Nominated Supervisor Requirements for Queensland Contractors

What it is

Queensland requires every company or partnership holding a QBCC contractor licence to have at least one Nominated Supervisor for each licence class. The Nominated Supervisor is the individual licensed in the relevant class who is responsible for supervising the technical work.

Schedule 1A of the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 (Qld) sets the framework. QBCC administers the nomination process and enforces the requirement.

The Nominated Supervisor role

A Nominated Supervisor holds an individual QBCC licence in the same class as the class being nominated. For example, a company with a Builder Low Rise contractor licence must have a Nominated Supervisor with a Builder Low Rise licence at the individual level.

The supervisor is personally responsible for the technical work and for ensuring the work is carried out in accordance with the QBCC Act, the Building Act 1975 (Qld), the NCC and any conditions on the licence.

One supervisor per class

QBCC requires one Nominated Supervisor per licence class held. A company with multiple licence classes (say Builder Low Rise and Builder Medium Rise) needs at least one supervisor for each class, though the same individual can hold both classes and cover both nominations.

The supervisor must actually supervise the work. A supervisor listed on paper but not involved in the day-to-day direction of the projects is grounds for QBCC disciplinary action against both the individual supervisor and the company licensee.

Change notification within 14 days

QBCC requires the licensee to notify any change in the Nominated Supervisor within 14 days of the change. That includes departure, incapacity, cessation of the individual licence and change to a different supervisor.

If the notification is late or if no replacement supervisor is nominated, QBCC can:

• impose licence conditions requiring a replacement within a defined period
• suspend the licence pending replacement
• cancel the licence for repeated or aggravated non-compliance

The 14-day rule is longer than the NSW 7-day requirement but shorter than most other jurisdictions.

Sole trader licences

For a sole trader contractor licence, the individual is both the licensee and effectively the Nominated Supervisor. The individual must hold the appropriate class for the work.

Multiple licences

An individual can be a Nominated Supervisor for more than one company, but QBCC guidance restricts this to a small number to preserve genuine supervision. A supervisor spread across too many licences risks losing the individual licence for failure to supervise.

Interaction with MFR

The Nominated Supervisor requirement operates alongside the Minimum Financial Requirements under section 50E of the QBCC Act. The supervisor is separate from the MFR requirement; both must be satisfied for the licence to remain in force.

Consequences of unsupervised work

Building work carried out without a Nominated Supervisor exposes the licensee to:

• offence proceedings under the QBCC Act
• licence conditions, suspension or cancellation
• direction to rectify orders under section 72 for any resulting defective work

Owners contracting with a QLD company builder should verify the Nominated Supervisor's identity and class through the QBCC licence search before signing.

How Queensland compares

QLD's Nominated Supervisor framework aligns with NSW qualified supervisor (section 25 HBA) and WA Nominated Supervisor (Building Services (Registration) Act 2011). The distinctive QLD feature is the requirement of one supervisor per licence class held, which can require multiple supervisor nominations for companies operating across licence classes.

The 14-day notification requirement is stricter than SA (30 days) but more relaxed than NSW (7 days).