Panellists at the Codes Red debate and industry insiders have flagged plenty of views and provocations for our event.  But here are 5 big questions that come top of the list:

1.
Have states and territories gone rogue on the National Construction Code?

2.
We’ve got regular floods, fires and severe heating – where’s the deep climate resilience in the NCC and other rating tools?

3.
How deep is the industry inertia to change and how do we fix this?

4.
Why can’t we be as progressive as the UK and Scandinavia?

5.
Are we done yet with voluntary targets?

Got any burning questions you want answered at Codes RED, submit them now to events@thefifthestate.com.au or buy a ticket here.

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    1. I’ll comment on question 1!

      In my opinion, the states haven’t gone rogue enough. There are several inclusions in the NCC that are seemingly arbitrary, or conflicting with the creation of increased housing!

      To name just one, the inclusion of “Silver Accessibility” standards to all forms of housing! States (almost all) have granted the inclusion of a Granny Flat to most freestanding homes. The majority of these will be built a minimum of 600mm above ground, many will be higher unless the floor is very smartly engineered. This means to gain compliant access a ramp of around 9 metres in length or longer is required, and will require handrails to one of both sides!

      This is generally fine on larger blocks, or smaller blocks where space to accommodate ramping is insufficient. But for the majority, this means a loss of available area for planted screening, or the inclusion of an eyesore.

      I believe I’m in no way disrespectful of the need for accessible accommodation, I’ve seen plentiful posts on social pages, where people ask; “Is this true, my builder said I need to have a ramp to my granny flat that adds serious $ to the cost? I just can’t do it is true!”. The sad thing is, yes it is true!

      We must be honest, our first priority at present is: Build More Homes!

      The solution is easy; Make this demand only apply to Granny Flats built upon slab-on-ground, or at the discretion of the applicant.

      With every new home being built, the supply of housing for those who demand it, won’t be in short supply. Does it demand “Every home to be built accessible?”.

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