Yesterday, the Queensland Government announced that the commencement of the Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 (Qld) (BIFSOPA) provisions, which were originally announced to be implemented on 1 July 2018, are now likely to start 17 December 2018, meaning that until this date or further notice:
- payment claims will still need to be endorsed under the Building and Construction Industry Payments Act 2004 (Qld) (BCIPA); and
- BCIPA will continue to be the in-force security of payment legislation in Queensland.
Project Bank Accounts on state government projects between $1 million and $10 million started from 1 March 2018.
Importantly, as part of the announcement, the Queensland Government indicated that further amendments to BIFSOPA will be made before implementation, including that:
- the requirement for retention monies to be held in a project bank account (PBA) will only apply in certain circumstances; and
- the period in which a head contractor is to provide a payment schedule will be clarified (this appears to be an intention to address the inconsistency between BIFSOPA and the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 (Qld), as to the date to issue a schedule and date for payment.
The announcement also advised that a discussion paper will be released for industry consultation in the coming weeks, and an approved regulation for new minimum financial requirements will operate from 1 January 2019.
The Implementation and Evaluation Panel
The Queensland Government also announced a Panel has been appointed, which will work with the government, building and construction industry and other stakeholders to determine:
- the effectiveness of the governments implementation of the suite of building industry reforms;
- the effectiveness of the legislative framework in achieving policy intent;
- opportunities to realise improved security of payment outcomes for the industry prior to the commencement of project bank accounts in the private sector; and
- the indicative economic impacts and outcomes of the building industry reforms.
The Panel will provide external and independent advice for ensuring stakeholder and community access to the evaluation process, and will be responsible for advising on the overarching design and direction of the evaluation of the reforms.
CDI Lawyers will keep you abreast of all new regulations and developments regarding BIFSOPA.