The Housing Industry Association has backed a proposal by Senator Andrew Bragg to simplify the National Construction Code, arguing that growing regulatory complexity is adding costs to new homes and making housing less affordable.
HIA chief executive for industry and policy Simon Croft said the building code should remain focused on safety, structural integrity and minimum technical standards, rather than being used to address a wide range of broader policy objectives.
“Senator Bragg’s proposal to dramatically simplify the National Construction Code for housing is a timely contribution to a debate Australia needs to have,” Mr Croft said.
The comments come as housing affordability and supply continue to dominate national policy discussions. Governments have been under pressure to increase housing construction while balancing safety, energy efficiency and environmental requirements.
Mr Croft said the HIA was not calling for existing safety standards to be dismantled. Instead, he argued that the cumulative impact of successive changes to the code had increased compliance costs and complexity for builders.
According to the HIA, each additional requirement may appear reasonable on its own, but together they can add thousands of dollars to the cost of a new home and make construction more complicated.
The association said the current pause on further major changes to the National Construction Code, alongside federal work on code modernisation, provides an opportunity to review the code’s scope and structure.
The HIA has proposed moving future amendments to a five-year cycle, strengthening cost-benefit analysis before new requirements are introduced, providing free access to referenced Australian Standards and increasing the use of digital compliance tools.
The National Construction Code sets minimum requirements for the design and construction of buildings across Australia and is updated periodically through a process involving governments, industry and technical experts. Recent editions have included changes relating to energy efficiency, accessibility and building performance.
Supporters of tighter building standards argue that stronger requirements can reduce long-term costs, improve safety and resilience, and lower household energy bills. Industry groups have maintained that reforms should take greater account of construction costs, productivity and the impact on housing supply.
Mr Croft said the goal should be a building code that protects safety and quality standards without continually increasing costs and regulatory burden.
He said the current review period gives governments and industry a chance to simplify the code and improve the balance between safety, affordability and the practical delivery of new homes.
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