The state government has unveiled their second tranche of changes to Queensland’s building legislation.
The changes include:
- Extending existing time-limited exemptions from the Livable Housing and Design Standard (contained in the NCC Modern Homes standards) for certain narrow lots and certain pre-built small dwellings.
- Removing MFR financial reporting for lower categories of individual licensees (SC1 and SC2).
- Providing additional time of up to 5 years (to May 2030) to meet the new occupational licensing requirements for passive fire protection work, as well as upskilling requirements for other existing licences, such as some Special Hazards licences
- Providing free occupational licences for plumbers who already pay for a QBCC contractor licence to do certain fire protection work
- Extending existing time-limited exemptions regarding Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) coverage for building certifiers
Further, more extensive reforms are currently being considered as part of Tranche 3 & 4, including:
- fast-track the QBCC’s move to digital platforms
- provide a clear and consistent approach to implementation timeframes for future National Construction Code updates
- introduce a Queensland Housing Code to streamline design and siting rules
- improve the QBCC’s internal review and dispute resolution processes so they are streamlined, efficient and clear
- review licensing thresholds and improve consistency for all QBCC licensees, including timeframes for restoring a licence
- review the insurance threshold, cover amount and timeframes of the Queensland Home Warranty Scheme
- further reduce administrative burden associated with trust accounts.