In most parts of the Northern Territory, there is no legal requirement for houses to be built to national safety and liveability standards. The NT has a unique tiered building certification system that only mandates houses in some regions, such as Darwin and Alice Springs, be built to code. Housing and social policy experts are calling for the tiered system to be scrapped and claim it wouldn't cost much to ensure all buildings meet code.
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00:00A local architect calling for change, urging the NT to scrap the only tiered building certification
00:08system in Australia.
00:09The NT is the only place where we bow down to the tyranny of remote maintenance.
00:17In the NT, all buildings in the Tier 1 zones of Darwin, Alice Springs and Lake Bennett
00:22must meet National Construction Code requirements and receive full building certification.
00:28In Tier 2 communities, all buildings, except residential dwellings, need to be fully certified.
00:34Finally, there are outside of building control areas, which could be called the third tier.
00:40In these areas, there is no legal requirement to build in accordance with the NCC or the
00:45NT Building Act.
00:47With the federal government promising $4 billion over 10 years for NT remote housing, some
00:53local experts say the tiered system should be scrapped, and more should be done to ensure
00:58all new houses are energy efficient and built to last.
01:02We need to think sustainable, we need to think long term.
01:06Some say quality housing is directly linked to health outcomes.
01:10If houses are built according to the National Construction Code, people's health will be
01:18vastly different than it is today.
01:21The NT government says all their housing is built according to relevant Australian standards
01:26and the NCC, with certification provided on all government projects outside building
01:32control areas, even though it's not required.
01:36But some claim without a legal framework, any certification is just a piece of paper.
01:41They have very little oversight and no legal ramifications.
01:46Calls for change to ensure remote homes last into the future.
01:56For more UN videos visit www.un.org