Amendments to the Building and Construction Industry Payments Act 2004 have commenced

The much anticipated amendments to the Building and Construction Industry Payments Act 2004 (Act) came into effect on Monday, 15 December 2014.

The amendments contain some critical differences to those planned as part of the original amendment bill. Most significantly, the amendments now apply to any new payment claim regardless of whether the contract was entered into before or after the amendments came into effect.

Principals, head contractors and subcontractors alike must understand the impact of the amendments immediately because they apply as of 15 December 2014 to all contracts for construction work being carried out in Queensland.

This will reduce the problem of dual systems for new and existing contracts that would have existed under the amendments originally planned. But there is no longer the "settling in period" which would have occurred had the changes only applied to contracts entered into post the amendments coming into effect.