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HardieSmart® Aged Care Wall System

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Built for the Compliance Demands of Class 9c

Aged care and residential care facilities carry some of the most demanding fire and acoustic performance requirements in the NCC, a reflection of the reduced mobility and higher vulnerability of the people who live in them. Getting the wall system specification right in a Class 9c building isn’t a nice-to-have; it’s central to the building’s ability to be certified and occupied at all.

The HardieSmart® Aged Care Wall System is engineered specifically for this building class, a 90mm timber-framed wall assembly delivering fire resistance and acoustic performance comparable to standard plasterboard systems in the same frame configuration, but up to 12% more compact. For an aged care operator or developer, that compactness matters at scale: across dozens of resident rooms and corridors in a single facility, the recovered floor area adds up to genuinely more usable and saleable space without compromising the compliance outcome the building class demands.

12%

More compact than standard plasterboard system, similar performance

90mm

Timber frame configuration

9c

Purpose-built for Class 9c aged care and healthcare buildings

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Technical Specifications

Installation guide

Fire Resistance Level

60/60/60 minutes

Suitable building class

Class 1 and Class 10a timber-framed buildings, attached dwellings, row housing

Frame configuration

Twin 90mm timber frames with 30mm cavity separation

Insulation

60mm HardieFire™ mineral wool insulation on both frames within stud bays

Internal lining

9mm Villaboard™ lining on both sides (alternative configurations available)

Acoustic testing

Independently assessed by Renzo Tonin Acoustics Pty Ltd

Compactness advantage

Up to 18% more compact than traditional common plasterboard shaft-liner wall systems

Services allowance

System configuration allows for services (electrical, plumbing) within the cavity while maintaining FRL

Assessment

CSIRO Division of Building Construction and Engineering, in accordance with AS 1530.4

Bracing capacity

Typically 4 kN/m for plain timber framing and standard fixings, 6–10 kN/m with alternative fixings and 12mm anchor rods

Applications

Separating walls in row housing, townhouses, dual occupancy and attached Class 1 dwellings

Why Aged Care Needs Its Own System

Class 9c buildings, residential care facilities, sit under a different and generally more demanding set of NCC provisions than standard Class 2 apartment construction. Fire compartmentation, acoustic separation between resident rooms, and materials performance under the specific occupant profile of an aged care facility (reduced mobility and higher dependency on staff-assisted evacuation) all inform a more conservative compliance approach than typical residential construction.
Rather than adapting a standard residential wall system and hoping it satisfies the more demanding Class 9c requirements, the Aged Care Wall System is purpose-configured for this building class from the outset, giving specifiers and certifiers a documented system that was designed for the specific compliance context, not a general-purpose system stretched to fit it.

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The Floor Area Case for Aged Care Developments

Compounds across every wall in the facility

A 12% thickness reduction on a single wall is a modest number. Multiplied across every resident room separating wall and corridor wall in a facility with dozens or hundreds of beds, that recovered floor area becomes a genuinely significant yield improvement, either as additional saleable or leasable area or as more generous circulation and amenity space within the same building footprint.

Compliance-ready documentation for a demanding approval process

Aged care facility approvals typically involve rigorous scrutiny from certifiers, fire engineers and health department reviewers. Having a system that was specifically engineered and documented for Class 9c, rather than adapted from a Class 2 system, simplifies that review process and reduces the risk of a compliance gap being identified late in design or during construction.

Durability suited to institutional operating conditions

Aged care facilities operate under demanding maintenance and cleaning regimes over long operational lifespans. The James Hardie™ fibre cement cladding compatible with the Aged Care system is engineered for harsh conditions, including coastal environments; resists swelling and warping; and holds paint well over repeated cleaning cycles, relevant considerations for a building type with an extended, intensive service life.

Termite and moisture resistance

Aged care facilities are long-life institutional assets, often operated for decades. Termite resistance and dimensional stability under moisture exposure reduce the long-term maintenance liability for facility operators, compared to systems that are more vulnerable to these forms of deterioration over an extended service life.

Featured Projects with HardieSmart® Aged Care Wall System

Bacchus Marsh Grammar Woodlea Project

Mernda Ambulance Station Cladding Project

The Wickham Duplex Residential Project

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does the Intertenancy system use twin frames instead of a single shared frame?
A single continuous frame connecting two dwellings creates a structural flanking path that transmits sound directly through the timber, regardless of how well the wall is insulated and lined. The Intertenancy system’s twin 90 mm frames, physically separated by a 30 mm cavity, break that structural connection, which is what allows the system to achieve genuinely tested acoustic performance rather than a theoretical rating based on insulation and lining alone.
The HardieSmart® Intertenancy Wall System is up to 18% more compact than traditional common plasterboard shaftliner wall systems used for the same fire and acoustic separation function. In a row housing or townhouse development, that compactness translates into additional usable floor area on both sides of the wall, a meaningful yield benefit across a full development.
The 30mm cavity between the twin frames can accommodate services, but penetrations must be detailed and fire-stopped correctly to maintain the tested FRL. Refer to the current HardieSmart® Intertenancy design guide for the specific penetration and service detailing requirements; incorrect service penetrations are one of the most common ways a tested fire-rated wall assembly is compromised on site.
Yes. Acoustic performance for HardieSmart® Wall System variations, including Intertenancy, was assessed by Renzo Tonin Acoustics Pty Ltd, an independent acoustic engineering consultancy. This is distinct from calculated or estimated acoustic performance and provides genuine tested data for certification purposes. Refer to James Hardie’s Fire and Acoustic-Rated Walls Application Guide and the NCC for the relevant acoustic compliance framework.