Exploring the QBCC’s role beyond enforcement

While compliance and enforcement are key parts of our role, they’re not the full picture. The QBCC’s purpose is to uphold standards across the state’s building and construction industry—not simply to enforce compliance when things go wrong, but to help prevent problems from occurring in the first place.

That’s why our Compliance and Enforcement Strategy emphasises harm prevention—because prevention is better than a cure.  

We believe that preventing issues from occurring before they escalate, safeguards not just individual projects, but the broader public and the industry as a whole.  

Education, audits, early interventions, and industry support are central tools we use every day.

By working closely with licensees to guide—not just oversee, we ensure building standards are met from the outset, so issues don’t occur and become serious or costly for contractors or the community down the track.

This balanced approach is especially important when you consider the size and scale of the industry we help regulate. Queensland’s building and construction sector:

• contributes more than $59 billion annually to the state economy
• employs over 270,000 people, which makes it the third-largest employer in Queensland.

For the overwhelming majority of professionals who are doing the right thing, our role is to support you. However, when enforcement is necessary, it’s done with fairness and purpose.  

We all benefit from a thriving building and construction industry. It plays an important role in all our lives—from the comfort of our homes and liveability of our communities to the security of our jobs and the economy.  

So, while enforcement makes headlines, the QBCC’s day-to-day work proactively involves significant prevention, education, and collaboration efforts. It’s about ensuring that the systems, skills, and safeguards are in place to keep the industry strong—not just now, but into the future.

To learn more about our approach, including how we balance compliance with prevention, read about our Compliance and Enforcement Strategy.