Queensland
Building and Construction Commission
Annual Report
2016-2017
ISSN 2203-9589 (Print)
ISSN 2203-9597 (Online)
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This annual report is licensed by the Queensland Building and Construction Commission under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 International licence.
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Attribution
Content from this annual report should be attributed as:
Queensland Building and Construction CommissionAnnual Report 2016-2017
About this report
This report summarises the activities and performance of the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) for 2016-2017 against key business objectives and targets as set by the Queensland Building and Construction Board (Board), the Government’s objectives for the community and the QBCC2016-2020Strategic Plan. This report looks at the year past and the year ahead.
The report reflects the QBCC’s commitment to effective corporate governance through openness and accountability, and provides an account of our revenue and ourexpenditure.
This is the QBCC’s fourth annual report since its commencement on 1 December 2013. The previous annual reports are available on our website at
Readership
This report aims to communicate comprehensive information to satisfy the needs of individuals and groups who are affected by, or have an interest in, our activities, including, but not limited to:
- the building and construction industry
- the community
- our employees
- our Board and committee members
- elected members of Parliament
- Government departments
- the media.
We are committed to open and accountable governance and welcome your feedback on our reporting.
Interpreter service statement
The QBCC is committed to providing accessible services to Queenslanders from all culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. If you experience difficulty in understanding the annual report, you can contact us on 139 333 and we will arrange an interpreter to effectively communicate the report to you.
Enquiries
Readers are encouraged to download the report online at
Where this is not possible, printed copies are available using one of the contact options below.
299 Montague Road West End Qld 4101 or locate a regional service centre Addresses are also available on pages 22 and 23 of this report.
Our service centres are open Monday to Friday from 8am until 5pm.
T: 139 333
E:
For more information on any of the initiatives or services mentioned in this report, visit the QBCC’s website at
© Queensland Building and Construction Commission 2017
Table of Contents
Letter of Compliance
About Us
2016-2017 Performance Highlights
Minister’s Message
QBC Chair’s message
Commissioner’s Foreword
Our Structure
Our Board
Our Senior Leadership Team
Frontline Services in the Regions
Our Performance
Customer Service
Operational Excellence
Our People
Our Services
CUSTOMER SERVICE
LICENSING
QUEENSLAND HOME WARRANTY SCHEME
BUILDING COMPLAINTS AND DISPUTES
FINANCIAL INVESTIGATIONS
COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT
ADJUDICATION REGISTRY
INTERNAL REVIEW
SERVICE TRADES
EDUCATION AND ENGAGEMENT
Management and Accountability
Corporate Governance
Acting ethically and responsibly
Financial Performance
Glossary
Index of Tables
Compliance Checklist
Letter of Compliance
27September 2017
The Honourable Mick de Brenni MP
Minister for Housing and Public Works and Minister for Sport
GPO Box 2457
Brisbane Qld 4001
Dear Minister,
I am pleased to submit for presentation to the Parliamentthe Annual Report 2016-2017 and financial statements for the Queensland Building and Construction Commission.
I certify that this Annual Report complies with:
- the prescribed requirements of the Financial Accountability Act 2009 and the Financial and Performance Management Standard 2009, and
- the detailed requirements set out in the Annual report requirements for Queensland Government agencies.
A checklist outlining the annual reporting requirements can be found at page 139 of this annual report.
Yours sincerely
R. L. (Dick) Williams
Chair
Queensland Building and Construction Board
About Us
Who we are
The Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) is a statutory body established under the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 (QBCC Act), reporting to the Honourable Mick de Brenni MP, Minister for Housing and Public Works and Minister for Sport.
We play a central role in regulating the building and construction industry in Queensland. Led by a Commissioner and governed by the Queensland Building and Construction Board (Board), theQBCC comprisesa skilled and expert team of staff who work hard to meet the needs of industry participants and the community.
What we do
The QBCC regulates to ensure the maintenance of proper building standards and to achieve a reasonable balance between the interests of building contractors and consumers. We provide licensing services to promote a strong construction sector, andsupport the industry by providing remedies for defective building work and providing support, education and advice for consumers and those who undertake building work. An independent regulatory body representing Queensland’s service trades, the Service Trades Council (STC), also forms part of the QBCC. The Board provides guidance and leadership to the STC, except for its legislated functions provided for under the Plumbing and Drainage Act 2002. The STC confers on national policy development and implementation for the trade and reports to the Minister. The STC also seeks to strengthen Queensland’s plumbing, air-conditioning, fire protection and mechanical services industries. These activities help promote confidence in Queensland’s building and construction industry.
We engage with contractors, home owners, industry bodies, suppliers and all levels of government to identify and ultimately satisfy their needs and expectations.
Our main services are licensing, compliance and enforcement, dispute resolution, home warranty insurance, and information and education.
During the 2016-2017 financial year, the QBCC administered its regulatory responsibilities under the following Acts and subordinate legislation:
- Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991
- Queensland Building and Construction Commission Regulation 2003
- Building and Construction Industry Payments Act 2004
- Building and Construction Industry Payments Regulation 2004
- Subcontractors Charges Act 1974
- Building Act 1975
- Building Regulation 2006
- Plumbing and Drainage Act 2002
- Standard Plumbing and Drainage Regulation 2003
- Plumbing and Drainage Regulation 2003.
Our Purpose
For peace of mind.
Our Mission
We will be recognised as the best and most respected regulatory service provider in Australia.
Our Strategic Plan 2016-2020
The QBCC Strategic Plan 2016-2020 focusses our staff to deliver our core and supporting business lines by setting out three strategic pillars. These pillars align with the Queensland Government’s objectives for the community. These pillars are:
Customer Service / Operational Excellence / Our PeopleConsistently delivering above and beyond on our customer service obligations, including strengthening our current service offerings. / Continue to deliver improvements in our operational performance while achieving higher levels of service quality. / Building a strong platform of high-performing people and developing and rewarding a workforce which is customer-focussed and embodies QBCC’s values.
To operationalise the Strategic Plan 2016-2020, the QBCC has developed operationalbusiness plans that align with the Strategic Plan to guide business areas in achieving their goals. To track its performance against set targets, the QBCC has developed a set of performance indicators which are reported to the Board, and in the Annual Report.
Collectively, we have three core values that form the framework for all our decisions, interactions and activities:
- Customer First
- Fairness and Equity
- Accountability.
We actively manage strategic risks to achieve our objectives through:
Service Delivery
- focussing on services to ensure customers have confidence in the QBCC’s processes and decision-making
- ensuring our systems and other requirements are innovated and implemented to meet customer requirements and preferences.
Communication
- ensuring customers, stakeholders and the Government are kept informed through community awareness campaigns, reference group meetings, briefings and proactive media communications.
Insurance
- Queensland Home Warranty Scheme premiums are structured appropriately and adequately to meet actuarially sustainable principles.
Public Interest
- giving effect to the Government’s strategic direction by implementing regulatory reforms
- delivering compliance and enforcement programs that increase confidence in the community that the QBCC is focussed on regulating effectively.
Governance and Security
- embedding robust governance and controls to secure our services and data and to protect our customers and our assets.
People and Resourcing
- achieving business efficiency and effective change through support and investment in new systems and development of our human capital.
Government’s objectives for the community
The QBCC is integral to promoting confidence in the building and construction industry, a key contributor to the Queensland economy. Accordingly, the QBCC contributes to the Queensland Government’s objectives for the community by:
- delivering quality frontline services
- creating jobs and a diverse economy.
The other government objectives for the community;integrity, accountability and consultation also underpin the work of the QBCC. In 2016-2017, the QBCCcontinued to implement policies announced by the Queensland Government through the Department of Housing and Public Works (DHPW), and will continue to do so in 2017-2018 through implementing actions coming out of the Queensland Building Plan as they are announced by DHPW.
2016-2017 Performance Highlights
A new way to submit Notifiable Works forms and make payments through myQBCCRecovered $17,339,446.58for creditors since the introduction of the MFR policy in October 2014
Launch of strategic projects to focus our efforts at being a better regulator
for examples, see information boxes ‘Using Behavioural Economics to improve the way we communicate’ (p. 36) , ‘Working to deliver more efficient services for our customers’ (p. 37), ‘Educating and engaging the community’ (p. 59) and ‘Valuing our staff’ (p. 62)
Commenced supporting the Service Trades Council to strengthen the service trades industry
Setting up the Building and Tradie Assistance Register to assist with rebuilding efforts after Cyclone Debbie
Minister’s Message
The building and construction industry is an important sector that contributes significantly to the Queensland economy. Through the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) the Queensland Government plays a critical role in regulating the industry.
In the 2016-2017 financial year, unprecedented legislative reform has occurred that now sets Queensland as the benchmark for having some of the strongest legislation across Australia.
Under the leadership of a new Board and the Commissioner, the QBCC will work to implement this legislative program. This includes changes to the QBCC’s investigative powers and its ability to help rid the State of Non-Conforming Building Products, as well as proposed measures around improving Security of Payment for sub-contractors. These significant changes will improve the safety standards for all Queenslanders, and are designed to help ensure that sub-contractors get paid for the work they do.
As well as the legislative reforms, the QBCC will continue to look to improve how it operates as an effective regulator.
The QBCC will continue to provide peace of mind through the Home Warranty Scheme to protect home owners from losses in what is likely to be their largest investment.
I have asked the QBCC to take a more active role in educating and engaging with the community. By all accounts I am advised by the Commissioner that the inaugural Tradie Tour in June this year was a success and I look forward to hearing the views of our stakeholders in the industry as the QBCC continues this community engagement focus.
There are some key legislative changes that the QBCC will continue to play a key role in implementing. I look forward to working with the Parliament to ensure that we continue to have the strongest building regulation in the country.
The Honourable Mick de Brenni MP
Minister for Housing and Public Works and Minister for Sport
QBC Chair’s message
Since the current Queensland Building and Construction Board formed in December 2016, we have strived to ensure that the Queensland Building and Construction Commission returns to its core regulatory role.
Our top priority is that the QBCC operates as a strong, independent regulator to achieve better outcomes for the State’s building industry, its licensees and their clients – home and property owners.
The new Board’s skills, experience, dedication and increased gender diversity has helped turn the QBCC into a strong, contemporary regulator for the construction sector.
As an electrician, being part of a strong, regulated industry is not new to me, and it is safe to say that I am in favour of taking the guess work out of compliance.
On this subject, the QBCC’s important role in the compliance space will be expanded over the next 12 months to help rid the building industry of unscrupulous operators.
In the 2016-2017 year, QBCC compliance officers conducted 4,529 interviews at 1,293 work sites throughout Queensland. That action detected 74incidences of suspected unlicensed contracting and 17 builders found to have engaged unlicensed contractors to perform building work.
Proactive audits, though, are only one tool in our regulatory toolbox and being a strong regulator involves knowing which tool is the right one for a particular situation.
It may be that a public warning is required, or a court-ordered injunction or prosecution, to deter unscrupulous individuals from operating in the building industry.
To this end, the QBCC will continue to test the law and prosecute complex cases. In 2016-2017, the QBCC successfully completed43 prosecutions and disciplinary cases, which resulted in fines of $416,456. In addition, the QBCC won compensation for home owners amounting to $269,596.90.
The current QBC Board has commenced changing the frameworks set in place by the previous Board, to help restore trust and confidence in the QBCC.
This includes new powers relating to Minimum Financial Requirements to help the QBCC to remove from the industry those individuals who do not play by the rules.
This is part of our deliberate strategy to reassert the QBCC’s role as an impartial regulator protecting the interests and reputation of those hard-working licensees who do the right thing.
The organisation’s new strategic vision is ambitious but necessary, with data intelligence driving business decisions and informing risk management.
It is already being used to identify the most common types of building work performed by unlicensed operators, and to help develop new educational programs to be delivered by the QBCC.
Moving forward, the QBCC will treat its stakeholders with respect, and apply policies and regulatory obligations consistently and without favour.
That is what we should all expect of a strong, impartial, contemporary regulator, and that is the type of regulator which the QBC Board will continue to develop and support.
In closing, I want to thank the QBCC staff for their conscientious efforts in putting into action the Board’s policies, and for their ongoing work in creating a better regulator for the benefit of industry participants and home owners.
R. L. (Dick) Williams
Chair
Queensland Building and Construction Board
Commissioner’s Foreword
Before I go any further, I’d like to thank and acknowledge the hard-working staff of the QBCC.
While writing this Foreword, I was struck by the significant challenges and changes that have occurred in the building and construction sector and at the QBCC during the past 12 months, and our staff continue to deal with these with patience and professionalism.
One of the most important things I have learned about the QBCC is that our focus needs to be on our core regulatory role, on doing what the law requires and allows us to do, and doing it every time.
As a regulator, it is difficult to achieve those aims when any decision we make will almost always displease 50 per cent of our customers. An example of this is that when we don't issue a direction to rectify against a builder, then a home owner is not happy. If we do, the builder is frustrated.
The QBCC’s previous focus on customer satisfaction and determination to be the most respected regulator in the country was not appropriate for our organisation.
Refocussing our resources and energies on our core role has been reflected in areas such as our compliance activities, including an increase in the demerit points issued for offences – up from 1,842 in 2015-2016 to 5,342 in the 2016-2017 year.
Another example is education. We have a clear, mandated role in educating the sector and licensees but we have not been fulfilling that role.
To address this shortcoming, we delivered 10 educational ‘Tradie Tour’ sessions for industry members across Queensland about defective building work issues around waterproofing. These sessions were well received and we are currently working to further develop our role in delivering engaging, topical educational services.
Another area where we are working to ensure we are doing what the law requires of us is to strategically target issues, including those where we need to test the law.
An example of this was our prosecution of a wealth-creation company called Benchmark Private Wealth Pty Ltd, which had connections to the collapsed Members Alliance Group.
This was the first time that the QBCC successfully prosecuted a wealth-creation company for unlicensed building work. They were fined $3,750, and although no conviction was recorded, I am proud that the QBCC took this action.
This result has strengthened our resolve to use all our available powers to support licensees and property owners in the courts as well as on construction sites.
As I mentioned at the start of this piece, I have seen a lot of change in the past 12 months and this will continue, with an organisational redesign.
The organisational redesign will provide our staff with decision-making tools that will help them to navigate the complex decisions they make every day, clearly and free of emotion and bias.