Safer Buildings Taskforce
The Safer Buildings Taskforce was established by the Honourable Mick de Brenni MP, Minister for Energy, Renewables and Hydrogen and Minister for Public Works and Procurement (the Minister) in October 2019.
The aim of the Taskforce is to:
- oversee the ongoing assessment and rectification of combustible cladding materials
- review the availability and quality of safer buildings program data
- provide advice to the Minister on the need for a legislative framework to compel rectification of buildings affected with combustible cladding if necessary.
Overseen by the Safer Buildings Inter-Departmental Committee, the Taskforce, is led by an independent Chair and comprises representatives from the:
- Department of Energy and Public Works
- Queensland Fire and Emergency Services
- Queensland Building and Construction Commission
- Board of Professional Engineers of Queensland.
Stakeholder consultation – combustible cladding in private buildings
The Queensland Government is talking to stakeholders on how it can make private buildings safe in Queensland.
In consultation with the MCC, the Taskforce is developing options for the Minister to consider on how to address the following issues:
- what steps should the government take to make privately-owned buildings with an identified cladding fire risk safe?
- should owners and the building industry be provided with support and guidance to ensure appropriate rectification solutions and if so, in what form?
Implementing recommendations from the Building Confidence Report
The former Building Ministers’ Forum (BMF) now Building Ministers' Meeting requested an expert assessment of the effectiveness of compliance and enforcement systems for the building and construction industry.
The BMF appointed Professor Peter Shergold AC and Ms Bronwyn Weir to co-lead the assessment and their report provides a package of reforms to establish a national best practice model for compliance and enforcement.
The Taskforce has been asked to provide advice to the Minister on the implementation of recommendations from the Building Confidence Report (BCR) identified by the BMF to be priorities, specifically recommendations 1, 2, 9, 11 and 13. The Taskforce also chose to consider recommendations 5, 10, 16 and 17.
Professional indemnity insurance for building certifiers and practitioners
One of the key priorities of the Taskforce is to report to the Minister with options and recommendations to address the decline in availability and affordability of professional indemnity (PI) insurance for building certifiers and practitioners.
The Taskforce is developing options based on feedback from key stakeholders, consideration of existing reports as well as a review of work conducted in Queensland and nationally.
Rectification costs
Private building owners are encouraged to consider legal representation regarding your property, commercial, contractual and compensation/litigation rights. This may require you to engage a commercial or litigation lawyer, rather than a generalist legal firm. The “find a solicitor” function on the Queensland Law Society's website could be of assistance.
Combustible cladding checklist
From 1 October 2018, owners of certain private buildings were compelled through the Building and Other Legislation (Cladding) Amendment Regulation 2018 to complete a three-part combustible cladding checklist to determine the type of cladding material on their building and whether any further assessment was required. To support the process, a dedicated Safer Buildings website (hosted by the QBCC) was established.
A Guideline (PDF, 1720.53 KB) was provided for owners of particular private buildings, building industry professionals and fire engineers with information on how to meet their respective obligations under the regulation.
Building owners that progress to Part 3 of the combustible cladding checklist need to seek the services of a fire engineer. In some cases, the fire engineer may identify what short-term risk mitigation and cladding rectification work may be necessary.
A snapshot as of 29 May 2023 is:
- Over 18,000 private buildings have been cleared with no cladding fire risk
- 1,025 are still to complete the process
- 948 will require a solution to remove the risk and may require interim mitigation measures until the rectification solution is completed.
As part of this process, every owner of a private building with an identified cladding fire risk has a report from a fire engineer advising about that risk and what further steps are required to address the risk so that the building is safe to occupy.
For more information, read the Safer Buildings for Queensland summary (PDF, 608.02 KB) or contact the QBCC on 139 333.
Notified government building sites with confirmed combustible external cladding
For government buildings identified with potentially combustible cladding, rectification is either proceeding or has been completed on 98 per cent of the buildings. Completion of the rectification program is expected in 2025.
To ensure the safety of building occupants interim fire safety risk mitigation measures were followed and remain in place until all rectification works have been completed.
It is important to understand that these building sites are deemed safe to occupy whilst rectification works are being undertaken.
When rectification works have been completed to the satisfaction of a specialist fire engineer, these sites are removed from the schedule. While buildings located at the sites listed on the website have been rectified, until 100 per cent of the buildings located at that facility are completed, the sites continue to be listed.
It is the government’s priority to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of Queensland residents and visitors where they live, work and visit.
List of sites as of 31 May 2023
Sites which include an * indicate partial rectification (i.e. some buildings located at the site are complete).
| Sites | Asset Owner |
|---|---|
| Cairns Hospital* | Queensland Health |
| Logan Hospital* | Queensland Health |
| Mackay Hospital* | Queensland Health |
| Brisbane Port Authority | Brisbane Port Authority |
| Carseldine Government Precinct | Department of Energy and Public Works |
| Ecosciences Precinct Building | Department of Energy and Public Works |
| Brisbane Entertainment Centre | Stadiums Queensland |
| Metricon Stadium | Stadiums Queensland |
| Queensland Sports and Athletics Centre* | Stadiums Queensland |
| Cairns Convention Centre | Department of Energy and Public Works |
| Queensland Children’s Hospital | Queensland Health |
| Ipswich Courthouse | Department of Justice and Attorney-General |
| RBWH Busway Station | Department of Transport and Main Roads |
| Runaway Bay Sport and Leadership Excellence Centre | Department of Education |
| William McCormack Place | Department of Energy and Public Works |
| Queensland Institute of Medical Research RBWH Campus | Queensland Institute of Medical Research |
| Queensland State Archives* | Department of Energy and Public Works |
Contact us
- Last updated:
- 9 June 2023