General information, not building, legal or medical advice. Call Triple Zero (000) in an emergency, or go to the emergency department of your nearest hospital. For your own building, read Part A6 of the National Construction Code itself.
SHEET A-101 · BUILDING CLASSWhat building class is a clinic?
The National Construction Code (NCC) classes a clinic by what it is for: a building, or a part of one, is classified by the purpose it is designed, constructed or adapted to be used for. A health-care building is Class 9a, which the NCC says includes day-care surgeries or procedure units; an office used for professional or commercial purposes is Class 5; and where it is unclear which applies, the appropriate authority decides.
- Sheet
- A-101
- Subject
- NCC building classes
- Scale
- Not to scale
- Date checked
- 8 Oct 2026
- Sources
- Foot of this page
Classification by purpose
“The NCC groups buildings and structures by the purpose for which they are designed, constructed or adapted to be used, assigning each type of building or structure with a classification.”
The classes run from Class 1 to Class 10, and some carry a sub-classification, written as a letter after the number, as in Class 1a. Volume One of the NCC mostly covers the technical requirements for Class 2 to 9 buildings, Volume Two mostly covers Class 1 and 10, and Volume Three covers plumbing and drainage for every class.
The class is not a label for its own sake. In the NCC’s explanatory words, “Classification is a process for understanding risks in a building or part, according to its use.”
Class 9a and Class 5
These are the two classes this sheet sets side by side, each in the NCC’s own words.
| Class | The NCC’s words | Other Part A6 text |
|---|---|---|
| Class 9a | Defined as “a health-care building including any parts of the building set aside as laboratories, and includes a health-care building used as a residential care building.” | The NCC adds that these “are health-care buildings, including day-care surgeries or procedure units and the like.” A laboratory that is part of a Class 9a building is Class 9a, although laboratories are generally Class 8. |
| Class 5 | Defined as “an office building used for professional or commercial purposes.” | See A6G6 in the NCC itself. |
What separates the two for a particular clinic is the NCC’s definition of a health-care building, which this sheet does not reproduce: read it in the NCC itself. And when the answer is still not clear, the NCC leaves the decision to the appropriate authorities.
“Where it is unclear which classification should apply, appropriate authorities have the discretion to decide. They base their decision on an assessment of the building proposal.”
Multiple classifications
A clinic may share a building with other uses, and the NCC allows for that: “A building (or part of a building) may be designed, constructed or adapted for multiple purposes and have more than one classification.” Under A6G12, it then has to meet “all the relevant requirements that apply to each of the classifications” for it. And where the requirements for a part pull different ways, “the more stringent requirement applies.”
- Each storey is drawn for a different use. A building used for more than one purpose can carry more than one classification, and must meet the requirements of each (A6G12).
- A laboratory that is part of a Class 9a building is Class 9a, not Class 8 (A6G10).
- A small part designed for a different purpose, under 10% of its storey’s floor area: the next detail.
The 10% exemption and its limitation
“For A6G1(1) where a part of a building has been designed, constructed or adapted for a different purpose and is less than 10% of the floor area of the storey it is situated on, the classification of the other part of the storey may apply to the whole storey.”
“Exemption (1) does not apply where the minor use of a building is a laboratory, a Class 9b early childhood centre, or a Class 2, 3 or 4 part of a building.”
For a health tenancy, the first exception is the one to read twice, because the NCC names a laboratory as a minor use that does not get the allowance.
Day procedure centres in Victoria
In Victoria, private hospitals, day procedure centres and mobile health services are health service establishments, and registered ones must comply with minimum regulations for patient safety and care. Victoria’s Department of Health describes a day procedure centre as a private health service establishment giving prescribed kinds of health services, where patients are reasonably expected to be admitted and discharged on the same date.
The requirements sit in the Health Services Act 1988 and the Health Services (Health Service Establishments) Regulations 2024. Those Regulations followed a sunset review of the 2013 Regulations, with a start date the department gives as 31 August 2024, and the department says they largely keep the 2013 controls while adding new requirements.
- Before building
Before a day procedure centre is built, an approval in principle (AIP) certificate must be obtained.
- During construction
The centre is built in line with the AIP. Departing from the approved plans needs an application to the department to vary the AIP, and handing the certificate to another person during construction needs an application to transfer it.
- Registration
The department’s Secretary registers day procedure centres under Part 4 of the Health Services Act 1988.
- Later fitouts
The proprietor of a registered centre applies for an AIP when proposing alterations or extensions to the registered premises. Renewing or varying the registration is assessed against sections 89 and 93 of the Act.
This is Victoria’s process only. For a clinic anywhere else, check with that state or territory’s health department.
A Class 9a building carries its own access duties, set out on sheet A-103, access for everyone. For the planning guidance that sits beside the code, see sheet A-105, the health facility guidelines, or go back to the index of sheets.