Qld Govt hones payment system for tradies

The Queensland Government has extended the commencement of the remaining phases of its Project Trust Account (PTA) framework. This recognises the need to balance continued protections for tradies with a suitable software solution for smaller builders feeling the strain of an at-capacity industry, the government said.

A PTA is an account through which project payments are received and paid. A PTA is needed for all eligible construction contracts in Queensland, with a separate PTA required for each eligible contract.

Typically, a PTA is:

• paid into by the project owner or developer
• managed by the head contractor
• the account from which all subcontractors are paid
• the account from which the head contractor pays themselves.
   

All other protections, including payment terms, reporting and financial obligations (including existing PTA thresholds), will continue to require compliance and will be enforced by the building regulator.

PTAs form one type of the government’s security of payment frameworks, which also include minimum financial requirements and retention trust accounts.

These frameworks are all designed to strengthen security of payments to tradies, and to ensure safe workplaces and quality construction across Queensland’s building and construction industry.

Starting now, a steering committee will engage a specialist to work with software providers to ensure a reasonably priced and fit-for-purpose solution is available to make compliance straightforward, especially for smaller companies.

“In recognition of our commitment to full scheme operation and balancing the capacity of the industry at a challenging time, we are giving both tradies and builders certainty about the final phases of implementation,” said Queensland Minister for Public Works and Procurement Mick de Brenni.

“Subcontractors are especially vulnerable to payment delay or non-payment as they are at the end of the contractual supply chain.

“While trust accounts have secured more tradies being paid on time, in full, every time, our regular evaluations show software providers haven’t kept pace with industry reform and need time to catch up.

“Larger contractors have been able to manage these challenges in-house, whilst we’ve heard from smaller builders [that] they mostly use off-the-shelf solutions that aren’t quite there yet.”

De Brenni said the government was committed to working with the IT industry to build a solution that works for everyone.

“This extension will provide certainty to industry about the Palaszczuk government’s ongoing commitment to security of payment and allow industry to continue preparing for the further rollout,” he said.

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