2024 will be another challenging year for the Queensland construction industry. Our advocacy efforts will be centred on ensuring the construction industry is well-placed to weather these challenges, as well as making some changes that will see the industry positioned to meet emerging challenges and make our industry a better place to work for all participants.
Our 2024 efforts
An enormous pipeline of work will continue to place pressure on supply chains, keeping labour in short supply – and still more regulatory change is on the way. In response, Master Builders will centre our advocacy on ensuring both new and existing regulation does not increase the cost of construction without a demonstrated net benefit.
We will also work to ensure the industry has the information and tools it needs to meet the challenges.
The 2024 Policy and Advocacy Agenda will continue our focus on:
- Sustainable businesses
- Better building practices
- Fair and reasonable regulation.
We will do this by tackling a number of key deliverables in each of these areas, while also seizing the opportunity to advance other priorities when the opportunity arises.
Sustainable businesses
In 2024 we will continue to focus on the importance of builders being paid enough to cover all expenses and overheads, and making sufficient profit to sustain their businesses in the face of a very challenging environment.
What we are going to work to deliver in 2024
Advocacy with Government
- 1. Better contractual risk allocations, tendering processes and contract administration procedures on government building contracts.
- 2. Grants/rebates for small-to-medium enterprises in the building industry to adopt business improvement software solutions.
- 3. The ability for builders to achieve reasonable and productive daily working hours on larger commercial building sites.
- 4. Increased deposits for builders for domestic projects to support contractors’ ability to properly fund construction work up front and manage their cash flow.
- 5. A single, mandatory state-wide Housing Code for greater certainty and efficiency in housing development.
Master Builders-led initiatives
- 6. Appoint regional Industry Champions to promote the profile of the sector as a career of choice.
What we are also going to advocate for
- Incentives for new housing construction, including taxation concessions.
Better building practices
Master Builders takes pride in the work that we do, the support we provide to our members, and our advocacy on behalf of the construction industry. The unprecedented scale of new construction of homes and infrastructure needed to meet Queensland’s soaring population growth means that work has never been more important.
What we are going to work to deliver in 2024
Advocacy with Government
- 1. Commitment from government to provide support and training for builders to transition to modern methods of construction.
- 2. Government incentives for property owners to engage licensed contractors to increase the environmental sustainability and resilience of existing dwellings and commercial buildings.
- 3. Upskilling of the industry through the introduction of compulsory continuing professional development (CCPD) for Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) contractor licensees.
- 4. In conjunction with Master Builders Australia, incorporate into the work program of the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB), the Building Products Coalition’s Proposal for Change to the NCC in relation to evidence of suitability.
- 5. In conjunction with Master Builders Australia, improve transparency and accountability in the process for implementing changes via the NCC.
- 6. All energy assessors required to be accredited (and audited) to ensure a level playing field for builders.
Master Builders-led initiatives
- 7. Through the Building Products Coalition, publish an industry guide for the traceability and digitalisation of building product information.
- 8. Education for members on building practices for more resilient and environmentally sustainable buildings.
- 9. Continue Master Builders’ voluntary continuing professional development (CPD) program until a CCPD program is introduced.
What we are also going to advocate for
- Active involvement in the development of NCC 2025, aligned with member feedback, so proposed changes do not hamper productivity or affordability.
- In conjunction with Master Builders Australia, free access to Australian Standards referenced in the NCC.
Fair and reasonable regulation
There must be fair regulation of the entire construction industry supply chain to ensure accountability and responsibility of each relevant part of the chain.
Government red tape must be addressed where it is constraining industry without a sufficient corresponding benefit. Continual, ill-considered changes to the rules around how buildings are constructed are adding complexity and costs, and hampering productivity.
Incentivisation is a more effective tool in many instances, allowing industry to achieve the desired outcomes in ways that do not reduce productivity or create unfair burdens on builders, as opposed to other participants in the supply chain.
What we are going to work to deliver in 2024
Advocacy with Government
- 1. Oppose new regulation and seek to roll back existing regulation that increases the cost of construction without a demonstrated net benefit (including the NCC 2022 changes that increase the cost of housing – falls to floor waste, livable housing, and 7-star/whole-of-home changes).
- 2. Publication of government-approved software compliance systems for project trust accounts.
- 3. Reintroduce special purpose financial statements for minimum financial requirements (MFR) reports.
- 4. A security of payment framework that is fair to all parties, nationally consistent, and does not involve project trust accounts.
- 5. Continue reform of the QBCC and its processes to ensure that its regulation of industry is fair, transparent and accountable, including:
- a. Disincentivise vexatious claims of defective work, such as prescribing a fee to make a complaint or giving the QBCC the ability to recover costs from a vexatious complainant.
- b. Transform the QBCC to a leaner, more dynamic, and financially sustainable regulator that focuses on its core regulatory functions supported by industry-experienced and knowledgeable staff.
- c. Greater procedural fairness in Home Warranty Scheme matters, including ensuring builders are given a direction to rectify defective work before a claim is approved under the Scheme.
- d. Reform the QBCC licensing system to remove unnecessary and unreasonable barriers to obtaining a licence, including barriers that unfairly target the industry’s most experienced licensees to prevent them from changing their grade of licence.
- e. Ensure that the QBCC takes appropriate regulatory action against the responsible party in the contractual chain, such as subcontractors responsible for defective work or owners causing substantial financial harm by breaching their contractual obligations.
What we are also going to advocate for
- Only one regulator responsible for workplace health and safety investigations, with a single portal for notifying safety incidents.
Major Sponsors
