NCC 2022 vs NCC 2025: what changed in energy efficiency

The short version.

• Houses (Class 1): NCC 2025 still asks for 7 stars and a whole-of-home rating of at least 60 through house energy rating software.
• Apartments (Class 2): NCC 2025 replaces Section J with Section J of NCC 2022 Amendment 2.
• Commercial (Class 3 and 5 to 9): the biggest changes, including solar PV that must be installed.

When each edition applied in Victoria.

NCC 2022

Adopted on 1 May 2023. Its new energy efficiency and condensation provisions for homes commenced in Victoria on 1 May 2024.

NCC 2025

Released by the ABCB on 1 May 2026. Victoria adopted it from 1 May 2026 with no transition period. New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania adopt it from 1 May 2027.

Houses: what stayed the same.

The 7 star standard and the whole-of-home rating both came in with NCC 2022. From 1 May 2024, Victorian homes needed 7 stars and a whole-of-home rating not less than 60 under the NatHERS option.

In NCC 2025, Specification 42 still sets 7 stars (S42C2) and a whole-of-home rating of not less than 60 (S42C3). The lower star options only apply in climate zones 1 and 2. The elemental route through the ABCB Housing Provisions is still there, with Parts 13.6 and 13.7 limited to homes of 500 m2 or less.

So for a house, a rating done to the 2022 rules and a rating done to the 2025 rules aim at the same numbers. The rating is still redone when the design changes.

Apartments: Section J stayed on 2022.

NCC 2025 says: for Class 2 buildings, Section J is replaced with Section J of NCC 2022 Amendment 2. Under NCC 2022, sole-occupancy units average at least 7 stars, with each unit at least 6 stars, and a whole-of-home rating not less than 50.

Mixed-use buildings need care: the apartments and the shops below them can sit under different Section J text in the same permit set.

Commercial: what changed.

Performance requirement

J1P1 is now titled operational energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. The ABCB says the regulated energy allowance has been roughly halved and emissions are now quantified.

Solar PV

Under J9D5, buildings must install solar PV, not only leave space for it.

Electrification

J6D10 and Part J8 ask for buildings to support future electrification: electrical capacity, switchboard space, risers and plant space.

Fabric, services and lighting

New roof thermal emittance rules and stricter solar admittance for wall-glazing (J4), enhanced air-conditioning and ventilation plant (J6), broader lighting controls (J7), and an optional energy monitoring pathway through J9D3.

Verification Methods

J1V1 raises the NABERS targets. J1V3 adopts new weather files and a 3% margin between the proposed and reference buildings. NCC 2022 had a fifth method, J1V5, for Class 2 units; the NCC 2025 list stops at J1V4.

Our NCC 2025 Section J guide goes through the commercial changes clause by clause.

What to check on a live job.

1. Which edition applies to the building permit, and whether the job has crossed the 1 May 2026 line.
2. For commercial work, whether a report written to NCC 2022 needs redoing to NCC 2025.
3. For mixed-use work, which parts are Class 2 and which are not.

Sources: ABCB, NCC 2025 state and territory adoption information, NCC 2025 released, NCC 2025 commercial energy efficiency changes; NCC 2025 Part J1, Part H6 and Specification 42; NCC 2022 Part J1; Building and Plumbing Commission, NCC 2022, Energy efficiency requirements and Practice Note EE-03. General information, not an assessment of any particular site.

The ones that come up every week.

Not sure which edition your job falls under? Send the drawings.

Residential energy ratings and Section J reports for Victorian projects, written to the edition that applies to the permit.

Common questions