We're renovating a bathroom in Adelaide. The builder is working to NCC 2022 but the plumber says his work falls under NCC 2025. Can both be right on the same job?

Both tradespeople can be right, and on a South Australian bathroom renovation right now they usually are. South Australia adopts the building code and the plumbing code on different timelines, and your renovation is touched by both. [1]

Two separate codes are in play, each a primary instrument with its own scope and its own operative date:

• Building work (structure, wall and floor construction, waterproofing of the building fabric) is governed by the Building Code of Australia, NCC Volumes One and Two. In SA this is NCC 2022 until 30 April 2027. Your builder is right. [2]
• Plumbing and drainage work (water supply, sanitary drainage, fixtures) is governed by the Plumbing Code of Australia, NCC Volume Three, which covers plumbing and drainage in new and existing buildings. In SA this has been NCC 2025 since 1 May 2026, administered by the Office of the Technical Regulator. Your plumber is right. [1] [2]

The two are not in conflict, because they regulate different scopes of the same job. Each NCC volume is given legal effect by State and Territory legislation, and that legislation can adopt each volume on its own timetable, which is exactly what SA has done. [1]

One boundary to watch: where a task sits on the line between building work and plumbing work, the classic example being wet-area waterproofing, which code governs is a classification call for your certifier. Confirm any borderline element with your building surveyor or the Office of the Technical Regulator rather than assuming.

Forward planning: from 1 May 2027 SA's building code also moves to NCC 2025, so the split closes and both trades will be working to the NCC 2025 family. If the job runs close to that date, confirm the operative BCA edition with your certifier.