New building regulations to be implemented in Victoria in a fortnight will cost new home buyers an estimated $20,000 extra, a Border builder says.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The National Construction Code, parts of which have been adopted by all states and territories, has strict requirements from May 1 for new builds including a minimum seven-star energy rating and improved accessibility features.
Border builder David Afonso, of Afonso Building Solutions which builds homes on both sides of the Murray River, said the implementation of the NCC requirements was "particularly confusing" with different sets of rules for NSW and Victoria.
He said NSW had adopted the NCC energy rating requirement but rejected the disability access aspect, while Victoria had adopted the "whole kit and caboodle".
The "liveable housing design requirements" means reducing steps where possible, more space in bathrooms, wider doorways, and providing for future adaptations such as adding grab rails.
"Victoria is going the whole hog by doing the disability provisions as well," Mr Afonso said. "It's up to the states to administer and implement as they see fit.
"NSW have decided, no, we don't need the wider doors and the ramps and all that sort of stuff. But they've adopted the seven-star energy rating requirement and the condensation management requirement."
Mr Afonso said he didn't disagree with the requirements but warned it might make the prospect of building in Albury more attractive than Wodonga.
"They (the NCC) have come out with it and states are doing different things, which, if you're on the Border, becomes more of a headache," he said.
"So it's not impossible, it just makes things more difficult to administer.
"On average, adhering to these new requirements is going to add about $20,000 to the cost of a build.
"It's an initial outlay that people are going to need to spend to make the homes compliant because these features are going to need to be installed before we get an occupancy certificate."
The NCC sets out the requirements for the design and construction, including plumbing and drainage work and sets minimum required levels for safety, health, amenity and accessibility.
"These provisions will help practitioners provide Victoria with its housing needs in the years to come, with many benefits for consumers, such as removing barriers to the installation of efficient electric hot water systems and providing more housing options for people with physical disabilities," the NCC said.
Mr Afonso said he believed some smaller builders were struggling to come to terms with the new requirements.
"The NCC announced it a while ago but they didn't finalise things until recently," he said. "They had the great ideas filtering down and announced it, but they hadn't fine tuned the actual exact requirements.
"When when they say disability provision, that's fine, but what are you looking for? So that's when they started to go, OK, we want ramps here with the doors.
"You need to be able to have a threshold free access into the home so that can be achieved achieved with a ramp. The doors to habitable areas need to be wider.
"I'm not saying it's right or wrong, I just think it's questionable about the timing of it, of adding $20,000 to the price of homes when we've come through a building boom, or price boom in COVID, and affordability is at its lowest.
"And then all of a sudden, we're turning around and throwing another $20,000 on the price of a home when people are already struggling to own their own home."
