NCC building classification, and which one your clinic is
Every building in Australia sits in a class, the class sets the rules, and changing use changes the class.
The short answer
Ask a builder what your fitout costs and they will quote the works. Ask a certifier what class your building is and you will find out whether those works are even possible in that tenancy.
Key points
- Classification is set by how a building is used, not by what it looks like.
- An office is Class 5, a shop is Class 6, a laboratory is Class 8, a health-care building is Class 9a.
- Consulting rooms usually sit with the office or shop class; procedures push you toward 9a.
- Changing class brings fire, egress and construction requirements a tenancy may not be able to meet.
- Get a certifier's view on classification before you sign a lease.
Ask a builder what your fitout costs and they will quote the works. Ask a certifier what class your building is and you will find out whether those works are even possible in that tenancy.
What NCC building classification is
The National Construction Code assigns every building, or part of a building, a class based on how it’s used. The class then determines what the Code requires: fire resistance and separation, egress and travel distances, alarm and detection, sanitary provision, accessibility, energy efficiency.
Two identical tenancies on the same floor can carry very different obligations because one is a shop and the other is a health-care building.
The classes, briefly
| Class | Use | Relevance to a clinic |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Houses | House conversions start here and do not stay here |
| 2 | Apartment buildings | What sits above your suspended slab |
| 3 | Boarding, hotel, hostel | Rarely |
| 4 | A dwelling inside a non-residential building | Rarely |
| 5 | Office | Where many consulting suites sit |
| 6 | Shop, retail, café | Where optometry and many strip clinics sit |
| 7a / 7b | Carpark / storage | Parking provision, back of house |
| 8 | Laboratory, factory, production | Standalone laboratories |
| 9a | Health-care building | Day procedure, day hospital |
| 9b | Assembly building | Occasionally, for education or public spaces |
| 9c | Residential aged care | Aged care |
| 10 | Non-habitable structures | Sheds, fences, plant enclosures |
Which one is a clinic?
This is where people expect a single answer and there’s not one.
Consulting-only practices commonly sit in Class 5 or Class 6, depending on the building and how the tenancy is used. A GP clinic in a suburban shop is frequently Class 6; a specialist suite in a commercial tower is frequently Class 5.
Once procedures are performed, and particularly where patients may be unable to evacuate themselves without assistance, the tenancy moves toward Class 9a. That is a materially heavier construction standard.
A standalone laboratory generally sits in Class 8, and that is why a laboratory fitout behaves more like an industrial project than a clinical one.
Where a building contains parts used differently, the Code allows for parts of a building to be classified separately. That’s a certifier's determination on your drawings, not a rule of thumb.
Why a change of class is expensive
Changing what a building is used for can change its classification, and a new classification brings the Code requirements that go with it. Not for the whole building necessarily, but for the part you’re changing and sometimes for the systems that serve it.
In practice that can mean:
- Fire-resisting construction to walls, floors or ceilings that are currently plasterboard
- Different egress provisions, travel distances or exit widths
- Alarm and detection systems, sometimes building-wide
- Sanitary provision recalculated against a different occupancy basis
- Accessibility provisions applied to work that would otherwise be exempt
Any of those can exceed the cost of the fitout itself, and some are simply not achievable in a given tenancy. A building without a second means of egress cannot be given one by a fitout contractor.
The planning approval is a separate thing
Two different systems, routinely confused.
Planning asks whether the use is permitted on that land, and is assessed by council against a planning scheme. That is your development application or equivalent.
Building asks whether the construction complies, and is assessed by a certifier or building surveyor against the NCC. Classification lives here.
You can have planning approval for a use the building cannot be constructed to support. That’s an expensive place to arrive.
What to do about it
Before you sign, take your intended scope of practice to a certifier or building surveyor and ask two questions: what class does this become, and can this tenancy achieve it.
It costs very little, it takes days, and it is the difference between a project and a write-off. It’s on our lease checklist and it’s the first thing we look at in a feasibility assessment.
The classifications above are summarised for orientation. The Code carries the definitions, the exceptions and the concessions, and it is revised.
Sources and further reading
The NCC is freely available from the Australian Building Codes Board and is revised. Read the current edition rather than this summary.
The National Construction Code: building classification, fire separation, egress, sanitary provisions and access.
Source for AS/NZS 4815 and 4187 reprocessing, AS 1428.1 access and AS 1668.2 ventilation. The standards themselves are purchased, not free.
Room-by-room design guidance and standard components used across Australian health projects, including consulting, treatment and sterilising rooms.
Questions
What is NCC building classification?
The National Construction Code assigns every building, or part of a building, a class based on how it’s used. The class then determines the Code requirements that apply: fire resistance and separation, egress, alarm and detection, sanitary provision, accessibility and energy efficiency.
What class is a medical centre?
It depends on the building and how the tenancy is used. Consulting-only practices commonly sit in Class 5 (office) or Class 6 (shop), while a facility performing procedures where patients may be unable to self-evacuate moves toward Class 9a, the health-care building classification.
What class is a laboratory?
Generally Class 8, which covers laboratories, factories and production. It is one reason a standalone laboratory fitout behaves more like an industrial project than a clinical one.
Why does changing classification cost so much?
Because the new class brings its own Code requirements: fire-resisting construction, different egress provisions and travel distances, alarm and detection systems, recalculated sanitary provision and accessibility. Some are more expensive than the fitout, and some are not achievable in a given tenancy at all.
Is classification the same as planning approval?
No, and they’re routinely confused. Planning asks whether the use is permitted on that land and is assessed by council. Classification is a building question, assessed by a certifier or building surveyor against the NCC. You can hold planning approval for a use the building can’t be constructed to support.
Who decides the classification?
A certifier or building surveyor, on your specific drawings and scope. It’s not a rule of thumb and it is worth establishing before you sign a lease.
Send us the floor plan
A site assessment tells you what the tenancy can take and what it will cost to get there, ideally before you have signed for it.