This morning, Governor Paul de Jersey AC announced that phase 3 of the Queensland Building and Construction Commission and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2014 will become effective on 1 July 2015.
The Government has sought to implement the Bill in 3 phases:
- The first was the establishment of the QBCC.
- The second was essentially to transfer plumbing and drainage and swimming pool licensing to the QBCC.
- And the third phase is to update and improve the building licensing system (in addition to a number of other initiatives).
Phases 1 and 2 were implemented in 2014.
Some of the key changes to licensing laws effective on 1 July 2015 are:
Reduction of 5 Year Exclusion to 3 Years
Under the old system, the QBCC would cancel the licence of an individual for 5 years if:
- a company of which they were a director (within 1 year of liquidation), was wound up, or
- the individual went bankrupt.
Under the new system, the QBCC will cancel the licence of an individual for only 3 years.
The penalty for two defaults (for example liquidation of a company and then bankruptcy of the individual) will remain unchanged. In other words, a life ban for two defaults will still result under the new system.
Only Applies to Building Companies
A banning for being a director of a liquidated company will only apply if the company “directly or indirectly carries out building work or building work services”. Just what this definition extends to will be interesting. For instance, a director of a company that provides site cleaning services may be caught.
On the other hand, a director of a company that runs a retail outlet will not be hit with a ban if that company is wound up.
No Permitted Individual Applications
Previously, affected licensees were able to make an application to become a “Permitted Individual”. Essentially, if the licensee could demonstrate the event of default (bankruptcy or liquidation) was out of their control and they did everything possible to prevent the default, their licence could be reinstated. Under the new provisions, this option is not available.
If you have any clients who may require advice in relation to changes to the QBCC licensing laws , please do not hesitate to contact SV Partners on 1800 246 801,