Australia’s Model Uniform Building Code

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The complexity of Australia’s building regulatory system provided a legislative maze for building practitioners to work through. However, after World War II several of the States started to establish more uniform technical building requirements, and those States which delegated their primary responsibilities to municipal councils started to reclaim control. This prompted further discussion about the benefits of having a national set of building regulations.

In 1965, the Interstate Standing Committee on Uniform Building Regulations (ISCUBR) was established. ISCUBR was basically an agreement between the State administrations responsible for building regulatory matters to pool their resources for the benefit of all States. ISCUBR’s first task was to draft a model technical code for building regulatory purposes. The document was referred to as the “Australian Model Uniform Building Code” (AMUBC) and was first released in the early 1970’s.

The AMUBC contained proposals for both technical matters and some administrative matters which were based on the then Local Government Act of New South Wales. The intention was that States could use the AMUBC as a model for their own building regulations. However, variation from the model was considerable, with many States changing the provisions in accordance with their perceptions of local needs.