NCC Section J energy monitoring requirements, in plain English.

Who it applies to

Section J sits in NCC Volume One, which covers commercial, industrial, public and multi-residential buildings (Classes 2 to 9). Part J9 provides Deemed-to-Satisfy provisions for energy efficiency. The ABCB describes the Part as enabling "the monitoring of energy use (other than for billing purposes)", so these meters are for managing the building, not for retail billing. Under clause J9D2 (NCC 2022), Part J9 doesn't apply within a sole-occupancy unit of a Class 2 building, to a Class 4 part of a building, or to a Class 8 electricity network substation. Class 2 apartment buildings are treated differently again under NCC 2025, so check with the designer on residential jobs.

J9D3(1): buildings over 500 m²

A building, or a sole-occupancy unit, with a floor area of more than 500 m² must have energy meters configured to record the time-of-use consumption of gas and electricity. In practice that means consumption recorded against the time and date, not just a running total on a meter face.

J9D3(2): buildings over 2,500 m²

A building with a floor area of more than 2,500 m² must have energy meters configured to enable individual time-of-use energy data recording of:

1. air-conditioning plant, including heating plant, cooling plant and air handling fans where appropriate
2. artificial lighting
3. appliance power
4. central hot water supply
5. internal transport devices (lifts, escalators and moving walkways) where more than one serves the building
6. on-site renewable energy equipment
7. on-site electric vehicle charging equipment
8. on-site battery systems
9. other ancillary plant

J9D3(3): one monitoring interface

The meters required by (2) must be interlinked by a communication system that collates the time-of-use energy data to a single interface monitoring system where it can be stored, analysed and reviewed. The ABCB's explanatory text says the data should be readily accessible to maintenance personnel without physically inspecting the meters, and sent to a communications platform (for example, a computer) in a format such as a .csv file that can be analysed.

J9D3(4): exemptions from (2)

The separate-services metering in (2) doesn't apply to meters serving individual sole-occupancy units with a floor area of less than 2,500 m². Under NCC 2022 it also doesn't apply to a Class 2 building whose common areas total less than 500 m².

J9D3(5) to (7): buildings with an EMIS (NCC 2025)

NCC 2025 adds requirements that apply only where a building has an Environmental Management Information System (EMIS). An EMIS must record extra data on a 5-minute basis (such as chiller temperatures, zone temperatures, outside conditions and total building demand), provide demand-management control, graphical analysis, bulk downloads of at least 2 years of history, HVAC scheduling and override, and measurement and verification functions. Services using less than 5% of the building's annual energy are excluded. These are full building-management features, well beyond basic energy metering.

Intervals and record keeping

J9D3(1) to (3) require time-of-use recording but don't set a logging interval or a minimum storage period. The 5-minute interval and the 2-year bulk download only appear in the EMIS provisions of NCC 2025. Your project specification may set its own interval, storage or reporting requirements, so check it.

Related Part J9 clauses

J9D4 requires EV-charging distribution boards in carparks for many building classes, including at least 36 mm of DIN rail space per outgoing circuit for future sub-circuit metering of EV charging. J9D5 covers solar photovoltaic and battery systems, including space on the main switchboard. NCC 2025 changes this clause, so check the edition that applies. These affect switchboard layout, so it's worth planning metering space at the same time.