Sustainability Victoria (SV) is pleased to announce that FirstRate5 v5.5.3 (3.22) has successfully passed the NatHERS accreditation process and is now available as a free download from www.fr5.com.au. FR5 v5.5.3 (3.22) can be used to demonstrate compliance with NCC 2022 and will produce the new NatHERS certificate when uploaded to the FirstRate5 website.

Sustainability Victoria’s Energy Software team is currently completing the software accreditation process for the FirstRate5 thermal tool, and the the FirstRate5 Whole-of-Home Tool has been submitted for NatHERS accreditation. On the 28th of September 2023, SV plans to release an updated version of the FirstRate5 thermal tool which will be able to be used for demonstrating compliance with NCC 2022. Files created using the updated version will produce the new NatHERS Certificates on the FirstRate5 website.

Sustainability Victoria is updating the FirstRate5 End User Terms of Service and FirstRate5 Software Licence Agreement, which apply to the FirstRate5 website and software. We are making updates to make varying the End User Terms of Service and Software Licence faster for future releases and upgrades

Sustainability Victoria would like to inform FirstRate5 users that the Victorian Government has announced an extended transition period for the introduction of the NCC 2022 energy efficiency requirements. The mandatory commencement date is now 1 May 2024.

Sustainability Victoria (SV) would like to advise that the NatHERS Administrator has granted FirstRate5 v5.5.0 (3.22) conditional accreditation under the NatHERS 2022 Software Accreditation Protocol