Building defects: Queensland
In Queensland it is three different clocks, and the shortest one is six months. Why the insurance does not help while the builder is still trading is on the main page.
Queensland is the jurisdiction where people most often lose a good claim to the wrong calendar, because three separate clocks run at once and they do not agree.
Three clocks
There is the QBCC complaint, which can lead to a direction to the contractor to rectify. There is the Queensland Home Warranty Scheme, which is insurance. And there is the defects liability period in your contract, commonly six or twelve months. They have different deadlines, different decision-makers and different outcomes.
The shortest is the one that catches people. Insurance cover for non-structural defects runs six months from completion, and the defect has to surface inside that window. Six months after handover is roughly when a first summer or first wet season has happened and the owner is still settling in — which is to say, exactly when a non-structural defect tends to appear and exactly when nobody is thinking about deadlines.
What to do about that
Treat the end of your first six months as a date, not a feeling. Walk the house deliberately before it, write down everything, and lodge rather than wait — a complaint lodged early can be withdrawn, and a deadline missed cannot be recovered. For structural defects the position is more forgiving: cover runs six years and six months, but the claim must still be lodged within three months of noticing, so the date you first saw it remains the date that matters.
Queensland: the periods
- QBCC complaint — non-structural
- No later than 12 months from completion of the work
- QBCC complaint — structural
- Within 12 months of noticing the defect
- Insurance — structural cover
- 6 years 6 months, with a claim lodged within 3 months of noticing
- Insurance — non-structural cover
- 6 months from completion, with a claim lodged within 7 months
- Contract defects liability period
- Commonly 6 or 12 months, set by your contract, separate from both of the above
Read from QBCC, Help with defective work on 13 October 2026. We publish the date we read it so you can judge how current it is. the QBCC is the authority on what applies to your contract, and a period close to expiry is a reason to get advice rather than to keep reading.
Questions about Queensland defects
Which deadline applies to me in Queensland?
Possibly three at once. The QBCC complaint process, the Home Warranty Scheme insurance and your contract's defects liability period all run separately, with different deadlines and different decision-makers.
What is the shortest deadline?
Insurance cover for non-structural defects: six months from completion, and the defect must surface within that window, with a claim lodged within seven months.
And for structural defects?
Cover runs six years and six months, but a claim must be lodged within three months of noticing the defect — so the date you first saw it is the date that matters.
What should I actually do?
Treat the end of your first six months as a date. Walk the house deliberately before it, write everything down, and lodge rather than wait — a complaint lodged early can be withdrawn, a missed deadline cannot be recovered.