Project Trusts will be required on all $1 million-plus projects from July 2022 under construction industry reforms being rolled out by the Queensland Government.

Housing and Public Works Minister Mick de Brenni today introduced legislation into Parliament aimed at increasing protections in Queensland’s building and construction industry.

“For too long, the scale has been tipped to leave subbies, tradies and their families shouldering financial responsibility because of dodgy developers who don’t pay,” he said.

“Our Building Industry Fairness Bill puts an end to this rorting of the system in Queensland.

“Since coming to government Labor has created 235,000 jobs, and already Project Bank Accounts have seen $803 million paid to Queensland tradies in full, on time, every time.”

Mr de Brenni said a review of the first phase of Project Bank Accounts by an independent panel had led to a more simplified Project Trust model.

He said project and retention trust accounts would commence in four phases, starting in July this year, so that by July 2022 Project Trusts will be required on all projects valued at over $1 million in Queensland.

Project Trusts will be rolled out in four phases:

1. From July 1 2020 Project Trusts will apply to eligible government and Health and Hospital Services’ building contracts of $1 million or more.
2. From July 1 2021 Project Trust Accounts will be extended to the private sector and local government for eligible building contracts valued at $10 million or more.
3. From January 1 2022, project trust accounts will cover eligible building contracts worth $3 million or more.
4. On July 1 2022 trusts will be required for all eligible building contracts valued at $1 million or more. At this point, retention trusts will benefit all subcontractors in the chain where there is a project trust.

The QBCC will have oversight of the trust accounts and increased power to prosecute anyone who causes a financial loss by not complying with contractual obligations.

“When we introduced the Building Industry Fairness Act in August 2017, we made it clear we were going to clean up the industry, and its payments system, that left the tradies at the bottom – the ones getting their hands dirty – out in the cold when the money ran out,” Mr de Brenni said.

He said the reforms introduced into Parliament today were a step in the right direction towards keeping developers on the hook if they tried to leave Queensland builders in the lurch.

Additional legislation:

• Key reforms to building certification and further deliver the Queensland Building Plan reforms
• Enhanced regulatory powers for the Board of Architects Queensland and the Board of Professional Engineers Queensland
• Further strengthened the QBCC Act in relation to the compliance framework for the Minimum Financial Requirements
• Established framework for professional standards schemes to operate for certifiers.