The Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 (QBCC Act) is part of a suite of legislation in Queensland regulating the State’s building and construction sector.
Key aspects of the legislation include:
- Establishment of the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) as the industry licensing body and regulator for building work in Queensland.
- A licensing system for building contractors, building work supervisors and specified high risk employees (e.g. fire protection work employees and mechanical services work employees).
- A dispute resolution system for defective or incomplete building work, including the ability for QBCC to issue directions to rectify work.
- A mandatory home warranty scheme to assist homeowners who have been financially harmed because a QBCC licensee has carried out defective or incomplete residential construction work.
- A permit system for owner builders.
- A range of offences and statutory requirements intended, amongst other things, to ensure:
- proper maintenance of standards in the industry; and
- achieve a reasonable balance between the interests of building contractors and consumers.
- A system for reviewing regulatory decisions of the QBCC.
Some of your key obligations
1 Licensing
If you are carrying out building work in Queensland requiring a QBCC licence it is important that you hold the appropriate QBCC licence for the work. Under the QBCC Act, unlawfully carrying out licensed building work attracts not only hefty fines and licence demerit points, but also the possibility of imprisonment for repeat offenders.
If you are unsure whether your QBCC licence scope allows you to carry out certain building work, there are numerous resources available to help you. These include:
- QBCC Licence information tool – The searchable tool matches types of building work with the licence classes that can perform them.
- QBCC Licensee register – The record of each licensee in the searchable register includes a link that details the scope of work that can lawfully be carried out under their licence.
- Available licences – A QBCC page that gives links to the scopes of work and other information for the approximate 80 available QBCC licence classes.
Members are also welcome to contact our team of licensing specialists for guidance and assistance in relation to any QBCC licensing matter.
2 Directions to rectify work
The QBCC is authorised under the QBCC Act to issue a direction to:
- Rectify defective or incomplete building work.
- Remedy consequential damage caused by building work.
If you are given a direction, the time given to comply with it will be stated in the direction notice. Ordinarily you will be given 35 days to comply. However, the legislation allows for special circumstances where a shorter time may be given (e.g. to address a significant hazard to public safety).
You can make an application to QBCC to extend the time to comply with a direction if it is impracticable to achieve or the owner otherwise agrees.
If you do not comply with a direction to rectify work, QBCC may both fine you and impose other regulatory actions (e.g. allocating demerit points against your licence). Further, if the work is insured under the Home Warranty Scheme and a claim is paid to rectify the work, the QBCC will usually take recovery action against you to recover the cost of the claim.
For more detailed information about the directions process, including your rights to review a direction, see the following resources.
- QBCC Policy – Rectification of Building Work policy
- QBCC Regulatory Guide – Rectification of Building Work
- QBCC Guide – Standards and Tolerances
- QBCC Guide – Accountability for Subcontractor Defects Procedure
Master Builders members are always welcome to contact our team of technical experts for information about technical aspects of building.
3 Taking out Home Warranty Insurance
A licensed contractor who carries out residential construction work for a consumer must collect the premium from the consumer and pay it on their behalf to the QBCC. This must be done within 10 business days from entering the contract or before work commences (whichever is the earliest). If there is no consumer (e.g., a spec home), the licensee must pay the premium before work commences.
Contractors performing work for the holder an owner-builder permit do not need to collect or pay a premium. Also, there is no requirement for subcontractors to pay a premium for work performed under their subcontract.
Most building work valued over $3,300 for a detached house, a duplex, or a unit building of not more than three storeys, must be insured under the Scheme.
For more detailed information about your home warranty insurance obligations and the types of building work that require a policy to be taken out see the below resources.
- QBCC Guide – The A-Z of insurable building work
- QBCC Guide – Queensland Home Warranty Scheme – Product Disclosure
- QBCC page – Home warranty insurance obligations
- QBCC Guide – Insurance premium tables
- QBCC Guide – myQBCC User Guide: Creating an insurance policy
Members can also contact us for expert assistance with their home warranty insurance inquiries.
4 Other obligations
The QBCC Act and its supporting regulations contain a wide range of other licensing and compliance obligations that also must be complied with.
These obligations include:
- A requirement for licensed contractors and company nominees to ensure work under their licence is personally and adequately supervised by an appropriately licensed person.
- Restrictions on the maximum deposit that may be received, and the amount of progress payments that can be claimed, under a domestic building contract.
- Requirements for a broad range of building contracts, including subcontracts and domestic building contracts, to be in writing and contain specific content.
- Requirements for licensed contractors to pay their undisputed debts when they become due.
- An obligation for QBCC licensed contractors to always comply with specified minimum financial requirements to keep their licence.
- A range of other regulatory obligations including obligations associated with site signage, business advertising, contractual matters, business conduct and licensing.
See below helpful resources about your contractual and other obligations under the QBCC Act.
- QBCC Page – Supervision of building work and quality control
- QBCC Guide – Domestic Building Contracts
- QBCC Guide – Minimum Financial Requirements and Annual Reporting
- QBCC Guide – Contractor’s Guide to Payments
- QBCC Page – Site signage
- QBCC Page – Advertising
- QBCC Page – Licences
- QBCC Page – Running your business
- QBCC Page – Demerit points
Regulations
- Queensland Building and Construction Commission (Minimum Financial Requirements) Regulation 2018
- Queensland Building and Construction Commission Regulation 2018
Other licensing legislation administered by QBCC
- Plumbing and Drainage Regulation 2019 – Licensing of occupational plumbers and drainers
- Building Regulation 2021 – Licensing of building certifiers and pool safety inspectors
Major Sponsors
