HAVE YOUR SAY ABOUT NCC PUBLIC COMMENT DRAFTS

There are plenty of people around the plumbing industry who are quick to criticise changes and question why no-one takes notice of their point of view.

Well, now is the time (before August 3) for anyone who wants to put in their 5 cents worth of comment about the 2016 edition of the NCC – Volume 3 (Plumbing) Public Comment Draft.

Consultation is the cornerstone of the ABCB’s commitment to create a contemporary and relevant National Construction Code (NCC) that delivers good societal outcomes for safety, health, amenity and sustainability in the built environment.

Early consultation is instrumental to the technical amendment processes of the NCC and on broader regulatory reform matters. This engagement with the community is within the framework of Council of Australian Governments’ (COAG) principles and guidelines for good regulatory practice, and supports the ABCB Inter-Governmental Agreement.

The draft changes are available here for comment and to give NCC users advance notice of proposals that may take effect from 1 May 2016. Download it here: NCC 2016 Public Comment Draft Volume Three

Proposed changes from the current edition are marked with underlining (for new text) and strikethrough (for deleted text). The public comment draft for each NCC Volume only includes those pages where changes to the text are proposed; unaffected pages are not shown and as such, gaps may appear in the draft. Also it should be noted that inclusion of a proposal in the public comment draft does not mean that the proposal is supported by the ABCB or its committees.

The period for comment on the NCC 2016 draft proposals closes on Monday 3 August 2015.

Please note that—

• Only comments that are directly relevant to the proposed changes in the public comment drafts will be accepted.
• Comments will not be accepted after 3 August 2015. Consideration of late comments has the potential to delay production and release of the NCC which has been scheduled to allow industry sufficient time to prepare for its adoption on 1 May 2016.
• Comments will only be accepted if they are submitted through the ABCB website using the response sheet template.
• The submission of your comments will be acknowledged, however your submitted comments will not be responded to.
• Comments will not be made public but will be made available to members of the Australian Building Codes Board and its committees. However, you should note that submissions may be subject to a request made under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.

So there you have it, act now and play a constructive role in the development of the core document this industry relies upon.