Potential changes to Queensland’s construction legislation could have an enormous effect on both the local building industry and Queensland families, warns a Brisbane specialist in building and construction law.
Construction industry groups are currently consulting with the Queensland Building Services Authority, with the aim of amending the legislation that governs payments to construction industry participants so that it applies to residential building.
According to Adam Carlton-Smith, head of HopgoodGanim’s Construction, Infrastructure and Major Projects practice, these potential amendments would mean huge change for both industry participants and home owners in Queensland.
“If the Building & Construction Industry Payments Act 2004 is extended to the domestic market, it could be the biggest change in the residential construction industry for many years”, he says.
At the moment the legislation doesn’t apply to construction contracts for domestic building work if the owner is an individual (rather than a company) and lives in the building or intends to live there.
“If the legislation is applied to the residential market, builders will be able to make claims to home owners for payment of their bills”, Mr Carlton-Smith says. “If home owners don’t respond to a claim within a short timeframe, they could end up in court and have judgements made against them”.
“On the other hand, builders in the domestic market will be able to resolve issues with home owners that are ‘dragging the chain’ on their payments”.
Mr Carlton-Smith says that the Queensland Building Services Authority would need to carry out significant public consultation on the way this legislation would be applied to the residential market before it is amended.
“An early dispute resolution process would need to be incorporated into the legislation to reduce the potential for home owners to end up in Court because they didn’t understand the legislative process involved. Queensland home owners in general will not have had any exposure to a claims-based environment like the building industry, so they will need to be educated on statutory claims and their responsibilities under the legislation”.
The State Government of Tasmania has recently passed new building legislation, which will apply to residential construction in the state from July 2010. The legal right to speed up and scrutinise bill payments in the domestic construction industry would be a first for Queensland.
Contact:
Esther Cohen, Communications Advisor
Tel: 07 3024 0192
