The NCC 2025 edition was published for preview on 1 February 2026, with states and territories considering adoption from May 2026. While there's a pause on new residential changes until mid-2029 (providing some welcome stability for home builders), commercial and mixed-use projects face several updates that will directly affect project costs and processes.

Key Changes That Affect Builders

• Strengthened water management provisions, including updated requirements for waterproofing and stormwater management in commercial buildings.
• Enhanced fire safety requirements for carparks, reflecting updated risk assessments and international best practice.
• Mandatory on-site solar PV systems for new commercial buildings, with minimum generation requirements based on building size and type.
• Updated energy efficiency requirements across commercial building classes.

What This Means Practically

For builders and contractors, these changes translate into:

• Updated specifications and potentially different material requirements on new projects tendered after adoption.
• Additional compliance documentation and inspection requirements during construction.
• Cost implications for solar PV installation on commercial projects, which need to be factored into estimates.
• Potential for design changes on projects already in planning but not yet under construction when the new code takes effect.

How to Prepare

The transition period between now and adoption is the time to get across the changes. Review the published NCC 2025 preview for the building classes relevant to your work. Update your estimating templates to reflect new requirements. Talk to your suppliers about any material or system changes. And ensure your project management systems can track the additional compliance requirements that the updated code introduces.

The builders who prepare ahead of the transition will be the ones who price accurately and deliver without surprises.