The National Code of Practice for the Construction Industry (National Code) establishes minimum standards businesses must meet to be eligible for Australian Government building and construction work.
The National Code and the Implementation Guidelines for the National Code of Practice for the Construction Industry (Guidelines) set out the responsibilities of all parties on construction projects funded by the Australian Government.
The Guidelines outline the process for complying with the National Code. The Guidelines were developed to assist the Australian Government and interested parties to interpret and implement the National Code.
The National Code and Guidelines aim to:
They ensure the building and construction industry:
- is client focussed
- has relationships built on trust
- observes ethical principles in tendering
- is committed to continuous improvements and development of best practice.
Parties wishing to ensure compliance with the National Code should use the Guidelines as their first point of reference. The Guidelines are a practical guide to following the National Code.
Compliance with the National Code and Guidelines is a condition of tender for government projects.
Which Australian Government construction projects require National Code compliance?
The National Code applies to construction projects that are 100% funded by the Australian Government. It also applies to many projects that are partly funded by the Australian Government as follows:
- Directly funded government projects – all building and construction work where the Australian Government has direct financial and administrative involvement. This applies irrespective of the total value of the project.
- Indirectly funded government projects – all construction projects indirectly funded by the Australian Government through grants or other programmes where:
- the Australian Government funding is at least $5 million and represents at least 50% of the total construction value, or
- the Australian Government funding of the project is $10 million or more.
- Privately funded projects – A contractor who submits a tender or expression of interest in an Australian Government funded project on or after 1 November 2005 must apply the National Code to any privately funded building project they undertake that commences after that date. This requirement applies regardless of whether the tender was successful or not. On such jobs the contractor is responsible for their own National Code compliance and is not responsible for the compliance of any subcontractors.
Only companies and contractors, including head contractors, project managers and consultants, who are National Code and Guidelines compliant can tender to undertake building and construction activities on certain Australian Government funded projects.
What compliance means
Workplace arrangements used by the contractor and subcontractors must comply with the National Code and Guidelines. Workplace arrangements include industrial instruments (agreements and awards), and common law contracts.
Companies and contractors must also ensure their on-site practices and behaviours:
- comply with workplace laws and meet occupational health and safety obligations
- prohibit any attempt to unduly influence subcontractors to have particular workplace arrangements or to make over-award payments
- support freedom of association – the choice of employees to be or not be in a union
- comply with the procedures for right of entry under the Fair Work Act 2009, court and tribunal orders, and industrial instruments
- prohibit the negotiation of arrangements that restrict the efficient performance of work on the project.
Refer to section 6 of the 
2009 Guidelines - 225KB for more information.
Workplace arrangements need to be compliant
If your workplace arrangements are not compliant with the National Code and Guidelines you may be able to vary these in order to seek Australian Government work.
Have your workplace arrangements assessed
The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) can assess your workplace arrangements for compliance with the National Code and Guidelines. This normally involves an assessment of the industrial instruments that cover a contractor.
If not compliant, DEEWR will issue a letter identifying which clauses of the industrial instrument are inconsistent with specific provisions of the National Code and Guidelines. Contractors can then vary their industrial instruments to become National Code and Guidelines compliant.
Change your workplace arrangements to be compliant
Common examples of clauses that would be inconsistent with the National Code and Guidelines include those that:
- allow a union organiser onto the site without 24 hours notice
- specify the ratio of casual to permanent employees
- contain selection criteria for redundancy that ignore the employer’s requirements, for example, ‘last on – first off’ clauses.
If the industrial instrument remains inconsistent with the National Code and Guidelines the contractor is ineligible to tender for Australian Government building and construction projects.
The National Code and Guidelines apply to related entities
The National Code and Guidelines apply to a company and all its construction related entities for all Australian Government funded projects where expressions of interest or tenders were called for on or after 1 November 2005. 'Related entities' refers to a range of corporate structures including subsidiaries, joint ventures and special-purpose companies as well as companies where there are common directorships or influence over other companies through shareholdings.
The National Code and Guidelines do not apply to material supply contracts
The 2009 Guidelines only apply to parties who participate in on site activities, removing the need for material suppliers to be National Code compliant.
On site activities include work performed on auxiliary or holding sites separate from the primary construction site e.g. batching plant.
Information about material suppliers’ National Code obligations under the 2006 Guidelines is available on the Implementation Guidelines page under the 2006 tab.