The Minister for Housing and Public Works, and Minister for Youth, Sam O’Connor, pictured with Master Builders CEO Paul Bidwell, announced from the Master Builders Brisbane headquarters the state government’s Building Reg Reno plan.
The plan will see a series of changes to regulation aimed at cutting red tape, reducing unnecessary costs, and making our industry run smoother. The changes will be rolled out over time and include:
Project trust accounts
An immediate halt to the further rollout of project trust accounts for private projects below $10 million.
Master Builders continues to fight for a security of payment framework that is fair to all parties and does not include project trust accounts. Project trust accounts simply do not work – they don’t protect payments in insolvency. They are a complex, costly and unnecessary regulatory overlay to the numerous other security of payment protections for subcontractors.
MFR annual reporting
Self Certifying 1 and 2 individual licensees will no longer need to submit annual financial reports to the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC).
This does not change the requirement to maintain the minimum financial requirements. The QBCC will continue to have the same oversight powers such as conducting audits.
Government is still working on making the regulatory change to make this happen. Once we have more detail, including a start date, we will let members know.
Fire licensing
The new requirements due to start in May 2025 will now be put on hold, until May 2030. In the meantime, there will be more education and support to help prioritise fixing common detect areas.
Plumbers who hold a QBCC contractor licence won’t need to an extra plumbing occupational licence to do certain fire protection work.
Other changes on the way
The government has also made a longer-term commitment to many of the issues we’ve been advocating on for many years. These include:
- removing the requirement for duplicate safety reporting to both the QBCC and workplace health and safety (WHS)
- making the QBCC more customer- focused by improving the internal review and dispute resolution processes
- reviewing QBCC licensing thresholds and improving consistency
- reviewing the threshold, cover amount and timeframes of the Home Warranty Scheme
- fast-tracking digital licensing, and
- introducing a Queensland Housing Code to streamline design and siting rules.
These changes are just the beginning, with the government also committing to a comprehensive look at the regulatory barriers in our industry through the upcoming Queensland Productivity Commission’s review.
Master Builders has welcomed the government’s ‘Building Reg Reno’ plan as a sign that the state government is listening to our advocacy, helping to reduce the burden of red tape hampering construction.
We look forward to the next round of measures being announced as the wheels of the Productivity Commission begin to turn. While the state government has implemented swift action and shown a commitment to change, there is more work to be done. We need to explore all avenues to boost productivity and hit those ambitious housing targets set for Queensland.
