The Building Act 1975 governs all building work in Queensland, empowering the regulation of certain aspects of buildings and structures. It includes the administrative terms necessary to give effect to the laws.

The entire industry is affected by this legislation, including licensees, building professionals, local councils and the general community.

Building Codes Queensland, which is part of the Department of Housing and Public Works, oversees both the Building Act and the Plumbing and Drainage Act 2018.

Codes

The Building Act dictates that buildings must be constructed in accordance with the Building Code of Australia and, where Queensland-specific provisions are necessary, the Queensland
Development Code
.

Regulations

Regulations currently in force that relate directly to the Building Act include:

Associated documents

Approved forms are a mandatory requirement when completing building work in Queensland.

The Department of Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning provides a suite of standard forms that comply with legislative requirements for building work.


Building Code of Australia

The Building Code of Australia (BCA) is a uniform set of technical provisions for the design and construction of buildings and other structures throughout Australia.

It’s produced and maintained by the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB), whose primary aim is to achieve nationally consistent, minimum standards. They do this through the National Construction Code (NCC), which is made up of both the Building Code of Australia (Volumes 1 and 2) and the Plumbing Code of Australia (Volume 3).

Given the code’s evolving nature, it’s important to stay on top of key changes that happen each year, to ensure you price building work to comply with the code, and ultimately avoid contractual disputes.

Access the BCA

Associated documents and standards

The BCA is supported by a number of reference documents, which provide specific detail on compliance and include a number of Australian Standards.

It must be read in conjunction with the Building Code of Australia, which is published in two volumes:

  • Volume 1 Commercial Buildings (Class 2–9 Buildings)
  • Volume 2 Residential Buildings (Class 1 and 10 Buildings – also known as the Housing Provisions).

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