Dealing with the Queensland Building Services Authority

Dealing with the Queensland Building Services Authority (“BSA”)

1. The BSA exists under the Queensland Building Services Authority Act 1991(“the Act”). The BSA’s role is to:-
   1. regulate the building industry-
      1. ensure the maintenance of proper standards in the industry; and
      2. achieve a reasonable balance between the interests of building contractors and consumers; and
   2. provide remedies for defective building work; and
2. The BSA can direct that a contractor rectify any defective or incomplete building work
3. The term “building work” is defined in schedule 2 of the Act and includes:-
   1. the erection or construction of a building; or
   2. the renovation, alteration, extension, improvement or repair of a building; or
   3. the provision of lighting, heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, water supply, sewerage or drainage in connection with a building; or
   4. any site work (including the construction of retaining structures) related to work of a kind referred to above: or
   5. the preparation of plans or specifications for the performance of building work; or
   6. contract administration carried out by a person in relation to the construction of a building designed by the person; or
   7. the installation, maintenance, or certification of the installation or maintenance, of a fire protection system for a commercial or residential building; or
   8. carrying out site testing and classification in preparation for the erection or construction of a building on the site; or
   9. carrying out a completed building inspection; or
   10. the inspection or investigation of a building, and the provision of advice or a report, for the following-
       1. termite management systems for the building;
       2. termite infestation in the building; but does not include work of a kind excluded by regulation from the ambit of this definition.
4. Before lodging a formal complaint with the BSA, the BSA requires that the contractor responsible for the defective or incomplete building works be given the opportunity to rectify and or complete those works. Generally the BSA will require that written notification be provided to the relevant contractor requesting that they attend to rectification and/or completion of those works.
   

   Complaint to the BSA

5. If a complaint is to be made to the BSA, it should be made in writing by the completion and lodgement of a Complaint Form. The relevant form as at November 2008 is attached and can be accessed through the BSA website. The BSA will require copies of the following when a Complaint Form is lodged:-
   • Current rates notice or evidence of ownership of the property;
   • Copy of the written notification given to the relevant contractor with respect to the  defective or incomplete building work;
   • Written details confirming that the contractor is actually responsible for the building work. This is generally done by providing a copy of the written contract together with any other relevant correspondence or documents.
6. The complaint form should specifically detail the defective or incomplete building works and if there is more than one item, each item should be separately numbered and sufficient details provided to allow a BSA Building Inspector to identify both the location and the problem.
   

   Lodging a complaint form

7. Defective and/or incomplete building works can cause significant emotional distress and frustration. It is generally better to avoid expressing that anger and frustration to the BSA when lodging the complaint form. The best way to treat the complaint process is to focus on the facts namely the defective and incomplete building works and to assist the BSA in its role by providing all of the relevant information detailed above with the complaint form.
8. It is a good idea to have someone familiar with the BSA and the processes to assist in preparing the complaint form and then having the complaint form lodged with the BSA. This would include your Body Corporate Manager or solicitors you might engage.
9. We believe that where building defects exist and particularly if they are significant, the Body Corporate should encourage an experienced construction lawyer to provide an initial advice. While there is a cost with this step, the cost will be far outweighed by the Body Corporate knowing what are its rights, time limitation periods to act, parties that may be jointly responsible to the Body Corporate and whether the matter is a Body Corporate issue or developer responsibility.
10. This information is not intended to be advice to be relied upon but is rather information of a general nature only. You should seek independent legal advice with respect to any problems you may encounter with building contractors and any remedies you may have against a building contractor/s through the BSA or other civil recovery avenues.