New National Construction Code Plumbing Provisions Available for Public Comment

The National Plumbing Regulatory Forum (NPRF) and the ABCB were asked by the Building Ministers’ Forum in February 2010 to work together to deliver consolidated building and plumbing regulation. The Board will take the first step in this process by publishing the Plumbing Provisions for the first time in 2011. The development of the NCC will eventually result in the consolidation of all on-site construction regulation (building, plumbing, electrical and telecommunications).

The Board Chairman, Mr. Graham Huxley AM, encourages stakeholders to review the provisions and make a submission. The board recognises that the implementation of this national policy initiative will improve consistency across jurisdictions and deliver benefits for both the community and industry. While regulated separately, building codes and plumbing regulation are inherently linked, with both setting standards of practice for on-site construction of buildings. A consolidated national document that includes plumbing could deliver benefits and cost savings through:

• efficiency gains from removing overlap and inconsistency between codes;
• gains through an improved regulatory framework for plumbing standards, from more consistent adoption of performance-based standards and use of impact analysis;
• greater opportunities for innovation with a more consistent code and
• broader benefits from complementing other reform initiatives, such as national licensing and reforms in the training sector.

The Plumbing Provisions will be available for public comment on the ABCB website from 21 July 2010 at www.abcb.gov.au. The closing date for submissions is 1 September 2010. Submissions should be sent to plumbing2011@abcb.gov.au