Software updates

The National Construction Code (NCC) 2022 energy efficiency changes are being adopted from 1 October 2023. This helpful table highlights when states and territories are transitioning to NCC 2022.

Changes include an increase to a 7-star minimum thermal rating and the inclusion of a new Whole of Home energy budget, including major fixed appliances and on-site energy generation and storage.

Technical updates for all NatHERS tools are now complete. Hero, FirstRate5BERS Pro and AccuRate Home are all fully accredited including certificates.

The NatHERS administrator is working with jurisdictions who have an extended transition to NCC 2022 to support access to older versions of NatHERS if required. 

See the NCC 2022 Software Transitional Arrangements page for more detailed information. 

NCC 2022 updates

NatHERS can be used to demonstrate compliance with NCC 2022 including Thermal (building shell) and Whole of Home regulatory requirements.

The following table lists NatHERS accredited software tools. It also lists legacy tools available which may still be used to demonstrate compliance with NCC 2019.

Software tools meeting the provisions of NCC 2022 incorporate:

Summary of accreditation status and use of NCC software (unless stated differently by your jurisdiction):

Tool NCC 2019* NCC 2022
AccuRate Home  AccuRate Sustainability 2.4.3.21 SP1 (Using Chenath v3.21)      

Version v1.3.3.23 SP2 (using Chenath v3.23)

Includes:

  • Thermal ratings
  • Whole of Home ratings 
  • Thermal and Whole of Home Certificates
  • WERSLink Default Window Library
BERS Pro Version 4.4.1.5 (Using Chenath v3.21)

Version 5.2.4 (using Chenath v3.23)

Includes:

  • Thermal ratings
  • Whole of Home ratings
  • Thermal and Whole of Home Certificates
  • WERSLink Libraries.
FirstRate5 Version 5.3.2b for Thermal Assessments (Using Chenath v3.21) 

Version v5.5.5a (using Chenath 3.22)

Includes

  • Thermal ratings
  • Thermal Certificates

Excludes:

  • WERSLink (new windows library).
     

Whole-of-Home (Version 1.0.1)

Includes

  • Whole of Home ratings
  • Whole of Home Certificates 

Excludes:

  • PV Diverter hot water systems.
Hero
 
Version 3.0.1 up to the current accredited version - users should switch to NatHERS NCC 2019 profile (using Chenath v3.21).

Version 4.1 (NCC 2022 profile using Chenath v3.23)

Includes:

  • Thermal ratings
  • Whole of Home ratings
  • Thermal and Whole of Home Certificates
  • WERSLink Libraries

Excludes:

  • PV Diverter hot water systems.

*NCC 2019 will not be updated to include: new climate files or starbands, new heating and cooling loads, Whole of Home, thermal bridging, or WERSLink (new windows library).

Contact the FirstRate5 teamthe BERS Pro team or the Hero team for more information on specific software and release dates.

Complying with various software

NCC 2019 (from 1 October 2023)

If you are complying with NCC 2019 you must use (unless stated differently in your jurisdiction):

  • accredited software based on Chenath Engine v3.21
  • thermal only NatHERS Certificates
  • NatHERS Technical Note Version June 2019
  • heating and cooling load limits of ABCB Standard 2019.1
  • additional requirements for apartments detailed in clause J0.2 of the NCC 2019 Volume One
  • additional requirements for houses detailed in subclause 3.12.0(a)(i) of the NCC 2019 Volume Two.

NCC 2022 (from 1 October 2023)

If you are complying with NCC 2022 you must use (unless stated differently in your jurisdiction):

  • accredited software based on Chenath Engine v3.22 or v3.23, when they become available 
  • the new NatHERS Certificate which includes the Whole of Home rating feature 
  • NatHERS Technical Note Version May 2024
  • heating and cooling load limits of ABCB Standard 2022
  • additional thermal and Whole of Home requirements for apartments detailed in Section J2D2 of NCC 2022 Volume One
  • additional thermal requirements and Whole of Home requirements for houses detailed in Specification 42 of the NCC 2022 Volume Two.