Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act

The Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 (QBCC Act) regulates the building industry by:

• Ensuring the maintenance of proper standards
• Achieving a reasonable balance between the interests of building contractors and consumers
• Providing remedies for defective building work
• Providing support, education and advice for consumers and those people undertaking building work.

Queensland Building and Construction Commission

Established under the QBCC Act, the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) regulates Queensland’s building industry. The QBCC is a quasi-government body consisting of the QBCC Board and the organisational unit under the control of the Commissioner.

The QBCC's primary responsibilities centre on:

• Licensing for trade and building contractors
• Maintaining a dispute resolution process between consumers and/or trade and building contractors
• Administering the Statutory Insurance Scheme, where all contractors who perform insurable work over $3,300 (including GST) must take out Home Warranty insurance when working directly for consumers.

Your obligations

Under the QBCC Act, contractors performing building work over the value of $3,300 (including GST) must hold a QBCC licence unless an exemption applies.

Failure to comply with the legislation can result in monetary fines and an accumulation of demerit points. If a contractor accumulates more than 30 demerit points over a three-year period, they’ll lose their contracting licence and won’t be eligible for reinstatement for another three years. If a contractor accumulates more than 30 demerit points over a three year period over the next ten-year period, they’ll lose their contracting licence for life.

All building contractors have significant obligations under:

• Part 4A of the QBCC Act that relates to all subcontracts (at all levels) and all head contracts (except for domestic building contracts); and
• Schedule 1B for all domestic building contracts.

Non-compliance with these requirements carry significant penalties and, in some cases, imprisonment. A number of these requirements have been in place for a number of years but there are also a number that commenced in November 2017, March 2018 and 17 December 2018 as part of the Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 as well as in 2020 under the Building Industry Fairness and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2015.