On the 26 September 2019 the Queensland Building and Construction Commissioner, Brett Bassett, and a number of senior QBCC staff will be participating in a Q&A style event hosted by Helix Legal. This event will present attendees with an opportunity to have a ‘conversation with the QBCC’ regarding a number of industry reforms that have progressively been coming into effect over the past 18 months.
This is an opportunity for builders, subcontractors, suppliers, principals, certifiers, engineers, architects, accountants, insolvency practitioners, adjudicators and other industry participants to seek understanding and guidance on key aspects of the implementation of these reforms.
It is our intention to provide attendees with the opportunity to interact with QBCC personnel in an open, frank but respectful manner. As with our Innovation Series Events, the Building Business Series is about bringing Construction Industry Participants together. We believe that keeping the communication lines open with the regulator is a sure way to ensuring a profitable and stable industry. Janelle Kerrisk, who has been a construction lawyer for 16 years and I will moderate proceedings with questions posed by you to Mr Basset and other members of the executive team.
What are the reform initiatives that will be addressed?
- Financial Requirements for Licensing
- Non-Conforming Building Products (NCBP) and Workplace Health and Safety (WH&S) reforms
- Progress Payments and Adjudication reforms
- Private Certification Issues
- QBCC Compliance and Enforcement Strategy.
I will be publishing articles on each of these reform initiatives designed to provide a basis for framing discussions at the event. However, attendees are more than welcome to highlight any issues they wish to discuss with QBCC personnel that relates to the implementation of these reforms.
In the meantime, the following is an extract from the 2018/2019 QBCC Compliance and Enforcement Strategy which clearly outlines the greatly expanded role the QBCC has been asked to play in the implementation of these and other reforms.
“The release of the Queensland Building Plan 2017 highlighted key areas for legislative reform to keep pace with changes occurring within the industry. These key areas signal priorities within the building and construction sector that the Queensland Government have identified through consultation with industry and the community, including the importance of financial sustainability, the need for regulation of non-conforming building products and a focus on pool safety.
Resulting legislative amendments have significantly expanded the QBCC’s regulatory function including new laws around non-conforming building products and financial matters.
The changes have seen the QBCC become responsible for regulating not only the people who use building products that do not comply with the National Construction Code, but also the people who form part of the supply chain for those products (the “chain of responsibility”), including domestic manufacturers and importers of those products. Similarly, new laws around financial security, including requirements to establish Project Bank Accounts, have altered the QBCC’s regulatory functions and stakeholder expectations.”
If you are interested in attending please click on the link below. Numbers are limited so if you or any of your colleagues or contacts are interested in attending I would recommend that you promptly register.
I am very confident that attendees will glean a considerable amount of insight on the implementation of these reforms given the interactive nature of this event.
Finally, I would like to place on record my appreciation for Mr Bassett and the other QBCC senior personnel for agreeing to make themselves available. We look forward to hosting the inaugural event for the Building Business Series at Helix Legal on 26 September 2019.
Not intended as legal advice. Read full disclaimer.
