Government and policymakers must remember that the decisions they make have the potential for significant impacts on the delivery of new construction and the lives of small business owners. Whether it be yet another form to complete or some new business compliance cost, every change has the potential to cause problems down the track, such as increased costs.
Worse still, new regulation is often rushed, implemented without sufficient attention to detail, thought given to practicality, and with a lack of sufficient industry education and transition time.
In the past three years alone, new policy or regulation has been introduced affecting building standards and technical requirements, safety, workplace relations, licensing, financial requirements and payments. The changes introduced in National Construction Code (NCC) 2022 were the most significant in decades, impacting the delivery of new homes, builders, suppliers and homeowners.
All regulatory measures must therefore be considered, practical and reasonable, with the benefits clearly offsetting the costs.
The regulatory framework for security of payment does not meet this standard. Industry needs a framework that is fair to all parties, nationally consistent, and does not involve project trust accounts.
What we are going to work to deliver
Advocacy with government:
- 1. Implement a security of payment framework that is fair to all parties and does not involve 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.
- 2. Improve access to the existing security of payment protections for all contractors.
- 3. Remove the mandate to comply with NCC 2022 energy efficiency and livable housing requirements through an amendment to the Queensland Development Code 4.5.
- 4. Action the 10 essential changes to NCC 2022 to end the worst of the cost hikes and technical problems.
- 5. Commit to a 10-year moratorium on NCC provisions that impede housing affordability. Use the time to refocus efforts on achieving a strong and practical NCC that has safety, quality and the process of building at its centre.
Master Builders-led initiatives:
- Provide industry training on security of payment.
- Assist members to recover late payments and resolve payment disputes.
Major Sponsors
