3 December 2024

Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council (ASBEC) welcomes the opportunity to provide input to the Productivity Commission’s (the Commission) research into housing construction productivity. We would urge the Productivity Commission to consider the critical importance of changing rules and regulations in relation to housing construction, not just for reasons of safety, but to ensure that the housing construction sector can achieve optimal productivity and innovation outcomes.

Now is the time to renew commitment from all jurisdictions to a clear trajectory of improvements to the NCC. This will allow industry to understand targets and timelines and to plan for stepped changes. National consistency and certainty will also contribute to improved productivity, accelerate innovation and ensure that our housing remains safe, fit for purpose and fit for the future. ASBEC is of the strong view that ‘pressing pause’ on the standards that govern the safety and wellbeing of Australians is not a good solution to some of the perceived challenges with the NCC. Breaking this convention could result in state and territory governments adopting their own approach to NCC amendments, increasing compliance costs for industry and leading to further fragmentation of building standards across the country.

Read the full submission here and the 500-word version here.