Home modifications

What are NDIS home modifications?

NDIS home modifications are changes to the structure, layout or fittings of a participant's home that help them access and use it safely because of their disability. They range from grab rails and lever taps to step-free showers, ramps and lifts. If they meet the NDIS funding criteria, they are funded in the Capital – Home Modifications budget of the plan.

The NDIA describes home modifications as custom-built changes to your home to help you access and use areas of it (NDIS Our Guidelines). They are often considered where a change helps someone shower, use the toilet, get in and out of the home, move between rooms, prepare meals or reduce the risk of falls.

Home modifications sit in capital supports, alongside assistive technology. The funding can only be used for the modifications described in the plan, which makes them a stated support in practice: you can't move the money to other supports.

How NDIS home modifications work: minor vs complex

The NDIA sorts home modifications by risk and cost. The category decides who can assess the need, whether quotes are required and how the funding is set.

Minor home modifications

Minor home modifications are straightforward, non-structural changes that don't alter the supporting structure of the house, are relatively low risk and usually affect only one or two areas of the home. There are two categories, A and B, split by cost (Category B also covers minor changes to a bathroom floor). The current cost thresholds are on the NDIA's minor home modifications page.

• Category A: any occupational therapist can do the assessment, including your usual OT. Examples include grab rails, lever-style tapware, low-cost ramps and widening internal non-structural doorways.
• Category B: needs a home modification assessor, an OT with specialist home modification skills.
• No builder's quote is needed for minor home modifications. The NDIA uses a set budget for each type of modification, based on current market costs and adjusted for location using the Modified Monash Model.

Complex home modifications

Complex home modifications are custom-built or structural changes, often across several areas of the home, that are higher risk or higher cost. They usually need building approvals or permits and certification of the finished work (complex home modifications page). Examples include bathroom floor changes such as step-free showers, permanent ramps, major plumbing or electrical work, and lifts.

• A home modification assessor assesses the need and designs the scope, often with a building construction practitioner who advises on design and cost.
• The NDIA asks for itemised builder's quotes based on the same scope of work, so they can be compared. The guidelines describe a maximum of two quotes for the delegate's decision.
• For high-risk or high-cost work, the NDIA can fund an independent building works project manager who checks the work meets legal requirements and the building contract. They must be independent of the builders who quoted.

What the NDIS will and won't fund

Like every NDIS support, a modification must be reasonable and necessary: related to your disability, effective, good value, and not more appropriately funded by another system. The guidelines list things the NDIS generally won't fund.

Source: NDIA What do we mean by home modifications? and moving house guidance. If modifying your current home isn't practical, for example because you are likely to move soon, the NDIA may look at portable equipment, a less permanent change or other housing options instead.

How to get home modifications in your NDIS plan

Tips for a strong request

Home modification requests are decided on evidence. These habits make the decision easier and faster:

• Describe the task, not just the product. "I can't step over the bath edge to shower without help" explains the need better than "I need a new bathroom".
• Show what else was tried. If assistive technology such as a shower chair or transfer bench isn't enough, the assessment should say why.
• Link it to your goals. Explain how the change supports your independence, safety or the people who help you, including informal carers.
• Think about the future. If your needs are likely to change, ask the assessor to design for that, and say whether you plan to stay in the home.
• Keep every document together: the assessment, owner consent, quotes and any building approvals, so nothing holds up the decision.

If you rent or don't own the home

Before the NDIS can consider funding, it needs written permission from the legal owner of the property, or their representative, authorising the specific modifications recommended. If you rent, the NDIA also needs to know whether your landlord will require the modifications to be removed at the end of the lease. Talk to your landlord early, before detailed plans or quotes are commissioned (How can you get home modifications in your plan?).

Social housing providers have their own obligations to make reasonable adjustments for tenants with disability. The NDIA may fund some or all of the modifications for social housing tenants in certain circumstances, so check with your housing provider first.

Home modifications vs SDA and assistive technology

Home modifications change the home you already live in. Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) funds a purpose-built dwelling for people with extreme functional impairment or very high support needs. You don't need SDA funding to get a home modification, and most people with home modification funding don't live in SDA.

What providers need to know

Builders, designers and assessors working on NDIS home modifications should read the NDIA's guide to providing home modifications. Key points:

• Who can quote depends on how the plan is managed. If the home modification funding is NDIA-managed, quotes need to come from registered NDIS providers. If it is plan-managed or self-managed, quotes can come from unregistered builders.
• Quotes must be itemised and detailed enough to compare against the same scope of work, or to audit later.
• Work to the approved scope. Variations need to go back through the participant and, where needed, the NDIA.
• Use a written service agreement or building contract that sets out the scope, timeframes, payment stages and warranties.

If a participant disagrees with a home modification decision, they can ask for an internal review and then apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal (What if you don't agree with our decision?).

Common mistakes

• Getting builder's quotes for a minor modification. They aren't needed; the NDIA uses a set budget.
• Starting work before the funding is in the plan, then trying to claim it afterwards.
• Leaving landlord or body corporate consent until after the assessment.
• Asking for upgrades that aren't disability-related, such as premium finishes or a bigger kitchen.
• Spending capital funding on other supports. It can only be used for the modification described.
• Using a project manager who also quoted for the job. They must be independent.