Notum BCA Building Surveying and Regulations Consulting

01/04/2026

Seems the real question is unanswered here, what was the issue (contributing factors) that led to these modular buildings being left without a roof and exposed to the elements for so long in essentially the tropics during wet season?

Demolition begins at Queensland’s largest modular housing project in Cairns, as damaged modules are removed and sent to landfill, with roles of Modscape and contractors clarified.

19/03/2026

It appears that the adoption of the latest iteration of the National Construction Code (NCC BCA2025) in Queensland has been delayed until 1 May 2027. When we say the latest iteration, the final version is yet to be released by the ABCB which has only put out a draft version to date which is still missing some parts.

29/01/2026

It's not just aspiring first time home purchasers affected by the housing crisis
https://www.realestate.com.au/news/men-in-tears-builders-face-ruin-amid-hidden-construction-crisis/

Aussie tradies are breaking under the strain of a government ordered building boom as construction businesses fail at record rates.

07/01/2026

The impact of construction costs on large scale project viability.
https://www.realestate.com.au/news/shock-revision-of-144apartment-tower-as-construction-costs-bite/?campaignType=external&campaignChannel=syndication&campaignName=ncacont&campaignContent=&campaignSource=the_courier_mail&campaignPlacement=socref&fbclid=IwY2xjawPLK7VleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETE4dEVXU2xlRTBvTXFyUDd2c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHig2coe4EFGIOG8DYx9q8QDhtosWt-OFeLCGUekSBbMFoJHUYV2xOW4wTil5_aem_NA1WtslvrsuTZ9z5jei-xg

Skyrocketing construction costs have been blamed for terminated contracts at a 144-apartment tower, with revised prices as much as $1m higher per unit - amid a warning this is not the only one.

28/10/2025

ABCB has issued the following advice "NCC clarification: Manual controls for power-operated hinged doors in NCC 2022 (Amendment 2)" addressing conflicts between NCC BCA2022 Amdt 2 and AS1428.1-2021. It is worth reading why the requirements of AS1428.1 apply as in most situations the NCC BCA requirements apply where there is any inconsistency with requirements contained in a referenced document.
https://www.abcb.gov.au/news/2025/ncc-clarification-manual-controls-power-operated-hinged-doors-ncc-2022-amendment-2

Breadcrumb Home News 2025 NCC clarification: Manual controls for power-operated hinged doors in NCC 2022 (Amendment 2) NCC clarification: Manual controls for power-operated hinged doors in NCC 2022 (Amendment 2) 2025-10-27 There is an inconsistency between the location requirements for manual contro...

10/10/2025

An "Important Notice" has recently been issued regarding possible asbestos contamination in a range of fire doors used in Australia and New Zealand. While the matter is still under investigation by the fire door supplier they are advising all building practitioners working with the possibly affected fire doors of the potential contamination so that they can adopt appropriate work practises if they encounter these doors.

https://www.pyropanel.com.au/au/en/important-notification-frb

Note that the list of potentially impacted products in the notice below reflects products authorised for sale in Australia. For relevant information for New Zealand, please contact the New Zealand based licensees listed here.

24/08/2025

The Hon Claire O'Neill MP, Minister for Housing, Homelessness and Cities and Senator the Hon Murray Watt, Minister for the Environment and Water have released a joint media statement on the Commonwealth Government red tape reduction initiatives to increase the number of homes built.

Joint media release: Action on red tape and approvals to build more homes, more quickly https://minister.dcceew.gov.au/watt/media-releases/joint-media-release-action-red-tape-and-approvals-build-more-homes-more-quickly

The Hon Claire O'Neill MP, Minister for Housing, Homelessness and Cities

21/08/2025

Queensland Productivity Commission interim report- Opportunities to Improve Productivity of The Construction Industry looking at changes in NCC 2022 relating to livable housing and energy requirements being made voluntary?
https://www.qpc.qld.gov.au/docs/construction-productivity/Summary%20Report%20-%20Opportunities%20to%20improve%20productivity%20of%20the%20construction%20industry%201.pdf for interim report.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-21/qld-building-accessibility-codes-productivity-disability/105676938

A report by the Queensland Productivity Commission recommended the state should opt out of the National Construction Code's accessibility standards.

21/08/2025

Productivity Summit discusses pausing updates to the National Construction Code classed as "non-essential" updates?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-20/productivity-summit-super-funds-housing-construction-code-epbc/105678536

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the second day of his productivity roundtable brought a "real prospect" of finding agreement on changes that could boost Australia's housing supply, including making investment more attractive for super funds.

16/08/2025

Yet another reminder that seismic activity (earthquakes) does affect Australia with the largest onshore quake recorded in 50 years, magnitude 5.6, occurring in Queensland on Saturday morning. Fortunately, it occurred in a sparsely populated rural area, with no reports of significant damage to date, but the event was felt far and wide.

The National Construction Code Building Code of Australia (NCC BCA) has long included requirements for buildings to be designed and constructed to resist seismic activities as required by AS 1170.4. Possibly due to the low level of occurrence it has often been thought the requirements relate to a building's structural loadbearing elements only. This prompted the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) to issue an online news advisory a number of years ago highlighting that the requirements extend to non-structural elements that could collapse during an event causing injury, particularly in Class 2 to 9 buildings, see https://www.abcb.gov.au/news/2019/design-non-structural-building-elements-earthquake-forces If you are involved in the design or construction of these types of buildings, are you ensuring the requirements have been addressed?

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/warning-after-largest-quake-in-50-years/ar-AA1KBYHN?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=ASTS&cvid=3f280e6325554e8f81c8160c5e666ae5&ei=29

Queenslanders are being warned to brace for aftershocks after millions were rocked by the largest onshore earthquake in 50 years.

06/08/2025

https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/buying/construction-times-for-houses-have-grown-by-50-per-cent-in-the-last-decade-building-costs-53-per-cent-more-expensive-ipa-finds/news-story/c1f6a56269fa4526439602ac1e5d310c

Construction time for an average home has increased by a whopping 50 per cent in the past decade, with Australia’s ambitious 1.2 million homes target already 55,300 homes behind just one year in.