Building Reg Reno

The Queensland Government is introducing the Building Reg Reno (Building Regulation Renovation) to make it easier to build in Queensland.

It will do this by:

  • cutting red tape
  • reducing unnecessary costs
  • ensuring the industry runs smoother.

These changes will be rolled out progressively to improve productivity within the building and construction industry, while continuing to support efficient, risk-based regulatory effort and appropriate building standards.

The Building Reg Reno is being delivered through a series of tranches.

Tranche 1 – Project trust accounts

The further rollout of trust accounts to private projects below $10 million was paused to help smaller contractors focus on building.

This also gives more time to educate builders and subcontractors on existing payment protections, ensuring they know their rights and options.

The framework continues to apply to:

  • eligible Queensland Government contracts of $1 million or more
  • private sector, local government, statutory authority and government-owned corporation contracts of $10 million or more.

Tranche 2 – Minimum financial requirements, passive fire protection and fee waivers

Further regulatory amendments will commence in March 2025, which would:

  • cut paperwork for over 97% of small builders and sole traders by removing MFR financial reporting for lower categories of individual licensees (SC1 and SC2). This means around 50,000 individual licensees will no longer need to provide annual financial reports to the QBCC
  • provide 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
  • provide free occupational licences for plumbers who already pay for a QBCC contractor licence to do certain fire protection work
  • other amendments to maintain current regulatory requirements for building certifiers and homeowners, providing ongoing certainty and stability for industry and consumers.

Tranches 3 and 4 – Further building reforms and improvements

Further longer-term improvement measures are also being considered to ease pressure on Queensland’s building industry. The proposed changes would:

  • fast-track the QBCC's move to digital platforms to cut paperwork and make it easier to manage licences
  • provide a clear and consistent approach to implementation timeframes for future National Construction Code updates
  • simplify safety notifications to remove duplicate reporting to both QBCC and Workplace Health and Safety Queensland
  • 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.

Like the first 2 tranches, these broader reforms would support Queensland’s construction sector to function well and able to deliver the homes and infrastructure our growing state needs.

The department will also work closely with the Queensland Productivity Commission, as the Building Reg Reno is intended to complement the Queensland Productivity Commission’s regulatory review of the building industry.