How do I check out a builder in Queensland before I work for them? QBCC licence search and beyond
Checking out a builder in Queensland starts with the QBCC licence search: look up the exact legal entity name from the subcontract, not the brand on the site sign, in the QBCC licensee register at my.qbcc.qld.gov.au. Check that the licence is active, that the class covers the work, and whether there are conditions, directions to rectify or demerit points. Then run the same name through the QBCC adjudication decision register, the Queensland courts civil file search and ASIC's published notices. A Queensland licensee must meet minimum financial requirements, so a conditioned or suspended licence is the regulator telling you something before the insolvency notices do.
Step one: the licence register
Start on ABN Lookup and pin down the legal entity: the company named in your contract or purchase order, with its ABN. Builders often run several companies under one brand, and the one that owes you money is the one on your contract. A company registered a few months ago has no track record whatever the brand's age.
Then search that name, or the licence number from the contract, in the QBCC licensee register. You are looking for three things: the licence is active and the class covers the work it is engaging you for; any conditions on the licence; and any disciplinary records, directions to rectify or demerit points. Queensland is unusual in that the regulator checks a licensee's financial position, so a licence with conditions is a flag worth a direct question.
Steps two to four: the registers nobody checks
The QBCC adjudication decision register lists decisions by respondent name. Paste the legal entity name, then try it again without punctuation and without 'Pty Ltd', because the search matches exact text. On each cover sheet read the amount claimed, the amount in the payment schedule and the adjudicated amount. One decision is a dispute. Several in a year is a pattern. A nil schedule against a large claim tells you how the builder answers claims.
The Queensland Courts civil file search covers Supreme and District Court matters. Use the party search with a wildcard either side of a short version of the name, because company names are entered inconsistently. Look for the builder as defendant in claims by trades and suppliers, adjudication decisions registered as judgments, and the builder suing its own client, which means its cash is tied up upstream.
ASIC's published notices show winding-up applications and the appointment of administrators or liquidators. A winding-up application that was later withdrawn usually means a creditor got paid; the question is who is next in the queue. Check sister companies with the same directors while you are there.
Do it in a minute instead
Builder Check does the entity matching and the register searches for you: type the name you know the builder by, pick the right company, and the public record lands in your inbox with the prefilled searches for each register. It is free, it reads open registers only, and nothing about any builder is scored or published. review.theconstructioncontracts.co/builder-check
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Scan my subcontract freeCommon questions
What does a licence condition on a QBCC licence mean for a subcontractor?
It means the regulator has limited what the licensee can do or required something of it, often connected to the minimum financial requirements. It is not proof of trouble, but it is a reason to ask the builder about it before you price, and to keep your own payment claims tight from the first month.
Does the QBCC register show whether a builder pays its subcontractors?
Not directly. The adjudication decision register shows disputes that went to a decision, with the amounts claimed, scheduled and awarded. Court files show claims by trades and suppliers. Neither shows a builder that pays late but settles before a decision, which is why two phone calls to trades already on its jobs are part of the check.
Is it legal to look a builder up like this?
Yes. Every source is a public register published by a government body, a court or a regulator for exactly this purpose. Banks and credit insurers run the same checks before extending credit, and a subcontractor working on thirty to sixty day terms is extending credit.
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General information for Australian subcontractors, not legal advice. Statutory deadlines and details vary by state and change over time; verify them before relying on them. Written by Mat Kennedy at The Construction Contracts Co.