Important changes to the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991
On 1 December 2013, the Queensland State Government introduced fundamental changes to the regulations of the construction industry in Queensland. These changes are centralised around the regulatory body and law governing the construction industry, and a new exception regarding the requirement to have a license when carrying out building work.
New Regulatory Body and Law
The regulatory body governing the construction industry has changed from the Queensland Building Services Authority to the Queensland Building and Construction Commission.
The relevant law has changed from the Queensland Building Services Authority Act 1991 (Qld) to the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act (QBCC).
Requirement to have a license when carry out building work
Prior to the amendments, if building work was carried out without an appropriate license, the party carrying out the work was not entitled to receive full payment for that work and was unable to claim under the Building and Construction Industry Payments Act 2004 (Qld). As of 1 December 2013, the QBCC Act created an exception to this requirement and now stipulates that contractors and subcontractors carrying out the work no longer need to hold a building license providing that the work is entirely contracted to a builder with an appropriate license.
Note that this exception only relates to commercial building work and therefore does not include residential construction or domestic building work.
How it affects contractors and subcontractors
For contractors, there is no requirement to hold an appropriate license providing that you engage a subcontractor to carry out the building work who does have a license (unless the work is residential construction or domestic building work). For subcontractors, a license is not required to carry out the building work providing that the builder, whom they are contracting to, does have an appropriate license.
Our Solicitors at CTI Lawyers will be able to assist you and your staff in understanding the changes to the Act. You can contact CTI Lawyers on (02) 9744 1099 or email your enquiry to [email protected].