New powers for the QBCC to crack down to dodgy building materials

Designers, importers and suppliers can now all be held accountable for the supply of dodgy building supplies in Queensland, under new laws passed in state parliament on Thursday. 

The government said the new laws would decrease the responsibility placed on builders. 

Minister for Housing Mick de Brenni said importers need to shoulder the burden for importing substandard goods from overseas too.

“These laws will close the doors to importers dumping dodgy products onto Queensland building sites,” he said. “The proliferation of cheap, imported, substandard products entering our country is a risk to the health and safety of all Queenslanders.”

Until Thursday, a builder or other contractors were often held accountable for the quality of products used in their builds.

Mr de Brenni said the 2014 Melbourne Lacrosse Tower fire and subsequent recall of Infinity cables by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission inspired the new laws. Owners in the building slugged builders with a $15m repair bill.

Deputy CEO of Master Builders Queensland Paul Bidwell welcomed the move. He said he needed more time to get stuck into the legislation, but was cautiously optimistic.

“This is the first part of the building plan which we’ve been waiting for a while and it puts in place a strict regime,” Mr Bidwell said. “So that’s good.

“If we’re serious about fixing the problem, these things need to happen.”

Queensland building and construction commission inspectors would be given the power to inspect existing building and order potentially dangerous situations be rectified. Fines up to $120,000 could also be imposed for the use or supply of dodgy materials.

Mr Bidwell had some concerns surrounding the recall process and role of OH&S in the new laws.

“The ACCC’s voluntary recall of the Infinity cable was a torturous process,” he said. “And the crossover into the health and safety space, we’re concerned about that but we’ve still got to tease it out.”

But Mr Bidwell praised Mr de Brenni for being the first in Australia to implement the system.

“The minister has taken the lead on this across the country and I would thing the other states would put in the same,” he said.