Federal Budget Success - promises free access to Construction Standards

Last week's Federal Budget confirmed a significant reform long advocated for by CQA and the broader construction and design sector: free access to construction standards referenced in Australian legislation.

For builders and subcontractors across Australia, this is a major moment. For decades, they have been required to purchase access to the massive number of standards referenced in the NCC at substantial cost - which meant that some organisations didn't have access to the standards they needed to do their jobs.

This reform recognises that the standards underpinning the NCC should be accessible to the people required to use them. CQA has consistently advocated for this change.

The Budget confirms that:

“The Government is also taking action to simplify building regulations and make it easier to build by providing free access to all standards referenced in Australian legislation. This will save small businesses and tradies up to $1,600 per year.”

The reform was also directly referenced in the Treasurer’s Budget Speech as part of a broader National Competition Policy agenda aimed at strengthening Australia as a “Single National Market”.

The positives extend far beyond simple cost savings. Free access to standards has the potential to improve regulatory compliance because Subcontractors and Sub-subcontractors will have access to the referenced standards and cross-referred standards that they are being held accountable for complying with.