Bachelor of Building Design: Design Guides, Codes, Standards & Reports

The National Construction Code (NCC)

The National Construction Code (NCC) is a key resource for the building and construction industry, that sets the minimum requirements for the design, construction and performance of buildings throughout Australia. The NCC, published by the Australian Building Codes Board, incorporates all on-site building and plumbing requirements into a single code. The NCC also provides the minimally necessary requirements for safety, health, amenity and sustainability in the design and construction of buildings.

To access the current NCC 2019 Amendment 1 Complete Series (adopted by States and Territories from 1 July 2020), available free of charge, register and create your account with the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB). 

Design Guides for Inclusive Design and Design for Ageing

Accessing Australian Standards database on i2i platform

Australian Standards database, provided by SAI Global Standards, maintains the world’s largest repository of standards and technical publications, including the complete collection of current Australian Standards. ISO standards are included on the platform. 

Standards Australia have updated how their content can be used ensuring that users comply with the Digital Rights Management (DRM), and do not breach the license requirements for Standards.

Australian Standards are now accessed via the new i2i Platform through the A-Z Databases. The i2i Platform is a customisable secure online service for organising standards and technical information for storage, retrieval and distribution. 

Accessing and viewing standards online on the i2i Platform is easy, and does not require an individual registration and installation of any software. If not already logged in, a user will be taken to the MyVU portal login page to log in with their student or staff ID to access the platform.

However, to access and open a standard's PDF file, which is DRM (Digital Rights Management) protected, a Plugin will need to be installed and the document accessed via a PDF reader such as Adobe Reader. Similarly, for mobile devices, accessing DRM protected PDFs is by using a supported PDF reader or an app.

Follow the steps below to download the FileOpen plugin.

Contact the VU Library Digital Services at digital.services@vu.edu.au if you have worked through the outlined process and require further assistance.

Follow the steps below to obtain your Australian Standard.  

Please Note: The Library has 3 concurrent user licenses to the i2i, so it is important to log out when you have finished using the platform.

Finding Resources: Australian Standards

Follow the steps outlined in the "Finding Resources: Australian Standards" to obtain your Australian Standard.  

Statistics, Legislation, Reports

Australian Bureau of Statistics

Australian Bureau of Statistics provides statistics on a broad range of subject areas including government, economy, education, population. Refer to it’s Building and Construction site for the statistics information on building and construction activities.

Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII)

It is possible to search for Australian Standards referenced in legislation and case law via the Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII) freely available database. The AustLII database provides access to a broad range of legislation and cases from across Australia.

IBISWorld database

IBISWorld provides industry and company data and business environment statistics for a wide range of Australian industries and companies. Check out the house construction industry for some relevant research reports.