What is a Performance Solution under the NCC?

How do Performance Solutions fit into the NCC?

The NCC is a performance-based code. Its legally binding core is the Performance Requirements: statements of the outcome a building must achieve, such as resisting the spread of fire or carrying the loads applied to it. The Governing Requirements then allow three ways to meet them:

• A Deemed-to-Satisfy Solution (A2G3) — follow the DTS Provisions and the solution is deemed to meet the Performance Requirements.
• A Performance Solution (A2G2) — demonstrate compliance directly.
• A combination of both (A2G4) — for example, a building that follows DTS throughout except for one Performance Solution for egress travel distance.

A Performance Solution is not a loophole or a lower standard. It is an equally valid way to comply, and it must meet the same Performance Requirements. What changes is the burden of proof: with DTS the Code has done the proving for you; with a Performance Solution, you have to do it yourself.

What are the four steps to develop a Performance Solution?

The NCC sets out the process in A2G2(4). All four steps are required:

1. Prepare a performance-based design brief in consultation with the relevant stakeholders.
2. Carry out the analysis, as proposed by the performance-based design brief.
3. Evaluate the results against the acceptance criteria in the performance-based design brief.
4. Prepare a final report documenting the outcome.

The order matters. The acceptance criteria are agreed in step 1, before anyone runs the analysis — so the test is set before the answer is known. A Performance Solution that was analysed first and justified afterwards is back to front, and a certifier is entitled to treat it that way.

What goes into the performance-based design brief?

The performance-based design brief (PBDB) is where a Performance Solution is won or lost. The ABCB’s guidance describes the development and approval of a Performance Solution as relatively simple if it is initiated by the collaborative preparation of a PBDB.

A good PBDB records:

• the building, its use and its classification;
• which Performance Requirements are being addressed, and which DTS Provisions are being departed from;
• the stakeholders consulted — typically the owner, the designer, the relevant engineer and the building surveyor or certifier, and for fire safety solutions often the fire authority, depending on the state;
• the proposed Assessment Methods;
• the acceptance criteria: what result will count as success; and
• any assumptions, such as occupant numbers, fire loads or maintenance regimes.

Which Assessment Methods can you use?

The NCC contains four Assessment Methods, and a Performance Solution can use any combination of them:

• Evidence of Suitability — documentary evidence that a material, product, form of construction or design meets the requirement.
• A Verification Method — a test, calculation or procedure in the NCC that determines whether a Performance Requirement has been met.
• Expert Judgement — the judgement of a person with the qualifications and experience to make it.
• Comparison with the DTS Provisions — showing the solution performs at least as well as the DTS Solution it replaces.

A Deemed-to-Satisfy Solution can use only two of them: Evidence of Suitability and Expert Judgement (A2G3). A Performance Solution can use all four, which is what gives it the flexibility to demonstrate compliance for designs the DTS Provisions never contemplated.

What must the final report include?

Under A2G2(4), the final report must include:

• all the Performance Requirements and DTS Provisions identified as applicable;
• identification of all the Assessment Methods used;
• details of the first three steps — the design brief, the analysis and the evaluation;
• confirmation that the Performance Requirement has been met; and
• details of any conditions or limitations.

The last item is easy to overlook and hard to fix later. If a Performance Solution depends on something continuing to happen — a sprinkler system being maintained, a door being held open only by an approved device, occupant numbers staying below a threshold — that condition has to be written down, and someone has to know about it.

What changed for Performance Solutions in NCC 2025?

NCC 2025 amends A2G2 — the Performance Solution clause — together with B1P1 and H1P1, the structural reliability Performance Requirements in Volume One and Volume Two. The ABCB describes the amendments as specifying means of assessment to ensure robust Performance Solutions, including minimum levels of reliability that must be achieved when a structural component’s compliance is demonstrated through a Performance Solution.

The direction is clear: less room for thinly evidenced Performance Solutions, particularly for structure. Where NCC 2025 applies — it is being adopted progressively by the states and territories from 1 May 2026 — check your templates and evidence against the amended clauses rather than reusing an approach that was accepted under NCC 2022.

Why do Performance Solutions fail?

The failures follow a pattern:

• No agreed design brief, or acceptance criteria set after the analysis.
• The wrong Performance Requirements. Addressing the DTS clause being departed from, but not every Performance Requirement that the departure affects.
• Unqualified Expert Judgement. An opinion from someone without the expertise the question demands.
• Missing conditions. A solution that only works if something is maintained, with no record of what or by whom.
• No final report, or a report that restates the conclusion without the analysis behind it.
• Scope creep. The design changes after approval and nobody re-tests the Performance Solution against the new design.

Who is responsible for a Performance Solution?

Responsibility is shared, and it lasts beyond the approval:

• The designer or engineer who develops the solution is responsible for the analysis and the report.
• The building surveyor or certifier decides whether it demonstrates compliance.
• The builder must build what was approved, including the details that the solution depends on.
• The owner inherits the conditions. A Performance Solution that relies on ongoing maintenance becomes the owner’s obligation, often through the building’s essential safety measures or fire safety schedule.

Years later, the final report is usually the first document a purchaser’s lawyer, an insurer or a regulator asks for. Keep it with the building records.

Frequently asked questions