The Northern Territory is moving to a cleaner, more energy-efficient construction code for commercial buildings.
The Territory Labor Government will adopt the National Construction Code (NCC) Section J 2019 for new non-residential buildings from 1 October 2023.
There is no change for residential buildings.
Until now, the Northern Territory has been the only Australian jurisdiction not to adopt Section J.
Following a local industry investigation into the potential adoption of NCC Section J in the Northern Territory and in response to industry feedback, a cost benefit analysis was conducted.
The overall results show that the benefits of adopting NCC 2019 Section J outweigh the costs. The analysis found that energy savings between 13% and 40% can be achieved with a small increase in construction costs between 1.3% and 2.4%.
Information and education will be made available to building practitioners in the NT in preparation for the changes required to comply with NCC 2019 Section J.
The Territory Government is already leading by example - energy efficiency in new Territory Government commercial builds must occur for projects valued over $3 million. Section J has been applied to a number of projects such as Zuccoli Primary School and the Palmerston Regional Hospital. This has assisted in local industry gaining experience with the new code.
