We’ve got good news for mid-rise designers, developers and builders – you can now enjoy more opportunities and flexibility with the recent changes to the 2019 National Construction Code!
The NCC update increased the range of buildings in which fire-protected timber construction systems can be used (up to 25m in height). The new range of buildings includes schools, hospitals, retail premises and aged care facilities.
Mid-rise timber buildings can be constructed from traditional lightweight timber framing and mass timber options like Glulam, CLT & LVL. What was once restricted to multi-residential, hospitality accommodation and office buildings in the 2016 NCC, now covers all classes of buildings (listed above).
The FWPA (Forest & Wood Products Australia) have worked extremely hard to ensure these new provisions were approved. The new changes have opened the doors to mid-rise buildings in Australia, having eliminated the lengthly ‘performance solutions’ for building approval, and now just require builders to meet Deemed-to-Satisfy provisions.
This exciting development to the 2019 NCC is a fantastic step forward for mass timber and mid-rise construction in Australia. For more information about designing and building with timber systems, contact the Wood Solutions’ Mid-rise Advisory team.
