Sparkies welcome passage of Security of Payment Bill

Master Electricians Australia (MEA) has welcomed the passage of legislation through the Queensland parliament that will guarantee payments to small and medium businesses in the building and construction industry.

The Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Bill 2017 contains measures that clamp down on ‘phoenixing’ in the industry, as well as the introduction of project bank accounts to safeguard subcontractors from being left out of pocket.

MEA Queensland State Manager Gary Veenstra said that the legislation was excellent news for electrical subcontractors.

“This is a major win for mum-and-dad small businesses across Queensland and we commend the government and the parliament for introducing these laws.

“There is nothing more soul destroying for an electrical subcontractor than to complete work in a timely and professional manner, only to wait months on end for payment or in some cases to not be paid at all.

“We have seen multiple examples of building companies going bust and in the process leaving many small business subbies out in the cold.

“This legislation will put to an end the practice of big builders using mum-and-dad subcontracting businesses as a cash cow to finance their next major project.”

The security of payments reforms will put project bank accounts into place from 1 January 2018 on all government projects valued between $1 million and $10 million. The protections will then be expanded to all private sector projects worth in excess of $1 million from 1 January 2019.