Queensland body corporate legislation

From high-rise to resort-style living, we aim to keep Queensland’s body corporates and community living stakeholders up to date with the latest legislation and compliance changes.

Queensland’s major community living legislation, the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997, is undergoing major reform. Looking to streamline and modernise body corporate procedures, reduce costs, and enhance protections for unit owners and renters, we aim to make sure all those who live and invest in community living in Queensland can stay up to speed.   

This page will introduce you to our legislation information library that’s specific to body corporate legislation in Queensland and provide you with an up to date timeline of legislative changes and announcements.

Queensland legislation updates

The timeline below provides summaries of relevant legislative changes that impact Queensland’s community living.

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1 March 2021: changes to the new Body Corporate and Community Management (BCCM) Regulations

The Queensland Government recently released some of the long-awaited changes to the Body Corporate and Community Management Regulation modules including the Standard Module Regulation (2008) noting that changes only relate to the areas of the Body Corporate and Community Management Regulations modules.

Due to come into effect across the Regulation modules on 1 March 2021, they aim to help modernise body corporate governance and legislate a range of common modern practices to rectify loopholes in legislation caused by changes to the way people live and work today.

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1 January 2022: Deadline for Queensland’s smoke alarms – are you up to speed with smoke alarms?

The Queensland Government ushered in updated smoke alarm laws in January 2017 to reduce the incidences of people not waking in time to escape fires. The legislation stipulates that properties leased or sold in Queensland must now be fitted with photoelectric, interconnected smoke alarms on each level, bedroom, and hallway that connects bedrooms by 1 January 2022 (with homeowners having until 1 January 2027).

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3 May 2021: Stage 3 cladding compliance deadline

To ensure body corporates have the necessary time to complete cladding and fire-safety inspection, the Queensland Government has extended the deadline for Part 3A of cladding compliance. This means body corporates should engage a qualified fire engineer to conduct a fire-safety assessment and register their details on the combustible cladding checklist online by 31 October 2019 instead of the original deadline of 27 August 2019. Part 3B requires completing the building fire safety risk assessment, the fire engineer statement and the combustible cladding checklist by 3 May 2021.

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1 March 2021: New amendments to the BCCM Regulations Module take effect

The Queensland Government released into law the long-awaited updates to the Body Corporate and Community Management (BCCM) Regulations on 1 October 2020. Due to come into effect on 1 March 2021, they will seek to ease some administrative obligations and legislate a range of common modern practices to rectify loopholes caused by changes to the way people live and work today.

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10 August 2020: BCS has been advised from the Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management and Titles Office that an increase in fees will take effect in early August

Body corporate records and their associated fees are set by Section 205 of the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997. A body corporate cannot charge any other costs for information, including a charge for the body corporate manager’s time.

If you’re interested in a body corporate’s information, you must write to the body corporate and ask for documents or an inspection and pay the correct fee. Once this is done, the body corporate has seven days to provide you with the copied documents. A committee member is entitled to ‘reasonable access’ to body corporate records without having to pay a fee. Please contact your local BCS branch or manager for more information.

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May 2020: Queensland passes the Justice and Other Legislation (COVID-19 Emergency Response) Amendment Act 2020 to provide relief to the state’s body corporates 

Like most states across Australia, Queensland parliament has been busy introducing legislation to minimise the impact of COVID-19 on individuals, businesses, and body corporates.

To help reduce adverse effects and support the community, the Queensland Government has passed the Justice and Other Legislation (COVID-19 Emergency Response) Amendment Act 2020 which has enabled changes to the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997. The new legislative changes came in as of 25 May 2020 and will remain in place until 31 December 2020.

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14 April 2022: Queensland receives new Body Corporate and Community Management Commissioner

Michelle Scott, who was formerly Director, Land Tax Division, of the Office of State Revenue for the Queensland Treasury, has officially stepped into the role of Queensland’s Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management.

Jane Wilson has been holding the role as Acting-Commissioner since Commissioner Chris Irons retired in mid-January after holding the role for five years. Ms Wilson has now returned to her role as Manager, Conciliation Services, at the Cody Corporate and Community Management Office.

Ms Scott started her new role on 14 April 2020, and BCS look forward to continuing our relationship with her and the Office.

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2020 National Construction Code update: Regulation Impact Statement for decision
Changes that were made to the National Construction Code in 2018 are starting to come to fruition in 2019-20 for many of Brisbane’s older apartments, putting owners under financial pressure. The code-change, which says fire systems in Class 2 and 3 residential buildings – which are buildings with four or more stories, but less than 25 – are required to install new fire hydrant systems and pumps. The code-change was enforced to give firefighters enough water pressure to operate hoses. However, the code can now fine properties that haven’t made the appropriate changes non-compliant and therefore, uninsured. The new change has left some body corporates and owners feeling the sting of special levies, as hefty fees are required to fund the new pipe and pump infrastructure. Read more about the National Construction Code here or read more about its impacts on Queensland residents here.

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30 October 2019: Body Corporate and Community Management Regulation 2019
The Queensland Government has released draft versions of the final five modules of the Body Corporate and Community Management Regulation 2019. The new modules have reforms to help streamline and modernise body corporate procedures, reduce body corporate costs, and improve protection for lot owners. If you want to have your say, submissions are due 5pm, 30 October.

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31 July 2019: Stage two cladding compliance deadline
The Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) has identified 4300 buildings in QLD with potential cladding threat. If your building is among these, you should make sure to complete stage two of the compliance process by 31 July 2019. Stage two compliance means you should engage licensed professional such as an engineer or architect to assess the threat and register your details along with the completed combustible cladding checklist on the ‘Safer Buildings’ website. The two-month extension from the original deadline of 29 May 2019 allows bodies corporate some more time to complete their cladding compliance.

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3 May 2019: Amendments to standard plumbing and drainage regulation 2019 
Queensland Government has amended the standard plumbing and drainage regulation 2019 which is effective from 3 May 2019. If your body corporate is planning to undertake scheduled maintenance or repair work, they should make sure to be complaint with the legislation and new regulations.

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1 May 2019: Requirements for fire sprinklers in class 2 & 3 buildings to ensure fire safety and compliance
Effective from 1 May 2019, the NCC 2019 was adopted by all Australian states and territories. It covers topics across fire safety, energy efficiency and sustainability, plumbing requirements and acceptable construction practices (ACPs) among others. If your building is using a Deemed-to-Satisfy (DTS) pathway for compliance, you should ensure a fire sprinkler system is in place. As part of these requirements, two new types of fire sprinkler systems have been introduced. You can also avail concessions for additional fire safety features afforded by these fire sprinkler systems.

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22 April 2019: Amendments to state regulations around Tennis court maintenance and repair
Does your body corporate have a tennis court or another sporting court? Effective from the 22 April this year, there have been amendments within the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) namely the Structural Landscaping Licences Amendment Regulation 2019 which may impact you.

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29 March 2019: Stage one of the cladding compliance deadline
In response to the cladding crisis, the Queensland Government has imposed a three part compliance process. Stage 1 requires buildings to be registered and for building owners to complete the combustible cladding checklist by 29 March 2019.