Building owners
Owners of buildings which meet the criteria for the Safer Buildings Program were required to register their building and complete the Checklist by 3 May 2021. Failure to do so is an offence and may result in regulatory action, including monetary penalties and prosecution in the Magistrate's court.
Important information for buildings indentified as a cladding fire risk
Multiple owners
When there are multiple owners of a private building, only 1 owner is required to register and complete the Checklist. You may nominate 1 owner or engage an agent to act on behalf of all owners.
Multiple lease holders
If there are multiple lots over a parcel of land, for example apartments, the body corporate is considered to be the owner of the building and is responsible to register the building. The Body Corporate must provide a Form 43 authorising a person to act as an agent, including if the Body Corporate Manager or another unit owner will be acting on behalf of all leaseholders.
Completion of all parts may not be necessary
The Checklist has 3 parts. Owners may not be required to complete all 3 parts. The answers to the questions will determine if an owner is required to engage a building industry professional and/or a fire engineer to complete further assessment.
Transfer of building ownership or agent
The current owner/agent is responsible for managing the transfer of a building's Checklist to a new owner/agent. This must be initiated using the online Checklist. The fact sheet Transfer a Checklist to a new owner or agent provides clear instructions for this process.
Steps for online Checklist
Select a dropdown from the parts below to reveal a step by step guide for the corresponding part of the online Checklist. For more information on the building owner obligations read the Guideline for assessing building with combustible cladding.
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Steps for part 1 of the Checklist:
- Register their buildings on the Safer Buildings website
- Fill out online responses for Checklist part 1
- Print responses for Checklist part 1
- Sign and date responses for Checklist part 1 in the presence of a qualified witness
- Have the qualified witness sign and date responses for Checklist part 1
- Upload the completed Checklist part 1
Due date: 29 March 2019
How to register on the Checklist?
To register on the Checklist, go to the Registration page for myQBCC, the online system for the Checklist.
Who is a qualified witness?
Those suitable as a qualified witness include:
- Commissioner for Declarations
- Justice of the Peace
- Notary Public - A notary public is a public officer given statutory powers to witness documents
- Lawyer/conveyancer.
You can search for a local JP on the Queensland Government website. You may also find a JP at your local shopping centre or pharmacy.
If you are the agent
Ensure you complete Form 43 - Proof of Agency in its entirety and the owner has signed the form. Upload completed and signed Form 43 when requested to do so in the online system and ensure you select 'No' to the question "Are you the owner", as you are an agent acting on the owner's behalf.
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Steps for part 2 of the Checklist:
- Engage a building industry professional
- Register building industry professional details
- Download and print the building industry professional statement
- Have the building industry professional prepare and sign the statement
- Upload the signed statement
- Fill out online responses for Checklist part 2 using the building industry professional statement
- Print responses for Checklist part 2
- Sign and date responses for Checklist part 2 in the presence of a qualified witness
- Have the qualified witness sign and date responses for Checklist part 2
- Upload the completed Checklist part 2
Due date: 31 July 2020
Who is Building industry professional?
Suitably qualified BIP for all building classes Suitably qualified BIP for buildings no more than 3 storeys and less than 2000 metres square in floor area - A building certifier (level 1)
- A building certifier (level 2)
- A QBCC licensee in at least 1 of the following classes:
- Builder - Open
- Builder Design - Open
- fire safety professional
- A QBCC licensee in at least 1 of the following classes:
- Builder - Medium Rise
- Builder Design - Medium Rise
- A registered architect
- A registered engineer in either:
- civil engineering
- fire engineering
- fire safety
- structural engineering
Finding a building industry professional?
Owners can find a building industry professional in their area by searching for QBCC licensees who have registered with Find a Local Contractor. Owners can also request a list of licensed certifiers from QBCC by completing the List of Licensed Certifiers Request Form.
To find a registered Architect, owners can search the Board of Architects of Queensland register.
Owners who want to engage a registered Engineer can search the Board of Professional Engineers of Queensland register.
Who is a qualified witness?
Those suitable as a qualified witness include:
- Commissioner for Declarations
- Justice of the Peace
- Notary Public - A notary public is a public officer given statutory powers to witness documents
- Lawyer/conveyancer.
You can search for a local JP on the Queensland Government website. You may also find a JP at your local shopping centre or pharmacy.
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Steps for part 3A of the Checklist:
- Engage a fire engineer
- Register their details on the Checklist
Due date: 31 October 2019
Owners of buildings required to complete part 3, must engage a fire engineer to prepare a building fire safety risk assessment and fire engineer statement. The building fire safety risk assessment will state if the building has combustible cladding. The fire engineer statement will advise if there is a cladding fire risk or not.
Fire engineer
A fire engineer is an engineer registered in:
- Fire engineering
- Fire safety
Registered Fire Engineers can be found by searching the Board of Professional Engineers of Queensland register. The search will need to be filtered to the area of engineering (i.e. fire engineering or fire safety).
Fire Engineers who have conducted a specific course on 'External Fire Spread Risk in Tall Building Design' listed on the University of Queensland website.
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Steps for part 3B of the Checklist:
- Download and print the fire engineer statement
- Have the fire engineer prepare and sign the building fire safety risk assessment and the statement
- Upload the signed assessment and statement
- Fill out the responses for Checklist part 3B
- Print responses for Checklist part 3B
- Sign and date the responses for Checklist part 3B in the presence of a qualified witness
- Have the qualified witness sign and date the responses for Checklist part 3B
- Upload the completed Checklist part 3B
Due date: 3 May 2021
Owners of buildings required to complete part 3, must engage a fire engineer to prepare a building fire safety risk assessment and fire engineer statement. The building fire safety risk assessment will state if the building has combustible cladding. The fire engineer statement will advise if there is a cladding fire risk or not.
Who is a fire engineer
A fire engineer is an engineer registered in:
- Fire engineering
- Fire safety
Registered Fire Engineers can be found by searching the Board of Professional Engineers of Queensland register. The search will need to be filtered to the area of engineering (i.e. fire engineering or fire safety).
Fire Engineers who have conducted a specific course on 'External Fire Spread Risk in Tall Building Design' listed on the University of Queensland website.
Approved way for giving documents to the QBCC
The approved way for giving all documents to the QBCC under Part 4A of the Building Regulation 2006 (except for giving a replacement checklist, compliance notice and compliance certificate) is:
- using the online system to give the document to the QBCC; or
- a person may, on consent by the commission, give the QBCC documents by email, post or through an approved cloud-based document sharing platform.
For information on the approved way for:
- Giving a replacement checklist read Approved Way - Replacement Checklist
- Giving a compliance notice see below under Affected Private Building Notice
- Giving a compliance certificate see below under Compliance Certificate
Completion of the Checklist
- Exiting at part 1 - the responses by the owner or their agent indicate that the building does not fit the criteria of an affected building.
- Exiting at part 2 - the building industry professional makes a determination in Form 34 - Building Industry Professional Statement that the building does not fit the criteria of an affected building.
- Exiting at part 3B - the fire engineer makes a determination detailed in Form 35 - Fire Engineer Statement and the building fire safety risk assessment (BFSRA). This may require the building owner to undertake measures to ensure the building is safe for building occupants and the general public. If a cladding fire risk has been identified, the building owner is required to display an Affected Private Building Notice.
What information is provided by the fire engineer in part 3B of the Checklist?
Both the Fire Engineer Statement and the BFSRA will inform the building owner:
- if there is a cladding fire risk for the building, and
- whether or not further fire engineering assessment is required to identify options that will achieve an acceptable level of fire safety for the building, and
- whether or not fire safety risk mitigation measures are required while further fire engineering assessment is being made and/or building work (cladding rectification work) is completed.
Buildings identified as a cladding fire risk
Affected Private Building Notices
If a cladding fire risk has been identified at your building through the Safer Buildings combustible cladding checklist, you are required to display a Form 42 - Affected Private Building Notice. Please refer to the Fact Sheet - How to Display an Affected Private Building Notice for more information. The Fact Sheet can be found using the Resources tab.
The building owner must submit a Form 76 - Compliance Notice with photographic evidence to demonstrate to the QBCC that the notice is appropriately displayed. The approved way to provide this form and information to the QBCC is via email to qbcc.saferbuildings@qbcc.qld.gov.au.
Mitigating cladding-fire risk
If your building has been identified as a cladding fire risk, you should be displaying an Affected Private Building Notice. Under the Regulation you, as a building owner, are provided with appropriate mitigation measures by a professional fire engineer to address specific risks. Building owners are responsible for the safety of occupants in their building.
Details of the fire safety risk mitigation measures recommended for your building should be contained in the Building Fire Safety Risk Assessment prepared by your fire engineer.
If you have any questions regarding the recommended fire safety risk mitigation measures, you should direct them to your fire engineer.
Risk mitigation advice can be provided by a Fire Engineer during part 3B of the Checklist. Risk mitigation measures include, but are not limited to:
- notifying local fire and emergency services of your building's status
- immediate, or more frequent, servicing and maintenance of the fire safety system of a building
- removal of vegetation, vehicles or other flammable items from a building
- removal of material forming part of, or attached or applied to, an external wall or another external part of a building
- carrying out more frequent emergency evacuation drills
Also see the fact sheet: Fire Safety Risks - Building owner obligations for more information.
Notifying occupants of cladding fire risk
Section 16ZB of the Regulation requires building owners of a building comprising 2 or more lots must give a copy of the Building Fire Safety Risk Assessment (BFSRA) to lot owners and leasehold interest holders (tenants), if a Fire Engineer Statement has identified their building as a 'cladding fire risk'.
See Factsheet: Informing occupants of cladding fire risk for full details on how to provide the BFSRA to building occupants.
Compliance Certificate
If a building certifier gives the owner a compliance certificate stating the combustible cladding complies with the BCA, the building owner is required to give the QBCC a copy of the compliance certificate within the period - (a) starting on the day the building certifier gives the owner the compliance certificate; and (b) ending 5 business days after the day mentioned in paragraph (a). The approved way to provide this certificate to the QBCC is via email to qbcc.saferbuildings@qbcc.qld.gov.au.