AAC is a new category for James Hardie, and the company says WA builders need a masonry option while brick is on allocation. Its own installation guide shows what moving off double brick involves: a frame, a fresh energy rating and different trades.
James Hardie has moved into autoclaved aerated concrete, a category new to the company, and is putting its panel in front of Western Australian builders as brick allocation bites.
“WA builders are in real need of a solution to the increasing pressure to deliver homes, and we want them to know there is a masonry option ready to go,” Matt Sgro, James Hardie’s state manager for WA, NT and SA, said in comments provided to us.
The timing makes sense. Builders report allocation from the state’s only major producer, including the maxi bricks used for internal walls. The state funded restart of Austral’s Cardup brickworks carries an incentive to resume operations by March 2027, so new kiln output is a next year story.
That is the kind of capacity squeeze we track across national construction industry trends. But the company’s own installation guide makes a bigger point than the sales message. For a double brick builder, the alternative is not a different brick. It is a different way to build a house.
What James Hardie is telling WA builders
“Builders are telling us they need a masonry solution they can count on,” said Travis Johnson, James Hardie’s senior director, commercial.
Johnson said the panel had been developed to comply with the key Australian construction certifications and was backed by local technical support and a 25 year warranty.
APAC president John Arneill said the company brought the product to market to help deliver homes faster while demand for new housing remains strong.
The company says the panels are ready for finishes within 24 hours of installation, and that builders have access to installation guides, technical manuals, training and briefings, with on site technical support for key projects.
Sgro put the emphasis on people rather than product. “We’re working closely with builders and trades on the ground to make sure there’s the installation capability to back it up,” he said.
He has put his finger on the real constraint. Installation is where a switch away from brick is won or lost.
AAC is not new to builders. It is new to James Hardie
Definition: reinforced AAC panel
A reinforced AAC panel is a lightweight autoclaved aerated concrete panel with internal steel mesh, made to Australian Standard AS 5146. In detached housing it is normally screwed to top hats over a timber or steel frame and rendered. The frame carries the structure and the panel acts as the cladding, the same structural logic as brick veneer.
Plenty of builders have stood up AAC before. CSR says its Hebel business has around 30 years of experience making the material in Australia.
James Hardie built its name on fibre cement. Its FY2026 annual report describes AAC cladding panels as an adjacent category it is beginning to explore, and lists its Gravis AAC strategy among new growth opportunities in Australia and New Zealand. It also makes the labour case plainly: AAC removes the need for skilled masons to lay brick, at a time when their numbers are shrinking.
The Hardie Gravis Panel came to market this year in 50mm and 75mm wall panels, plus a floor panel. The installation guide, dated June 2026, states the system holds CodeMark certificate CM40467 covering the National Construction Code 2022 (Amendment 2) and 2025. Western Australia’s Building Regulations 2012 include a regulation dealing specifically with CodeMark certificates as a way of demonstrating compliance.
The panel is fixed to a frame, and that changes the job
The detail that matters sits in the installation guide. It covers the external wall system installed over a seasoned timber wall frame or a light gauge steel frame.
The panels are screwed to horizontal steel top hats fixed across the studs, over a weather barrier, with insulation between the studs to reach the required R value. Bracing is set by the frame designer or project engineer. The slab and footings must comply with articulated masonry veneer construction under AS 2870.
The finish is a system too. The guide calls for an acrylic render and coating system, applied within 60 days of installation to maintain warranty coverage.
Count the trades. A double brick wall needs a bricklaying gang and a renderer. A framed AAC wall needs frames, an engineer’s bracing design, wrap and insulation, a panel installer and a render crew. Internal walls, where maxi brick normally goes, would also move to frame and lining.
For a double brick builder, the alternative is not a different brick. It is a different way to build a house.
That is not a knock on the product. It means the decision is about the wall system, and the bottleneck moves from the kiln to the frame.
WA is already funding the frame side of the switch
The state appears to have reached the same conclusion. Its Housing Innovation Fund grant recipients include Home Group WA, awarded $5 million for high volume timber frame manufacturing, alongside other framing and prefabrication projects. Recipients match the grants with a 50 per cent co contribution.
When the government announced the Cardup restart, it named the fund in the same statement, describing increased production of framing and roof trusses as part of supporting other construction methods.
The state is backing more brick and more frames at the same time. For an alternative wall, the framing supply chain matters as much as the cladding brochure.
Switching after the permit is a new approval, not a quick swap
Changing a wall system on a job that already holds a building permit is not a substitution on site. Guidance from the City of Gosnells notes that the Building Act 2011 does not provide for plans to be amended after a permit is issued, and that changes are approved through a new application.
The state’s BA19 request to amend a building permit is one route, and permit authorities note that significant changes need an updated certificate of design compliance.
Energy rating follows the wall. Western Australia moved to the NCC 2022 seven star and whole of home requirements from 1 May 2025, according to the national rating scheme. James Hardie’s guide publishes total wall R values for its systems, ranging from about 2.2 to 3.6 depending on panel, frame and insulation, for use in energy assessments. A different wall means the rating is run again. Our guide to residential standards and compliance covers how seven star assessment works.
Scope also needs reading closely. The guide states its external wall system has been tested and certified to NCC 2022 performance requirements for wind categories N2 and N3, while its fixing tables extend to higher categories. Whether a given site falls inside the certified scope is a question for the building surveyor on each job.
On a signed contract, a change of wall system is also a variation, with price and time consequences that sit with how construction contracts handle variations.
What the brick shortage changes for WA builders
The alternatives buy independence from the kiln queue. They do not buy independence from the trade queue, and they ask for design work up front.
That makes them easiest to adopt on new contracts, where the wall system can be chosen before plans, energy assessment and pricing are locked in. On signed double brick jobs, the paperwork and variation cost may outweigh the wait.
Some questions remain open. James Hardie says it is building installation capability in WA, but how much stock is held in the state, where the panels are made and how many trained installers are available in Perth are not set out in the material we have seen so far.
Brick will come back into supply. Cardup is due to restart and Midland Brick is expanding its own operations, according to the government. But WA builders who qualify a second wall system now will be choosing it on their terms, rather than in the middle of the next shortage.
The Good Builder Take
The sales message is that a new panel solves the brick problem. The installation guide tells a more useful story. Every serious alternative to double brick in WA runs through a frame, a fresh energy rating and new trades. That is a business decision about how a builder wants to build, made once and well, not a product swap made in a hurry when the pallet does not arrive.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Builders report allocation from Midland Brick, the state’s only major producer, including for maxi bricks used in internal walls. The WA Government is funding the restart of Austral’s Cardup brickworks, with an incentive for operations to resume by March 2027.
The main alternatives use a timber or light gauge steel frame with a cladding, such as brick veneer, fibre cement or reinforced AAC panels. These change the wall system, so they involve framing, bracing design, insulation, a new energy assessment and different trades.
AAC panels are made to Australian Standard AS 5146. James Hardie’s Gravis Panel system holds CodeMark certificate CM40467, according to its installation guide, and WA’s Building Regulations 2012 recognise CodeMark certificates as a way of demonstrating compliance. Each use must sit within the certificate’s scope.
Plans cannot simply be amended once a permit is issued. Changes are approved through a new application or a BA19 request, and significant changes need an updated certificate of design compliance. The energy rating also needs to be reassessed for the new wall.
Related articles
- WA Brick Supply Tightens Again as Allocation Extends to Maxi Bricks
- WA Is Paying $4 Million to Reopen Cardup Brickworks. For Builders, the Bricks Arrive in 2027
- Construction Contracts in Australia
- Australian Construction Industry Trends Guide
Last updated: 12 October 2026
General Information Only. This article provides general information about conditions in the Australian construction industry. It does not take into account your particular circumstances and is not legal, financial or professional advice. Product details are drawn from manufacturer documents current at the date of publication and may change. You should obtain your own advice before acting on anything in this article.
Author: TGB Editorial
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