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Bring on the 'BIF' - BCIPA in Queensland |
Fairness Trumps BCIPA in Queensland
On 26 October 2017 the Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Bill 2017 was passed (with amendments) by the Queensland Parliament and the Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 (BIF Act) will commence operation at a time to be proclaimed and it will replace BCIPA.
The KEY changes to what should be ‘normal’ operating procedures for contractors in Queensland are set out below under the relevant sub-heading:
Project Bank Accounts
We note there has been some ‘alarm’ over the introduction of Project Bank Accounts. Here are the facts:
The Head Contractor must use Project Bank Account if:
- the Building Contract was first tendered after 1 January 2018; and
- the Building Contract is a Project Bank Account contract – which means:
- the Principal is the State or a State Authority that has decided a Project Bank Account is needed; and
- the Contract price is between $1 Million and $10 Million; and
- more than 50% of the contract price is for building work; and
- the Head Contractor enters into a Subcontract for all or part of the contracted building work.
Reference Dates
If a Construction Contract which is terminated does not provide for, or purports to prevent a reference date surviving beyond termination, the final reference date is the date of termination – Section 67(2).
Payment Claims
Payment Claims do NOT need to be ‘endorsed’ as being made under the BIF Act.
Section 68 provides that a ‘payment claim’ is a written document that:
- identifies the construction work or related goods and services to which it relates;
- states the amount the claimant claims is payable (claimed amount);
- requests payment of the claimed amount; and includes other information prescribed in regulation – there is none to date.
Payment Schedules
If you receive a payment claim, you MUST respond to the payment claim by giving the claimant a payment schedule whether you intend to pay the amount stated in the claim or not.
If you fail to provide a payment schedule within the required time you may be liable to a fine of up to 100 penalty units, which, as at July 2017 had a unit value of $126.15 – i.e. you may be liable to a fine up to a maximum of $12,615.00.
The times for providing a payment schedule depend on the type of claim and the time at which a complex claim is made:
- Standard Claim – respond within 10 Business Days of receiving the claim;
- Complex Claim made within 90 days of the reference date – respond within 15 Business Days of receiving the claim; or
- Complex Claim made more than 90 days after the reference date – respond within 30 Business Days of receiving the claim.
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