Several fatalities in recent years have involved coronial recommendations about items contained within the National Standard for Commercial Vessels (NSCV) Part C1 – Wheelhouse visibility, escape, accommodation, and personal safety. Some examples include people falling overboard due to guardrails not being high enough, a lack or ineffective use of emergency escape lighting, escape doors, and openings that do not function against water pressure.  

We are currently amending NSCV C1 to address these issues —along with other important changes —clarify several clauses and improve the overall format to make it easier to understand and apply the standard. The changes also aim to better align C1 with current international and national standards.

It is proposed that the amended NSCV Part C1 will only apply to newly constructed vessels and vessels that undergo modifications to the arrangement, accommodation, and personal safety aspects of the vessel.

Following consultation, we propose that the new standard will come into effect on 1 January 2023 with a transition period of two years.

Your feedback is an essential step towards ensuring the changes are fit for purpose. See the full list of changes. 

This consultation will be of particular interest to accredited marine surveyors (AMS), designers and naval architects, members of the public that use domestic commercial vessels, domestic commercial vessel (DCV) owners, operators, and their crew.  

Read more about the proposed amendments in the consultation paper. 

Consultation documents

• Consultation Feedback Report - National Standard for Commercial Vessels, Part C PDF548.28 KB
• Consultation paper PDF433.21 KB 
• NSCV C1 consultation draft (changes highlighted in yellow) PDF2.79 MB 
• NSCV C1 consultation draft (clean) PDF3.2 MB 
• AMSA regulatory costing analysis for C1 PDF292.57 KB
• NSCV C7C - Consequential amendments as part of NSCV Part C1 proposed changes PDF197.14 KB
• NSCV C1 webinar PowerPoint presentation with notes PDF9.74 MB