Commission Targets Unlicensed Building Work on Coast

Gold Coast building sites were the target of many compliance audits from Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) in the last couple of months.

During this time it was discovered that 26 of the workers on these sites were engaged in building activities that are illegal. QBCC found that 22 people were allegedly doing unlicensed work on the buildings.

They also found four different instances of the builders themselves hiring unlicensed workers to do the work.

Acting Commissioner Kellie Lowe of QBCC stated that their compliance officers held 589 interviews with 153 different construction sites belonging to Gold Coast during five days in the month of February, as well as three days earlier this month.

She is hopeful that the results of these interviews and audits will now warn future home and property owners to only hire licensed contractors for building and repair work. She also hopes that appropriate contracts will be put into place with every job.

Ms. Lowe was quoted as saying, “For their peace of mind, home and building owners can conduct a free online license search on the QBCC website to see if a person is licensed, and to check the full history of the license. They can also speak with a QBCC staff member 24/7 to check if a person is licensed or to ask questions about any aspect of the building process.”

The audits that QBCC handed out reflect the determination of the company to make sure that all construction businesses provide the proper and legal building standards when working, according to Ms. Lowe.

She also states that the company strives to ensure all workers are licensed to do the job they are hired to do.

Any unlicensed individual will receive a fine of $2,356 each. Any builder caught hiring an unlicensed worker could receive a fine of $942.