ABCB Standard for Livable Housing Design 2022

Published 4th January 2023

The livable housing design requirements can be found in Volumes One (Part G7) and Two (Part H8) of the NCC.

These new Parts include:

• A performance-based approach, to provide flexibility and encourage new and innovative ways to meet the requirements.
• Exemptions for situations where full compliance may be impractical or unreasonable.
• Deemed-to-Satisfy (DTS) Provisions that provide a standardised, prescriptive ‘recipe’ to meet the Performance Requirements, suitable for most common designs and construction methods.

The DTS Provisions refer to a new ABCB technical standard, called the ABCB Standard for Livable Housing Design. It provides the ‘nuts and bolts’ technical details along with explanatory information to help you understand why they are there and how to follow them correctly.

The ABCB Standard covers:

• Providing step-free access to the home.
• Making doorways and hallways easier to use for people with reduced mobility.
• Providing extra space in the bathroom and toilet.
• Wall reinforcing in the bathroom and toilet, to make it easier to install grabrails if needed in the future.

Given the Standard contains most of the technical DTS Provisions, you may think you don’t need to check the NCC. This isn’t the case. The Standard should not be read in isolation; the diagram below shows how it and the new NCC requirements fit together.