Opinion: Latest QBCC stuff-up presided over by Mick de Brenni

Another week, another Queensland Building and Construction Commission stuff-up, presided over by dud minister Mick de Brenni, writes Peter Gleeson.

Another week, another Queensland Building and Construction Commission stuff-up, presided over by dud minister Mick de Brenni.

The drama centres on the Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Bill, which is designed to ensure that people are paid on time, in full, every time. It also aims to “unblock the grinding gears of small and medium business confidence in the industry in this state’’.

One big problem.

The new system is predicated on the trustee of the project and retention trusts keeping records of incoming and outgoing money on any jobs over $1m.

Trustees are responsible for keeping certain trust records and copies of related documents in accordance with statutory requirements.

The trust account ledger must be capable of providing separate information for each beneficiary of the trust, including a complete record of transactions and the amounts held in the trust account for each subbie. For each project trust account and retention trust account, a record of deposits and withdrawals must be kept.

A record of deposits and withdrawals is a document or computer file that lists or journals all transactions for the account, similar to a deposit book or cash receipts journal.

Here’s the tricky bit. Computer systems may be used to keep trust records, but must meet certain requirements, including not being capable of deleting any part or all of the trust account ledger or record of deposits and withdrawals. The records must be capable of producing separate reports for each trust account, particular time periods and each beneficiary.

The problem is that no commercial accounting system can accommodate these requirements. It’s a computer and accounting minefield. It’s another example of the QBCC setting up more bureaucracy and hurdles for builders and contractors.

Originally published as Opinion: Latest QBCC stuff-up presided over by Mick de Brenni