New Zealand dental practices are facing significant changes in sterilisation requirements, and many practitioners are seeking clear guidance on how to ensure ongoing compliance.
Last year, Standards New Zealand withdrew both AS/NZS 4187:2014 and AS/NZS 4815:2006, the principal references for instrument reprocessing in dental clinics. In the absence of a new joint Australia–New Zealand standard, New Zealand is now referencing AS 5369:2023, an updated Australian standard released in December 2023.
The Dental Council of New Zealand subsequently revised its Infection Prevention and Control practice standard in December 2024 to acknowledge AS 5369:2023, which now forms the basis for compliance audits. For dental clinic owners planning new builds or renovations, this shift in standards presents both new compliance considerations and an opportunity to future-proof their practices.
What Changed and Why It Matters
For years, New Zealand dental practices operated under AS/NZS 4815:2006, which was tailored to office-based healthcare facilities, while AS/NZS 4187:2014 set more stringent sterilisation requirements for larger health service organisations such as hospitals. With the introduction of AS 5369:2023, the standards have been consolidated and updated to reflect international best practice across the full spectrum of healthcare settings, from boutique dental clinics to major hospitals.
AS 5369:2023 brings several important advancements for dental practices. It establishes new protocols such as categorising instruments into product families based on steam penetration resistance, implements more rigorous water quality monitoring, including bacterial endotoxin testing, and enforces enhanced requirements for equipment validation and documentation. These updates are designed to support compliance, improve patient safety, and ensure New Zealand dental clinics remain at the forefront of clinical best practice.
The Compliance Reality
While there is currently no fixed deadline for full compliance with AS 5369:2023 in New Zealand dental practices, the regulatory landscape is shifting. The Dental Council’s standards are mandatory and now explicitly reference AS 5369:2023. As a result, even without an official timeline, audits and compliance reviews are expected to measure your practice against this new benchmark.
If your sterilisation protocols are ever scrutinised due to an infection control incident or a patient complaint, your facility will be assessed against the most current standards. Relying on outdated, superseded guidelines no longer provides adequate protection, and delaying compliance typically makes future upgrades more costly.
At Dentec, we’ve implemented sterilisation room upgrades that showcase how to achieve full compliance while supporting efficient workflows. For a practical example, explore our case study on the Tahunanui Dental sterilisation room.
Key Requirements for Dental Clinics
AS 5369:2023 has not radically redefined sterilisation, but it has introduced higher benchmarks in several key aspects relevant to dental clinic design:
Physical layout and workflow: A compliant sterilisation area now requires clear separation between contaminated and clean zones, with a one-way workflow, from receiving and decontaminating instruments, through cleaning, drying, inspection, packaging, sterilisation, and finally secure storage. This structured flow not only reduces cross-contamination risk but also supports audit-ready traceability.
Equipment specifications: Your steam steriliser must be suited to the variety of loads processed in a modern dental practice. For most clinics, this necessitates a Type B or Type S cycle steriliser, capable of reliably sterilising both wrapped items and hollow instruments such as hand pieces. The selected unit should also feature effective drying and robust data recording functionality, supporting full compliance and efficient record management.
Water quality. AS 5369:2023 has tightened requirements significantly. If you're using an instrument washer-disinfector, you need to monitor water quality including bacterial endotoxin levels.
Validation and monitoring. Equipment validation (installation qualification, operational qualification, and performance qualification) is required when new equipment is installed, with annual performance re-qualification mandatory. You need documented proof that your sterilisation process actually works.
Traceability. Critical items must be packaged and labelled with batch control identification information. From 1 January 2026, this information must be recorded on patient records.
These requirements aren't impossible to meet in a dental clinic, but they require proper planning. You can't just buy a steriliser, put it on a bench, and call it done.
Why Act Now
The shift from withdrawn joint standards to the adoption of AS 5369:2023 in New Zealand marks a pivotal point for dental practices. While immediate upgrades are not mandated, the regulatory trajectory is unmistakable.
This is an optimal opportunity to invest in purpose-built sterilisation infrastructure, particularly if you are considering other enhancements or renovations. Retrofitting sterilisation rooms is a costly and disruptive process; integrating AS 5369:2023 requirements as part of new construction or refurbishment adds only a marginal cost while delivering long-term value. Implementing standards-compliant infrastructure from the outset ensures you avoid the need to revisit and remediate your workspace within a few years due to tightening compliance.
A sterilisation room thoughtfully designed and constructed to current best-practice standards will provide robust service for 15–20 years. Conversely, compromising on layout, equipment, or workflow now can result in a facility that becomes non-compliant and requires premature, expensive upgrades, directly impacting both operational continuity and regulatory standing.
How Dentec Approaches Sterilisation Design
At Dentec, every sterilisation facility is purpose-designed to align with AS 5369:2023 from the outset, future-proofing your practice in line with evolving regulatory expectations. Our process begins by carefully mapping the workflow: we plan pathways for contaminated instruments, define dedicated zones for cleaning, inspection, packaging, and sterilisation, and allocate secure storage for sterile items. This ensures a logical, unidirectional flow that minimises any risk of cross-contamination.
We specify and supply equipment that meets, or exceeds, current standards, selecting Type B or Type S sterilisers with the appropriate cycles, efficient drying, and integral data recording capabilities. Our designs incorporate essential infrastructure for validation and ongoing performance monitoring, including controlled environments, robust ventilation, seamless and compliant surfaces, generous bench space, and dedicated sinks for both instrument reprocessing and hand hygiene.
This integrated approach results in a sterilisation room that operates reliably, supports full compliance under AS 5369:2023, and eliminates the need for disruptive and costly future upgrades as compliance demands increase.
Making the Decision
If you're planning a dental clinic build, renovation, or sterilisation area upgrade, you can design to current best practice standards now when you have the opportunity to do it properly and cost-effectively. Or you can design to older standards, save money short-term, and face expensive retrofits later when regulatory pressure increases.
The withdrawal of the old AS/NZS 4187:2014 sterilisation standards and adoption of AS 5369:2023 has created uncertainty. But it's also created clarity about the direction of travel. The standards are getting more rigorous. Water quality requirements are increasing. Validation and traceability expectations are rising.
Practices that act now will be in a much stronger position than those who wait for regulatory deadlines. Visit our sterilisation equipment page to see the systems and solutions that can help your practice meet the highest standards.
