The Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) has launched a discussion paper on properties’ resilience to extreme weather events.

Chairman John Thwaites says that after recent floods and bushfires, “it is appropriate to take stock and determine whether new buildings are sufficiently resilient”.

Insurance Council of Australia GM Policy Risk and Disaster Karl Sullivan says the review is timely and welcome.

“We have been calling for this for some time,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“The [council] will definitely put in an industry-level submission and I would expect insurers to give their views as well.”

Mr Sullivan says the National Construction Code addresses safety but does not require buildings to be resilient to extreme weather events.

“People will be safe but the building is still going to suffer a lot of avoidable damage. The minimum standard does not take into account any need to limit the amount of damage.

“It is not possible to make buildings invulnerable unless we all live in concrete bunkers, but there is a lot that can be done. There simply needs to be another objective added to the code.”

ABCB GM Neil Savery says any changes must be carefully researched.

“While there have been a number of calls to make buildings stronger and more durable, buildings need to be appropriately located and a sensible balance struck,” he said. “The increased cost of making them more resilient needs to be balanced against the ability of the community to pay.”

But Mr Sullivan says it is “entirely possible to strike the right balance between being cost-effective and resilient”.

The discussion paper is at abcb.gov.au and comments close on July 1.