A prescriptive pathway to energy efficiency compliance for a new home, without thermal performance modelling.
Not every new home needs to be modelled. Where a design is compact, conventionally oriented and modestly glazed, the Elemental Provisions offer a direct route: meet the benchmark for each building element and the home complies, with no star rating required.
This suits straightforward projects where the specification is settled and the design is not being tuned for performance. It is a compliance instrument rather than a design tool.
Where a home has significant glazing, a difficult orientation or an ambition beyond the minimum, NatHERS may be the preferred pathway. It allows trade offs between elements and rewards a design that performs. We can help you determine which is best for your project.
Energy efficiency compliance for new Class 1 dwellings under NCC 2025, via the Elemental Provisions in ABCB Housing Provisions Part 13, including the compliance report required for building permit approval. This includes assessment against Part 13.6, Whole of Home energy usage.
Each element is assessed against its prescribed benchmark: roof, ceiling, wall and floor insulation values, glazing performance by orientation under the conductance and solar admittance calculations, building sealing and thermal breaks. There are no offsets between elements.
Required by owners, architects and builders of new detached homes seeking a prescriptive rather than performance based compliance route.
Stage 1 — Project Initiation. Studio Bun reviews your drawings, specifications and brief, identifies the NCC 2025 requirements that apply to the project, and issues a proposed compliance pathway together with a fixed fee covering the full process.
Stage 2 — Preliminary Assessment & Design Advice. The proposed design is assessed element by element against the prescribed benchmarks. We issue a Preliminary Assessment Report setting out what is required for compliance. This stage identifies the key challenges to the project and the improvements available, whether to exceed compliance or to reduce the cost of meeting it.
Stage 3 — Design Iteration & Optimisation. Between the preliminary and final reports we allow two rounds of minor changes to the design, and a meeting to review the recommendations. From here we can focus on cost efficiency or on performance, as the project requires.
Stage 4 — Certification & Final Reporting. Once the final specification and design are documented, we confirm each element against its benchmark, issue the Whole of Home certificate and provide the final compliance report for your building surveyor alongside a stamped set of drawings. Changes after issue are charged at an additional rate, depending on the size and scope of the change.
Assessment of the proposed dwelling against ABCB Housing Provisions Part 13
Conductance and solar admittance calculations for glazing, by orientation
Whole of Home assessment under Part 13.6
A preliminary report identifying which elements fall short and the options to correct them
Advice on the glazing and insulation specification required to satisfy the benchmarks
Two rounds of minor changes between preliminary report and finalisation
A final compliance report for your building surveyor
A few items sit outside this scope and can be quoted separately:
Thermal performance modelling or a star rating (see NatHERS for single dwellings)
Alterations and additions (see Elemental Provisions for residential extensions)
Class 2 apartment buildings
Minor design changes beyond two rounds
Blower door and air permeability testing
Acoustic, daylight or mechanical assessments
BESS reports or SDAs
Stormwater management (available as its own service)
This service assumes a new Class 1 residential building under NCC 2025, with PDF drawings sufficiently complete for assessment.
Studio Bun offers fixed sum packages for Elemental Provisions assessments, priced on the size of the dwelling and the number of elements requiring assessment.
Contact us for a quote.
What is the difference between the Elemental Provisions and NatHERS?
They're the two energy compliance pathways for homes under the NCC. The Elemental Provisions are prescriptive: meet the specified insulation, glazing and sealing requirements and you comply, no modelling needed. NatHERS is performance based, where the home is thermally modelled and must hit a star rating however the design achieves it. The Elemental Provisions are often quicker and more predictable for standard homes; NatHERS suits designs with lots of glass or unusual construction, and usually delivers a more comfortable result. You choose one pathway per project, and we can advise which fits.
What is Part H6 of the NCC?
Part H6 is the energy efficiency section of NCC 2025 Volume Two, which covers houses and other Class 1 and 10 buildings. It sets the energy performance requirements for homes; the detailed Elemental Provisions that satisfy Part H6 sit in Part 13 of the ABCB Housing Provisions.
Is the Elemental Provisions pathway cheaper than NatHERS?
The assessment fee is typically lower, because there's no thermal modelling involved. But cheaper to assess is not always cheaper to build, since the prescriptive requirements can push you toward higher spec insulation or glazing than a modelled NatHERS design would need. We will flag that trade off early so the decision is an informed one.
Do I still need Whole of Home if I use the Elemental Provisions?
Yes. Whole of Home applies regardless of which thermal pathway you use. It is assessed under Part 13.6 of the ABCB Housing Provisions and is included in this service.
When should I decide between the Elemental Provisions and NatHERS?
Before design gets too far along. The pathway choice affects glazing and construction decisions, so it is worth resolving early. Our Stage 1 review exists exactly for this, a small piece of work that can save a lot of rework.
Send through your drawings for a fixed-fee quote.
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