On Tuesday 12 June 2018, Minister de Brenni announced in parliament that amendments to the Building Industry Fairness legislation would commence from 17 December 2018.
This means that the Security of Payment changes that were due to come into force on 1 July 2018, are now due to commence on 17 December 2018, as well as chapter 3, which relates to subcontractor charges.
This means for those of you that have been too busy to find out what the changes mean for your business, or to implement the necessary processes, you now have 5 more months to do so.
The new timeframe announced by the Minister means that the Building and Construction Industry Payments Act 2004 (“BCIPA”) is to remain in force at least until 16 December 2018.
What does this mean for you?
You will still need to comply with the BCIPA until 16 December 2018 or on further notice from the Queensland Government. In particular:
Payment claims will still need to state that they are made under the BCIPA;
The timeframes for submitting a payment schedule remain within the earlier of:
the time required, if any, by the relevant construction contract; or
10 business days after the payment claim is served;
A section 20A notice must be served on the payer if you do not receive payment and a payment schedule to keep your ability to use Security of Payment alive;
Adjudication applications still need to be submitted within 10 business days of receiving a payment schedule that agrees to pay less than the claimed amount.
It is likely that the government will be making changes to BIF. Aitchison Reid is planning to roll out new workshops to discuss these changes. We have also delayed the release of our online course programme on BIF to ensure that the information you receive is accurate and current.
New Panel to assess implementation of legislation
The Minister also announced that he has appointed a new Building Industry Fairness Reforms Implementation and Evaluation Panel to work with Government and with the building industry to assess the implementation of the BIF legislation. The task of the Panel is to ensure that BIF reforms are effectively implemented and evaluated.
The Panel consists of four industry experts including our Director of Aitchison Reid, Fionna Reid.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to be able to contribute to this panel and be a part of positive change in the construction industry,” said Ms Reid.
We will continue to keep you updated on the changes to BIF as and when they are announced publicly by the Government.
