Call to stop Building Service Authorities fining qualified contractors

Master Electricians Australia was recently called on to intervene in a case of ‘government bureaucracy gone mad’ in Queensland, where licensed electrical contractors were being fined by a state agency for performing work they are qualified to do.

In a case which could have ramifications for other states, we had to fight the Queensland Building Services Authority over $2000 fines issued to several of our members in relation to a technical loophole after installing solar hot water systems.

The alleged problem was that although the plumbing work had been performed by a qualified and licensed tradesperson, the electrician had sent the customer a single bill for both lots of work, then reimbursed the plumber for their costs.

Even though this was simply a courtesy to make their customers’ lives simpler, the BSA pounced on our members and accused them of performing unlicensed plumbing work. This was bureaucracy gone mad, and a blatant case of red tape increasing the cost of undertaking business for no sensible outcome.

A $2000 fine is a massive hit to the hip pocket for a small business, and in some cases multiple fines were levied.

Even when our members pointed out that the work had been completed by licensed plumbers, they refused to withdraw the fines. To me, this shows the whole exercise was blatant revenue raising and had nothing to do with ensuring appropriate standards and procedures were followed. Thankfully, after representations from Master Electricians, Queensland’s new Minister for Housing and Public Works, Dr Bruce Flegg, has ordered a review of the practice and the fines.

In a statement, he said: “I’ve asked the BSA to look at this matter to see if the regulations can be streamlined to simplify the process involving licensed plumbers and electricians working together on a solar hot water install job.” This is a sensible outcome, and while we will wait to see the full details of the review and the Minister’s final response before giving our complete support, we applaud Dr Flegg for listening to the industry’s concerns and acting so swiftly.

In our view, it is a great start from a very new Minister and we look forward to a positive result from the review. Obviously, Master Electricians believes very firmly in a strong building service regime and rigorous enforcement of the laws. However, in this case none of the work in question was unsafe and no customers were dissatisfied with the results. So it begs the question, why does a government body need to interfere?

What we need - and may now be getting - is common sense and the goal of achieving genuinely better safety outcomes for consumers, rather than just revenue raising, which drives up costs. So far we haven’t heard of any similar cases in other states, but we will be watching to make sure the Queensland example was not followed anywhere else.

Any electrical contractors who experience similar bureaucratic madness should give Master Electricians a call and let the association know. The association is committed to fighting for higher safety standards throughout the industry, but is also committed to combating red tape and achieving genuine safety outcomes - not just punishment for no good reason.