Southern Gold Coast Chamber of Commerce Applauds the BPIC Pause by the State Government

The Best Practice Industry Conditions (BPIC) policy prescribes pay and conditions for construction workers on all major state projects worth $100 million or more and was a deal that was struck by the former Labor Government and the major construction Unions.

The types of provisions under BPIC included were concreted-in successive 5 per cent annual pay increases, 300% loading for working over Christmas and Easter, an extra $1000 a week when working away from home, $100 a week if a worker has to use their own mobile phone or tablet and double time when it rains.

The Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie said that BPIC will be paused for all new projects until the Productivity Commission releases its report into the construction industry's productivity.

The Chamber is certain that many of our members, particularly those in the building and construction sector will be buoyed by this news.

Greg Arnold, Principal Consultant with Effective Workplace Solutions, and SGCC Board member said that “the State Government should be congratulated on at least pausing an industrial regime that was a “noose around the neck” of productivity in the construction industry”.

Mr. Arnold, who has several clients in the civil and construction industry on the Gold Coast said that the BPIC requirements not only added additional costs and inefficiencies to major projects, but it also had a knock-on effect to other sectors of the building and construction industry. “In a tight labour market, employers were finding it difficult to keep good staff and subcontractors because they were being drawn to BPIC construction sites, or employers were having to pay inflated labour costs to be able to compete with the sorts of wages and conditions applying at BPIC sites” Mr. Arnold said.

According to an independent economic analysis, BPIC had increased project costs by as much as 30 per cent. Treasury modelling estimates BPIC will cost up to $17.1 billion over the next six years.

It is expected that the Queensland Productivity Commission will commence its inquiry into productivity in the construction industry in early 2025.