Welcome from Angelo Lambrinos CEO and Commissioner
We're focused on making it easier for you to do business with the QBCC.
That means improving our systems and services, providing clearer guidance, increasing transparency, and giving you practical tools that help you stay compliant, avoid common issues and spend more time focused on your business.
In this edition, you'll find updates on new digital services, contract and payment reminders, resources you can share directly with your clients, industry consultation opportunities, and insights into the improvements we're making based on your feedback.
We're also committed to listening. Over the coming months, we'll be sharing more about what we're hearing from industry surveys, the outcomes we're achieving, and how your feedback is helping shape our services and future improvements.
Thank you for the work you do every day to build Queensland. Your professionalism, expertise and commitment to quality help strengthen consumer confidence and support a safer, more resilient construction industry.
In this edition:
- Take our survey
- New heat mapping tools helping the QBCC better support licensees
- New Compliance and Enforcement Strategy
- Notifiable work audits update
- First Owner-builder applications via the QBCC Portal
- The QBCC's digital licences gaining popularity
- Reminder about the Consumer Building Guide
- Make contracts count
- Making building easier in Queensland
- Quick updates
- Got a question? We're here to help
We want to hear from you
We’d love your feedback about Construction Connect. Take our quick, three-question survey to tell us how useful you find our updates and how we can make future editions even better.
New heat mapping tools helping the QBCC better support licensees
The QBCC is using new heat-mapping technology to improve frontline performance, enhance customer and licensee experiences and reduce red tape.
By analysing areas of active construction and overlaying this information with compliance findings, builder data and other information across Queensland, we can identify proactive site visit opportunities, focus education and compliance activities where they are needed most, and help licensees be compliant before issues arise.
The top 5 structural and non-structural defect reports for the financial year to date as of August 2026 are:
Structural defects
- Roof cladding
- Internal wet area waterproofing membranes
- Drainage
- External waterproofing membranes
- Wall cladding
Non-structural defects
- Painting
- Joinery
- Roof cladding
- Floor tiling
- Driveways and paths
These tools are part of our shift towards being a more proactive, data-driven regulator. Future enhancements, including a licensing heat map, will help us better understand local industry conditions, deliver targeted support to licensees, and identify areas where a shortage of licensed contractors may increase the risk of non-compliant building activity.
New Compliance and Enforcement Strategy now available
- The QBCC has published its Compliance and Enforcement Strategy 2026–2030, setting out a balanced approach to reducing harm, strengthening industry capability and building public confidence.
The Strategy was informed by engagement with industry associations, stakeholders and regulatory partners throughout its development. It describes how the QBCC is evolving to be a more proactive, intelligence-led, risk-based, data-driven and future-ready regulator.
The approach focuses on making obligations clearer, identifying risks earlier and directing regulatory effort where the potential harm is greatest.
Notifiable work audits update
To support compliance with notifiable work requirements, the QBCC conducts audits of plumbing and drainage licensees. These audits help protect public health and safety by ensuring notifiable work is correctly registered and available for inspection when required.
The 2025-26 audit program delivered strong results, with Form 4 notifiable work registration rates in targeted areas increasing by more than 15% compared with around 5% across Queensland.
The approved 2026-27 audit program is now underway. Random audits will be conducted across Queensland, focusing on areas where Form 4 and Form 4A registration rates are below expectations.
If selected for an audit, you may be asked to provide recent invoices to determine whether notifiable work has been undertaken. To assist the process, ensure invoices:
- are legible
- clearly describe the work performed
- include the correct site address and building reference (where applicable).
Once reviewed, a QBCC audit team member will contact you if further information is needed. Unsure whether the work you performed is notifiable? Use our interactive tool or contact notifiablework@qbcc.qld.gov.au for assistance.
For audit enquiries, call the QBCC on 139 333 or email nwaudits@qbcc.qld.gov.au.
First Owner-builder applications via the QBCC Portal
On 12 June 2026, Owner-builder applications were launched online, becoming the first QBCC applications live on the new-look QBCC Portal.
The benefits to applying online for an Owner-builder permit, means you will now be guided through each step, from initial application, through assessment, status updates and payment once the permit is approved. This also reduces the risk of errors and delays.
Owner-builders permits were selected as the first digital service because we receive a high volume of these applications, but they are less complex to process than many trade licences. This gives us the opportunity to test and refine the process before we expand to more complex licences.
Since the launch, 46 per cent of all Owner-builder applications have been lodged via the QBCC Portal—with further licence-specific applications due to be added in the coming months. This QBCC initiative is also a national finalist in the Australian Institute of Project Management awards.
As we continue to modernise and new applications become available on the QBCC Portal, greater self-servicing options will be available to you. In addition to lodging Owner-builder applications you can use the QBCC Portal to search a register, pay insurance or submit notifiable plumbing work. If you don't have a QBCC Portal account register now.
QBCC digital licences gaining popularity
More than 13,000 QBCC digital licences have been downloaded since launching on the Queensland Digital Licence app less than a year ago. In a recent survey, more than half of users said they are more likely to use their digital licence than their physical card.
Why go digital?
- No waiting for a replacement, renewed or updated licence card. \
- Store multiple QBCC licences in one place.
- Quickly check your licence status.
- Verify another QBCC licence on the spot.
- Access your licence from your phone when you need it.
Your digital licence can be used alongside your physical card, giving you a secure and convenient way to carry your QBCC licence wherever you go.
Get started: Download the QBCC digital licence using the QBCC digital licence how-to guide.
Make contracts count
A clear contract helps set projects up for success and can reduce the risk of disputes.
Before work starts, make sure your contract:
- is in writing and signed by both parties
- clearly outlines the scope of work, including exclusions
- details costs, timeframes and responsibilities
- complies with the QBCC requirements for deposits and progress payments.
Taking the time to get the contract right from the start can help manage expectations, protect both parties and support a smoother building experience.
Find more information and resources in the Contracts and Payments section of the QBCC Home Owner Hub, where licensees can guide customers to simplified building and construction assistance.
Don't forget about the Consumer Building Guide
Did you know contractors must provide home owners with the Consumer Building Guide, and have it signed and reviewed, before they sign a residential building contract valued at $20,000 or more? Make sure you're meeting your obligations and helping projects get off to a clear start: Learn more.
Quick updates
- We have been holding consumer roundtables around the state with home owners. Not only is this a chance to hear their experiences to refine our ways of working, but these are an opportunity to help inform the community about the Queensland Home Warranty Scheme, defective work complaints, their obligations during the building process and what we are seeing and doing across Queensland. Our aim is for more informed home owners and smoother build processes for all.
- As part of our commitment to transparency, we have introduced a new Our Performance page on our website. Every month we will be updating our metrics to show you how we’re tracking in the four key result areas of regulatory impact, consumer protection, customer satisfaction and organisational culture.
- A reminder that any individual or company contracting for plumbing and/or drainage work must hold the appropriate contractor licence for that work regardless of the value. In addition, anyone supervising or personally performing plumbing and/or drainage work must hold the appropriate occupational licence for the work they undertake on behalf of their employer. \
- Gas work licence and authorisation holders must now use the RSHQ Portal following the closure of the federal government's eCertificates platform on 1 July. Learn more about the RSHQ Portal, gas work licensing and compliance on the RSHQ website.
Making building easier in Queensland
The Queensland Government has announced a range of updates to the Queensland Development Code to reflect contemporary design and siting practices for houses, as well as supporting more cost-effective housing construction without compromising high accessibility and energy efficiency standards. They have also introduced a new Queensland Housing Code to streamline planning and building applications. Read more in the Building and Plumbing Newsflash 640.
Got a question? We're here to help
Whether you're applying for a licence, seeking clarification about your obligations, or trying to better understand a decision, getting the right information early can save time and help you move forward with confidence.
Recently, a contractor contacted the QBCC to better understand the requirements for a project management licence.
After receiving tailored advice about how their experience would be assessed and the information needed to support their application, they shared:
"The knowledge and insights ... were exceptional. This has provided me with a much more positive experience than the previous responses I had received to this enquiry."
In another case, a licensee who underwent a financial assessment appreciated the support and communication they received throughout the process, even though the outcome was not what they had hoped for:
"Whilst it wasn't the outcome we had originally hoped for, I genuinely appreciated your professionalism, responsiveness and the practical way you handled the process from start to finish."
While the QBCC cannot always deliver the outcome a customer or licensee is seeking, we are committed to helping everyone transparently understand the processes, their responsibilities and the reasons behind our decisions.
And finally, our Mediation and Conciliation services continue to get outstanding feedback from those who choose to participate, with the most recent comment highlighting their "excellence, magnificence and unwavering support".
If you're unsure about something, or need further clarity or information about our services, decisions or outcomes, don't wait. Asking questions early can help avoid misunderstandings and keep matters moving smoothly.
Contact the QBCC Contact Centre on 139 333, Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5.00pm.
