16 June 2022
After recently touring around the state with their annual Roadshow, Master Builders Queensland’s members have confirmed they continue to do it tough in the face of current market conditions and the increasing administrative burden of running a building business.
Master Builders CEO, Paul Bidwell, who led the state-wide tour and roundtable panel discussions, said the event highlighted that builders and tradies, big and small, were looking for certainty and stability into the future.
“These real time discussions certainly reinforced our policy and advocacy focus for 2022, which is centred on ensuring the construction industry is well-placed to weather what is another turbulent year, and will be crucial for the Queensland Government to consider when announcing the Queensland Budget next week,” Mr Bidwell said.
“We know we need to lobby for changes that make it easier for building businesses, that will see the industry positioned to continue Queensland’s economic recovery.
“One of the key things we’ll be calling for is further investigation on the impact of Minimum Financial Requirements (MFRs). Queensland is the only state in the country that has this requirement and we need to determine whether the administrative and financial burden of MFRs is worthwhile, particularly on an industry that is already drowning in red tape and struggling with rising costs and trade and material delays.
“We recently commissioned a report from Ernst & Young which explores the impact of MFRs and whether they have made a significant impact on the financial difficulties and insolvencies within the industry.
“The report indicates that insolvencies and financial difficulties have not improved since the introduction of MFRs. In fact, what we’re now seeing with some builders facing financial difficulties, is just the start. We’re anticipating a wave of financial strife, in the wake of the current situation facing the industry, where cost hikes and material and trade shortages are biting hard.
“Last month we welcomed the new QBCC Commissioner, Anissa Levy to our Industry Leaders Lunch where she confirmed the QBCC was sympathetic to the predicament and current situation facing many builders and would use their discretion, case-by-case, when it came to enforcing MFRs in the building industry.
“We’ll also continue to explore other ways we can support the industry through these volatile times.”
The latest Building Approvals highlight an industry craving certainty and stability.
The total value of work approved contracted by 14.2 per cent over April, reinforcing the clear downward trend in total work.
Still the housing sector, which has seen the largest surge in demand, continues to buck the trend. Approvals for both detached houses and alterations and additions continued to grow over April.
“The increase in dwelling approvals is most pronounced out in the regions; with Sunshine Coast, Townsville and Central Queensland leading the charge.
“There is also plenty of work in the pipeline, with 39,710 dwellings approved over the last 12 months and over 50,000 property insurance claims from the SEQ floods, the building industry continues to struggle with current conditions.
“However, we’ll also be relying on the Queensland Government investing more in infrastructure and social housing as part of the Queensland Budget to ensure the industry has a longer-term pipeline of work.”
This work will need to be delivered with the cost of construction continuing to escalate. Housing construction prices have increased by 23 per cent over the past 12 months in Queensland, which is the largest increase across the country.
“It’s good to know we are not seeing any signs of a freefall but finding the additional materials and trades to complete all this work will be a challenge.
“We’ll also be calling on a number of other initiatives aimed at creating certainty for the industry, financial stability, building quality, physical and mental health and effective enforcement initiatives.
“In particular, with our industry facing such uncertain times, we’ll be looking to explore better tools to support the mental health of workers – building on existing initiatives such as Mates in Construction.”
Read our full Advocacy Focus 2022.
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