QTPA Member Alert | Revised Implementation Guidelines to the National Code of Practice to the Construction Industry (27/3/2012)

Revised Implementation Guidelines to the National Code of Practice to the Construction Industry

GENERAL SUMMARY

• The Australian Government has released revised Implementation Guidelines for the National Code of Practice for the Construction Industry that applied to project directly funded and indirectly funded by Commonwealth Funding Entity.  In addition to complying with the Guidelines on these publicly funded projects parties interested in undertaking Australian government construction work are required to comply with the guidelines on all privately funded Australian-based construction projects.
• Related entities to any party seeking or engaged in Australian government construction activity also are required to comply with the Code and Guidelines.
• NB: The new Guidelines apply solely to parties to participate in on site activities – material supply contracts where the work is completed off site are excluded from the scope of these Guidelines.
• The new implementation Guidelines apply to relevant projects that are the subject of an expression of interest or tender letter the first time on or after the 1st of May 2012.
• The key changes that have been made to the previous Guidelines include the objective “to promote fair, cooperative and productive workplace relations”.  The provisions relating to tender evaluation criteria have been amended to require the coding guidelines to be applied to the maximum practicable extent, in a manner consistent with the Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines and the Government’s “Fair Work Principles”.
• The Code and Guidelines require compliance with all applicable legislation, industrial instruments and Court and Tribunal orders.  Funding entities must not enter into contracts with entities which have had an adverse Court or Tribunal decision for a breach of a workplace relations law, work health and safety law, or workers compensation law and the tenderer has not fully complied, or is not fully complying with the order.  Funding entities are required to confirm whether a tenderer has had an adverse ruling awarded against it in the past two years.