Australian Standards:  the NCC and BCA - Floor Safety Requirements

The 2015 National Construction Code The NCC is an initiative of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) developed to incorporate all on-site building and plumbing requirements into a single code.  The NCC sets the minimum requirements for the design, construction and performance of buildings throughout Australia.

The 2015 National Construction Code (NCC) introduced new slip resistance requirements for stair in Class One (residential) buildings.  Previously, these regulations only applied to commercial structures.

View NCC2015 Anti-Slip Performance Requirements

The NCC defines the following mandatory performance requirements for residential stairs, from 1 May 2015:

Class 2-9 (Commercial Buildings) - NCC Volume One      

Section D:  Access and Egress:  DP2:  So that people can move safely to and within a building, it must have...(c) stairways and ramps with...(i)slip resistance walking surfaces on...(A)ramps; and (B) stairway treads or near the edge of the nosings.

Class 1 (Residential) - NCC Volume Two

Part 2.5:  Safe Movement and Access

Part 2.5.1 Stairways and ramps:  So that people can move safely to and within a building...(b) any stairway or ramp must...(iv) have slip resistant walking surfaces on ramps, and on stairway t reads or near the edge of the nosing.

The NCC requires a slip resistance classification as defined in AS4586:2013 - Slip Resistance Classification of new pedestrian surfaces.  These slip resistance requirements are prescribed as:

Application	Surface Condition - Dry	Surface Condition-Wet
Tread Surface	P3	P4
Nosing Strip	P3	P4