Accessibility and Livable Housing under NCC 2022 (Part H8)

What it is

Part H8 of NCC 2022 Volume Two introduces accessibility requirements for new Class 1 buildings. The provisions are based on the Silver level of the Livable Housing Design Guidelines, fourth edition, 2017, originally published by Livable Housing Australia. The Deemed-to-Satisfy pathway refers to the ABCB Livable Housing Design Standard, which holds the technical detail.

The intent is plain. New homes should be usable by people across a range of mobility levels, including visitors using a wheelchair or walking aid, and should be adaptable as occupants age. Part H8 commenced 1 October 2023 in the states that have adopted it. Tasmania commences 1 October 2024.

State adoption varies and this is the single biggest source of confusion. Victoria, the ACT, Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory have adopted Part H8 in some form. New South Wales and Western Australia, at the time of writing, have not adopted it for new Class 1 dwellings. A builder working across state lines has to check the relevant state appendix.

What Silver-level Livable Housing requires

Seven elements have to be designed in:

Step-free entry

At least one entrance to the dwelling has to be step-free from the street, driveway or accessible parking space. The path of travel can be sloped but cannot include steps. The entry door has to provide a minimum 820 mm clear opening width.

Internal doors and corridors

Doors on the ground floor (or entry level for a split-level home) need a 820 mm clear opening. Corridors leading to those doors need 1000 mm minimum clear width.

Ground floor bathroom and toilet

At least one toilet on the entry level has to provide minimum clear floor area and door swing for transfer from a mobility aid. The bathroom on the entry level needs a hobless (step-free) shower with a minimum size, and reinforcement in the wall for future grab rail installation.

Reinforcement of bathroom walls

Wall framing or noggings have to be installed around the toilet, shower and bath so a grab rail can be retrofitted without opening up the wall. The location and load capacity follow the Livable Housing Design Standard.

Stairways

Stairs (where present) need a uniform tread and riser, a continuous handrail on at least one side and adequate luminance contrast on stair nosings.

Where this gets missed on site

The misses are nearly always at design or set-out stage. The slab is poured with a 100 mm step-up at the front entry because that is how the builder has always done it. The slab is then locked in. Retrofitting a step-free entry means a ramp or a complete redesign of the porch.

Door schedules show 720 mm or 770 mm internal doors because they are cheaper. The full schedule has to be reissued before frame stage. Bathroom layouts are signed off without checking the clear floor space at the toilet or shower, and the plumbing is roughed in before anyone catches it.

Wall reinforcement is the silent failure. Trades install standard plasterboard with no noggings or ply backing where grab rails will eventually need to go. The wall passes inspection (because the inspector is not checking) but the home fails the Livable Housing Design Standard.

Rectification cost magnitude

A step-free entry retrofit on a finished single-storey home costs $4,000 to $15,000 depending on porch design. Re-laying tiles and re-flashing a hobless shower after the original is installed runs $3,500 to $9,000. Door upsizing on a finished frame costs $400 to $900 per door once architraves and skirts are factored in. Wall reinforcement retrofitted into plasterboarded walls means opening up the wall and re-finishing, typically $600 to $1,200 per location.

What an auditor inspects

For TradeLens, the audit looks at the path of travel from the street to a habitable room, the door schedule with clear opening dimensions, the ground floor bathroom and toilet layout drawings with clear floor space dimensioned, and the wall framing details showing nogging or ply backing locations. Photographs of the bathroom wall frame before plasterboard are persuasive evidence.

A builder operating in a state that has adopted Part H8 needs the Livable Housing checks built into the site set-out and the bathroom rough-in. Where the state has not adopted Part H8, the requirement may still apply through a private contract (NDIS housing, government-funded social housing) so the same checklist holds value.