About QBuild
QBuild is a vital part of Queensland’s $50 billion building and construction industry which employs 235,000 Queenslanders*.
As the Queensland Government’s builder, QBuild plays an important role in communities across the state by building and maintaining government-owned assets such as schools, social housing, police stations and correctional and health facilities.
With almost 1,500 staff and a network that includes 20 offices and 34 depots across the state, QBuild is well positioned to deliver construction and maintenance services to communities including those in regional and remote areas.
In recent years, QBuild has re-established its role in educating and training young people, contributing to a trade-qualified future workforce and ensuring the stability of the state’s building and construction industry for decades to come.
In a disaster event, QBuild staff are among the first on the ground, completing repairs and building works to help communities to get back on their feet.
*National Institute of Industry and Economic Research, Queensland and Queensland Region Construction Activity: Quarterly Projection Update, December 2022.
Rebuilding QBuild - Phase 2
On 1 May 2023, the Queensland Government announced plans to continue the Rebuilding QBuild Program beyond the 2019-22 intake of 300 trade-based field staff including 60 apprentices, with further growth to be rolled out between now and 2026.
QBuild’s expansion will continue to strengthen Queensland’s building and construction industry over two proposed stages as follows:
- By the end of 2023, recruiting up to 150 trades-based staff including 30 new apprentices.
- By 30 June 2026, boosting our trades workforce to 1000 people including 200 apprentices, with further project delivery support staff to support the trades.
Phase 2 of the Rebuilding QBuild Program will:
- create jobs for trade-qualified staff
- provide education and training to people looking for a trade career
- help deliver more construction and maintenance services to regional and remote areas of the state
- improve the government’s ability to respond to natural disaster events
- help address housing needs of Queenslanders
- support the critical infrastructure development required for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
It will also strengthen QBuild’s existing regional footprint with an increased trade and administrative workforce to be established across its state-wide network of offices and depots.
To support Phase 2, QBuild has secured a strong pipeline of work including construction and maintenance on government assets such as schools and social housing.
QBuild Rapid Accommodation and Apprenticeship Centre
The QBuild Rapid Accommodation and Apprenticeship Centre (QRAAC) at Eagle Farm opened in March 2023. The centre will play an important role in phase 2 of the Rebuilding QBuild Program with a Queensland-made approach to housing construction and workforce training to address housing needs of Queenslanders.
Prefabricated homes will be made at the QRAAC using Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) to bring more housing supply into the market quicker. In partnership with the Queensland building and construction industry including the MMC suppliers, QBuild will deliver up to 439 homes approved under the five-year Government Employee Housing Capital works program (2022-27) for government employees across regional Queensland, such as teachers, nurses, and police officers.
Working with QBuild
Find out more about working with us.
What we do
We partner with government agencies to strategically manage their assets so they can focus on their core business – delivering services for Queenslanders.
In 2021-22, QBuild helped deliver approximately $1.6 billion of works to Queensland Government agencies responsible for schools, housing, police stations, correctional facilities, ambulance stations and other facilities.
Work is delivered both in-house (by QBuild’s own tradespeople and apprentices) and with industry and local suppliers to support local communities.
QBuild offers a range of professional and technical functions under three core services – Plan, Build and Maintain.
Plan
Plan
This category involves strategic infrastructure and individual asset services that inform feasibility options, needs analysis and business case requirement to support government investment.
Involves managing customer assets and asset intelligence including:
- Asset Assessments (AA) - through customer engagement QBuild prepares a three year rolling AA Program to support customers to deliver on their Build Policy Framework requirements. AAs include:
- Condition assessments
- Asbestos audits
- General property inspections
- Health and safety audits
- Renewal lifecycle assessments
- Asset Maintenance Plan – condition-based, four-year maintenance plan supported by 10-year predictive maintenance outlook (based on lifecycle assessment and other agency-specific criteria)
- management of government property disposals and acquisitions
- pre-lease investigations
- development/review of design guidelines.
QBuild also provides a full suite of built environment and engineering advisory services, this includes predesign investigations, brief development, and engagement of experts where required. Expertise is available across the following services:
- Strategic Asset Planning
- Professional Service
- Property, Town Planning and Environment
- Engineering (civil and structural, electrical, fire, water and wastewater and mechanical).
Build
Build
This category encompasses the construction of new buildings, and upgrades and improvements to existing buildings to increase their useful life. This category can include capital delivery.
QBuild uses 5 delivery methodologies:
- Traditional - full document and construct
- Design / document and construct
- Construct only
- Construction with early works
- Manufacturing
Across up to 12 project stages:
- Business and Strategic Planning
- Facility Planning
- Master Planning
- Feasibility / Preliminary Assessment
- Preliminary Design
- Schematic Design
- Design Development
- Construction Documentation
- Tender Period and Contract Award
- Construction, Commissioning and Practical Completion
- Post Practical Completion/Defects Liability period
- Transition to Maintenance
Incorporating:
- Construction: The planning, design and construction of new buildings. QBuild delivers this through fully outsourced construction, fully insourced construction and a hybrid model where QBuild provide supervision, trade staff, apprentices, materials, procurement, administration, and as necessary sub-contractors. The building works can be undertaken either through onsite build or a combination of factory manufactured and onsite build.
- Manufacturing: Where QBuild uses manufacturing techniques within a build, this could include flatpack, panelised or modular.
- Refurbishment: Changes made to existing facilities, upgrading/improving existing buildings to increase the useful life, meeting current statutory building requirements. This involves work that is typically of a larger scale or higher complexity (i.e. building act compliance on major facilities, major fit-outs).
- Upgrade: Changes made to existing facilities adding and improving usability and extending useful life. This involves work that is typically on a smaller scale or lower complexity (i.e. kitchens, bathrooms and driveways).
- Defects management: The management of defects during the defect liability period aims to ensure that issues that are raised which are the contractor's responsibility, are rectified within a reasonable timeframe for the customer, and that no cost to the customer is incurred. Generally, the defect liability period (DLP) is 12 months from the date the works are completed.
Maintain
Maintain
The category involves work on existing buildings to reinstate their physical condition or prevent deterioration and failure. This category can include capital delivery.
Incorporating proactive condition-based, facilities management, preventive, operational and reactive maintenance.
Proactive maintenance means an asset management approach that includes preventative (statutory and recommended) and condition‑based programs to ensure buildings and their components function adequately, preserve the value of the building, satisfy legal obligations, inform annual cost planning requirements and procurement planning, and achieve best value in terms of built assets during the occupancy phase of the building.
Proactive Condition Based Maintenance includes maintaining building assets as a result of the deteriorated condition identified through condition assessments. The asset assessments enable the development of proactive programs of work based on defect or asset lifecycle data.
These programs can also be developed through deferred works registered but not actioned through reactive maintenance requests. This typically happens when works are higher in value than the customer pre-approved threshold. The customer may elect to defer the works for next year’s program.
Condition Based Maintenance is not replacement or repair of building elements after failure. These tasks are managed through reactive maintenance services. This includes defects arising from periodic preventative maintenance or resulting from a workplace health and safety incident.
Facilities Management means the provision of a facilities management service by QBuild at a specific facility or group of facilities for an agreed number of years. These are arranged under a formal Facilities Management Agreement (FMA).
Under an FMA, QBuild can provide on-site coordination, longer term asset management expertise and overall advice on maintaining the facilities’ plant or equipment, including fixed assets, through a range of methods.
An FMA can be tailored to end users’ needs whether that relates to site-specific maintenance requirements for the duration of the agreement.
Typically, an FMA is underpinned by on-site staff or is staffed by through regular or scheduled on-site presence. QBuild services offered under an FMA include reactive, proactive and preventative maintenance. These works are coupled with the integration of facility managers, facility supervisors and trade staff.
Preventative includes Comprehensive Maintenance, and Periodic Preventative Maintenance and Operational Services.
Periodic Preventative Maintenance includes maintaining building equipment (such as Fire Equipment, Electrical, and Mechanical Services) through regular servicing to keep building equipment in good condition and sound working order. Regular servicing of building equipment maintains the life of building facilities, as well as meeting obligations under legislated requirements (e.g. Fire Systems). Maintenance of building equipment is mostly procured from industry with contracts managed by the QBuild team, to ensure that the requirements are fulfilled for our customers.
Comprehensive Maintenance contracts includes regular servicing as part of Periodic Preventative Maintenance of building equipment (such as Security Equipment and Lifts systems) through regular servicing, and additionally includes repairing or replacing parts and equipment which warrants such action as a result of wear and tear. It also includes all attendance during normal hours for Breakdown Maintenance Services, and after-hours attendance as specified within the Specification. Comprehensive servicing of building equipment can minimise downtimes, extend the life of building facilities, as well as improving the reliability of the equipment. Comprehensive maintenance of building equipment is mostly procured from industry with contracts managed by the QBuild team.
Operational Services includes providing services for our customers to maintain the buildings and property facilities for use, such as regular cleaning, landscaping, pest control and waste removal contracts with industry. The contracts are managed by the Service Maintenance Team and are usually established on a 2-3 year contract.
Reactive maintenance means corrective and breakdown maintenance that restores an asset to operational condition following unforeseen failure. Also includes incident maintenance to bring an asset back to an operational or safe condition following damage caused by natural disasters, storms, fire, forced entry or vandalism.
Reactive encompasses maintenance requests requiring prompt action to remediate damage to departmental owned and leased dwellings. This includes damage to associated systems, equipment and fixtures. These activities are intended to restore an asset, system or equipment to operational condition.
Usually derived from wear and tear and age such as blocked toilets, rusted stairs, damaged carpet etc.
Considered unplanned and have a quick turnaround time such as 1hr, 4hr, 24hr, 7day and 14day depending on health, safety and risk factors.
Ensuring works raised through the Maintenance Response Centre with a 1hr, 4hr or 24hr response have a Made Safe requirement within that timeframe.
QFIRST (Flying, Inspect, Repair, Service Team) - formerly known as Flying Gang.
Trade staff visits to rural and remote locations, for the identification and rectification of defects or Health and Safety issues. Items that can’t be immediately completed are subcontracted to local trades through the MRC. All defects are recorded for customer review and future program planning.
Respond
Respond
This category covers the rapid response to disaster events or hazard incidents and electrical safety which pose a risk to Queenslanders as users or occupiers of state government facilities. QBuild:
- leads the functional recovery group for built infrastructure and actively participates in human and social recovery functions during a disaster
- provides advice and guidance regarding electrical installations and electrical safety, so customers understand their electrical safety obligations under Electrical Safety legislation
- provides tailored and comprehensive services for the management and remediation of all hazards, including planning, prevention, monitoring and reporting.
QBuild’s five phase disaster response and recovery services provide customers with:
Phase 1 – Immediate Disaster Response Activation
- The immediate response involves the rapid deployment of staff to the impacted area to assess the likely impact of the event and the scale of response that will be required by QBuild.
- In this stage, QBuild assesses any risks that might be inherent in the work and commences liaison with the asset owner about the response and recovery phases.
Phase 2 – Prioritise Assets for Assessment
- As soon as the impact of the disaster was known, QBuild began to work with the asset owner to identify critical and priority assets for assessment.
- In the case of the Queensland Severe Weather event, safe access was not available for some time and QBuild used this time to work with the asset owner to formulate a plan for the assessment phase.
Phase 3 – Assess and Inspect Assets
- During this phase, QBuild commenced the on the ground response, using obtained lists of damaged assets.
- QBuild assessors worked with the Department to do detailed inspections and identify the nature of damage: Significant, moderate, minor, or no damage.
- The focus of this stage was on quantifying the extent of damage and how much work would be involved in returning the assets to a functional state.
Phase 4 – Planning and Procuring
- As the scope of works becomes clear, the QBuild recovery team is established to project plan the work involved in returning assets to a functional state.
- Detailed project plans are developed for each asset, identifying the internal resourcing and trades and suppliers that will be required to complete all rectification works.
- Risk management, procurement planning, fatigue management, and workplace health and safety issues are a critical part of this stage and provides peace of mind for customers that there is a systematic and controlled approach to the delivery of rectification works.
Phase 5 – Monitor and Review
- Monitoring the completion of works and providing a sense of forward momentum is important for our customers.
- As part of our commitment to continuous improvement, QBuild shapes a review cycle as well as providing ongoing updates to the owners of the assets on the progress towards the goal that is decided by the asset owners (e.g. children back to school and or tenants back in their dwellings).
Electrical Safety Management
Assisting customers understand their electrical safety obligations under the electrical safety legislation and proactively providing advice, opinion and guidance with regards to electrical installations and electrical safety matters.
Electric Shock Management
Every time a report is received, QBuild acts immediately.
QBuild MRC completes Form 8 – Electric Shocks Reports by customer:
- there is a checklist of questions to be asked
- advises all persons who received a shock to seek medical assessment
- advises the caller to stay away from the area until the situation has been rectified/made safe
- advises not to touch anything that caused the shock or anything metal that could be connected to the electrical earthing system such as taps, the stove or the meter box until this has been thoroughly investigated by Ergon/Energex
- calls an Electrician to be on standby should Ergon/Energex require them
- calls Ergon/Energex and reports the life-threatening situation.
Electrical Certificate of Test
When QBuild electricians work on electrical equipment we are required to ensure compliance with electrical safety laws.
Certificates of compliance
By completing electrical work QBuild must provide customers with an 'electrical certificate of testing. When completing electrical work QBuild staff field staff acknowledge the certificate of test.
QBuild automate the distribution of the Electrical Certificate of Test. Tests completed the week prior are loaded to the QBuild Hub within the relevant customer portal on a Monday morning at around 10am.
Technical support and compliance
Frontline support to internal and external customers on specific electrical compliance and safety issues. An example of this is in relation to natural disasters and major events.
Hazards
Hazards means QBuild’s provision of tailored and comprehensive services for the management and remediation of all hazards, including planning, prevention, monitoring and reporting. There are five key hazards our customers have identified as posing the most risk to public servants and Queenslanders as occupiers and users of state government facilities. Key hazards include asbestos, bio-hazards, chemicals, lead, mould and respirable crystalline silica (RCS).
eBusiness
Our eBusiness systems give our agency partners, contractors, consultants and suppliers access to administer their business needs with QBuild.
Access our eBusiness systems:
See the logins page to access the applications that support our products and services.
Partnering with building suppliers
Registering with QBuild
If you are a contractor, consultant or supplier and would like to work with QBuild, complete our registration process.
Prequalification System
Contractors and consultants must register through the Prequalification System if they wish to perform the following work:
- contractors: compete for major capital works contracts worth at least $1 million
- consultants: perform consultancy services on government building projects expected to exceed $60,000 in value (or with a service risk rating of 3 or 4 where the consultancy fee is less than $60,000).
Upcoming tenders
See Queensland Government's online QTenders for:
- upcoming, current and closed tenders invited on an open list
- view awarded tenders including construction projects.
Contact us
- Last updated:
- 20 September 2023