How to replace Your QBCC Nominee That Has Left is a concern shared by many construction companies. The phone call you didn’t want. Your QBCC nominee supervisor has handed in their notice — or worse, they’re already gone.
If you’re running a building company in Brisbane, the Gold Coast or the Sunshine Coast, this is the moment your business gets exposed. Without a nominee in place, your company licence is at risk, your projects are in limbo, and the QBCC clock starts ticking.
The good news is that this is fixable — but only if you move quickly and in the right order.
This guide walks Queensland building company owners through exactly what to do in the first 30 days when you need a nominee supervisor urgently, how to keep your builder licence active in QLD during the transition, and the practical steps that protect both your company and your live projects.
How to replace Your QBCC Nominee That Has Left: Why This Window Matters
Under QBCC rules, a contractor-grade company licence requires a nominee supervisor at all times. The moment your nominee resigns, retires, or is removed, your company is operating outside the conditions of its licence.
You’re expected to notify the QBCC and put a replacement in place as soon as practicable. Drag your feet and you’re looking at:
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- Suspension of your company licence
- Loss of the legal right to enter into contracts
- Risk to current contracts, payment claims and warranties
- Compliance exposure for the directors personally
- Insurance and Home Warranty implications on active jobs
This isn’t a paperwork problem. It’s a business-continuity problem.
Week One: Stop the Bleeding
The first seven days are about containment. Don’t try to solve everything at once — focus on protecting your licence, your projects and your team.
1. Confirm the nominee’s status in writing
Get the resignation, removal or departure documented. You’ll need a clear, dated record of when they ceased acting as nominee supervisor — the QBCC will want it, and so will your replacement.
2. Notify the QBCC
The QBCC needs to be informed of the change. Don’t ignore it and hope no one notices — the personal licence holder may also notify the QBCC independently, and a mismatch between their records and yours creates a much bigger problem than the original departure.
3. Audit your live contracts
Pull every active job. What stage is each at? Which contracts have payment claims pending? Which projects have inspections, certifications or handovers coming up? You need to know exactly what’s exposed before you can decide what to prioritise.
4. Lock down new work
Pause new contract signings and quotes until your licence position is resolved. Continuing to take on new work while your company is operating without a nominee is not a defensible position if anything goes wrong.
Weeks Two and Three: Find a Replacement
This is where most building company owners lose time — either chasing the wrong nominee, or settling for the wrong fit because the pressure is on.
What you’re actually looking for
A QBCC nominee supervisor isn’t just a name on the licence. They need to:
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- Hold a current personal QBCC licence at a class equal to or higher than the work your company carries out
- Be willing to take on the legal supervisory responsibilities the role carries
- Have the time, structure and capacity to genuinely supervise — not just lend their ticket
- Be a fit for your business in terms of work type, location and project scale
If your company is running medium-rise work, a low-rise licensed nominee can’t cover the scope. If you’re carrying out a mix of classes, the nominee’s licence has to cover the highest class on your books.
The shortcuts that backfire
When the heat is on, building company owners are tempted to grab the first available nominee — a mate, a sub-contractor, someone introduced by a recruiter — without checking class fit or compliance posture. Two things tend to happen:
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- The licence class doesn’t actually cover the work, and the company ends up operating outside scope.
- The nominee is acting in name only, with no real supervisory involvement, which creates exposure for both parties if anything goes wrong on site.
A nominee arrangement is a legal relationship. Treat it like one.
Week Four: Lodge and Stabilise
Once you’ve identified the right replacement, the focus moves to formalising the arrangement and getting the QBCC update through.
Document the arrangement
The nominee agreement should clearly set out the supervisory responsibilities, the work the nominee is covering, the reporting structure between the nominee and the company, and the commercial terms. Verbal agreements are not enough — this is a regulated relationship.
Submit the QBCC change
The QBCC requires formal notification of the new nominee, supporting documentation, and confirmation that the individual licence class aligns with the company’s scope. Get this right the first time. Errors and resubmissions extend the period your company is exposed.
Update your live projects
Where contracts, insurance documents or certifier paperwork reference the previous nominee, update them. This is unglamorous admin work that pays off when an audit, dispute or warranty claim lands.
How to Keep Your Builder Licence Active in QLD During the Transition
The single most useful piece of advice for any QLD building company in this position: don’t wait until you’re in the middle of a crisis to think about your nominee structure.
If you’re reading this and your nominee hasn’t left yet but you can see it coming — or you’re relying on a single nominee with no backup — now is the time to act. Building a relationship with a second potential nominee, mapping out the class fit, and understanding your replacement pathway before you need it is far cheaper than scrambling under deadline.
For companies already in the middle of a transition, the priority is sequencing: notify, audit, contain, then replace. Trying to rush the replacement before the foundation is documented creates more compliance problems than it solves.
Common Mistakes in the First 30 Days
A few patterns we see repeatedly:
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- Treating it as administrative, not commercial. The departure of a nominee affects every active contract you hold. It’s a business event, not a paperwork event.
- Appointing a nominee at the wrong licence class. The company licence is limited by the nominee’s class. Get this wrong and you’re operating outside scope from day one.
- Skipping the agreement. A handshake nominee arrangement leaves both parties exposed. Documentation protects everyone.
- Not notifying the QBCC promptly. Silence makes the problem bigger, not smaller.
- Going it alone. This is a regulated process with real consequences. The cost of doing it wrong far exceeds the cost of getting expert support up front.
When to Get Help
If you’ve just lost your nominee and you’re under time pressure, the first step isn’t finding any nominee — it’s understanding exactly where your company stands and what the right replacement actually looks like for your scope of work.
BHB works with Queensland building companies to assess the current position, identify the right nominee supervisor fit, and walk the QBCC change through cleanly so you can get back to running your business.
Our pre-application roadmap gives you a written, expert assessment of your current position, your licence class fit, and the specific steps required to put the right nominee structure in place — usually within three business days.
Need to Replace Your QBCC Nominee Supervisor? Don’t Lose More Time.
If your nominee has left or is about to leave, your company licence is the asset you can’t afford to lose. The fastest, cleanest way through is a clear assessment of where you stand and a documented pathway forward.
BHB helps Queensland building companies replace QBCC nominee supervisor and keep their licence active through the transition — without the guesswork, without the compliance risk, and without losing weeks of trading time.
