changed in NCC 2025?
Per the ABCB's release notes, the most substantial technical changes apply to commercial buildings. The headline updates include:
- Commercial energy efficiency (Section J). New requirements for on-site renewable generation, including mandatory solar photovoltaic systems for Class 3 and Class 5 to 9 buildings, plus tighter building-fabric (insulation and glazing) requirements and a stronger focus on operational greenhouse-gas emissions.
- Durability and water management. Strengthened water management provisions, particularly for apartments and larger, more complex buildings, to support more durable outcomes.
- Fire safety. Updated carpark provisions, including sprinkler protection of open-deck carparks in many cases.
- Accessibility. An optional pathway allowing up to half of required male and female facilities to be provided as all-gender facilities in commercial buildings.
- Assessment pathways. Updates to how some Performance Solutions are assessed, and alignment with revised referenced Australian Standards.
What about housing?
For dwellings, NCC 2025 brings comparatively minor energy-efficiency changes. The big residential shifts, the 7-star NatHERS energy standard and the Livable Housing Design requirements, arrived in NCC 2022. That matters in practice: a project being updated from an NCC 2019 baseline still has to meet those 2022 requirements, so the gap to the current Code can be large even though 2025 itself is lighter on housing.
How do you check a project against NCC 2025?
This is exactly the kind of work UptoCode is built for. Upload your drawing set or BIM model along with the relevant NCC volume or section, and UptoCode checks the project against it and cites every findingto the clause and the drawing it came from. Because you provide the regulation, you can also upload your jurisdiction's variations or your own QA checklist and check against those the same way.
The value is not just a pass or fail. It is knowing which clause, which requirement, and which sheet triggered it, in minutes.
See how it works on the NCC compliance page, and if you work in BIM, how UptoCode reads IFC models.
What this means for your team
If you work on commercial projects, NCC 2025 is the edition to get across early, especially the Section J energy and fabric changes that are best resolved in design rather than at submission. Whether you are a building surveyor, an architect, a builder, or working in a council, checking against the current Code early is the cheapest way to avoid surprises later.
Create a free account and run a cited check against NCC 2025 on your next project.