If you’ve heard that the QBCC just pushed the passive fire protection licence deadline out to 2035, you’re probably feeling a decade’s worth of relief. Fair enough — this transition has already been delayed twice since the fire licensing reforms started on 1 May 2021, so another extension feels like permission to stop thinking about it.
Here’s the problem. The 2035 headline hides a second, much closer deadline that applies to a specific group of workers, and a $1,100 job-value threshold that has never moved at all. Get the wrong date stuck in your head and you could have someone on your crew doing licensed fire work unlicensed without anyone noticing until an inspector does.
What Actually Changed on 5 June 2026
On 5 June 2026, amendments to the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Regulation 2018 commenced, extending the timeframes for builders and employees to meet QBCC passive fire protection licence requirements. That work covers installing and maintaining fire and smoke walls, fire collars, and fire-rated penetration and joint sealing — trade work that touches carpentry, plastering, plumbing, mechanical services and cabling far more often than most people realise.
This is the third time QBCC has moved this deadline. It’s easy to read that as the regulator losing interest. It’s more accurate to read it as QBCC accepting that training providers and licensees weren’t ready — which means the eventual cut-off is more likely to be enforced firmly than pushed again.
Three Different Clocks, Not One
This is where most contractors get tripped up, because “2035” isn’t one date — it’s three, and they land on different people.
- Existing employees who were lawfully doing this work before 1 May 2021 must hold the correct fire protection licence class by 1 May 2030 — five years earlier than the headline date.
- All other employees performing passive fire work must be licensed by 1 May 2035.
- Builders (Low-rise, Medium-rise and High-rise licence classes) can keep personally doing passive fire work without a separate fire licence until 2 May 2035. After that, they can only do it themselves on jobs valued at $1,100 or less, and need a licensed subcontractor or licensed employee for anything bigger.
If your business is relying on a long-serving employee’s grandfathered experience from the early 2020s to keep a job moving, their clock runs out five full years before the date everyone’s been talking about.
The $1,100 Threshold Hasn’t Moved
None of the extensions touch the one figure that actually decides whether you need a licence for a specific job right now. Passive fire protection work valued at $1,100 or less has always been exempt from licensing, transition period or not. Above that value, whoever is doing the work needs to fall into one of the categories above, or hold the licence outright.
A few other carve-outs are worth knowing so you don’t second-guess work you’re already doing lawfully:
- Apprentices and trainees performing the required work are exempt while under supervision.
- Plumbing and mechanical services contractors can install fire collars incidentally, within the scope of their existing licence.
- Electricians doing electrical work aren’t caught by these QBCC requirements at all.
Everyone else — trade contractors and employees in carpentry, joinery, plastering and cabling who regularly touch fire-rated walls, ceilings or penetrations as part of bigger jobs — needs to know exactly which of the three clocks above applies to them, and to their staff individually, not just to the business as a whole.
Dealing with QBCC’s licensing categories is confusing enough without a transition period stacked on top, and it’s completely understandable if you’ve been putting off working out where your business actually sits. If you want a straight answer on whether your current work, or your employees’ work, falls inside or outside these dates, book a free consultation and we’ll map it against your actual licence class and workforce.
Upskilling Isn’t Automatic — You Have to Lodge It
If you already hold a fire protection licence class you applied for before 1 May 2021, the extension doesn’t excuse you from upskilling — it just gives you longer to complete it. The new completion deadline is 1 May 2035, extended from the original 1 May 2025 and then 1 May 2027 dates. What you need depends on your licence stream:
- Special Hazard Fire System — Certify: complete both the wet and dry chemical suppression course and the gaseous fire suppression course (or the newer equivalent units — NAT11002010, NAT11002011, NAT11002013, NAT11002014). Anyone holding an unrestricted Special Hazard licence before 1 May 2021 is exempt.
- Special Hazard Fire System — Install and Maintain: Certificate III in Fire Protection (CPC32813 or the newer CPC32820).
- Electrical Stream — Fire Alarm Systems: Certificate III in Fire Protection Control, plus specified units covering emergency and exit lighting inspection and testing.
- Electrical Stream — Emergency Lighting: Certificate IV in Fire Systems Compliance (Fire Detection stream), with specified photometric competency units.
Qualifications have to be actively lodged with QBCC’s fire upskilling team (fireupskilling@qbcc.qld.gov.au) by the due date — QBCC won’t chase you for proof automatically, and a completed course sitting in your training file does nothing for your licence until it’s on record with the regulator.
What Happens If You Miss Your Date
Once your individual deadline passes without the right licence or the right lodged qualification, you’re doing licensed work without a licence — the same category of breach QBCC treats seriously across the board, with penalties, demerit points and contract risk attached. The extensions exist so genuine tradespeople can get qualified in time, not so the requirement quietly disappears. Three delays in, QBCC has shown it’s willing to move the date; it hasn’t shown any sign it plans to drop the requirement.
If your business has passive fire work sitting somewhere in its scope and you’re not confident every licensed and unlicensed person on the tools is covered against the right date, don’t wait for an audit to find out. Get in touch for a strategy session and we’ll help you build a compliance timeline that matches your actual workforce, not just the headline date.
Frequently Asked Questions
What counts as passive fire protection work under QBCC licensing?
It covers installing and maintaining fire and smoke walls, fire collars, and fire-rated penetration and joint sealing. These reforms have applied since 1 May 2021, and work valued above $1,100 generally requires the person doing it to be licensed or covered by a transitional arrangement.
Does the 2035 extension mean I don’t need to do anything until then?
No. Existing employees who were doing this work before 1 May 2021 must be licensed by 1 May 2030, five years before the 2035 date most people quote. Only builders personally performing the work, and employees who started after 1 May 2021, run on the later 2035 timeline.
Is there still a small-job exemption from fire protection licensing?
Yes. Passive fire protection work valued at $1,100 or less is exempt from licensing regardless of the transition timeline. Apprentices and trainees performing required work under supervision are also exempt.
I already hold a fire protection licence — do I still need to do anything?
If you held or applied for an affected licence class before 1 May 2021, you likely need to complete stream-specific upskilling courses and lodge the qualifications with QBCC’s fire upskilling team by 1 May 2035. Holding an unrestricted Special Hazard licence before that date is one of the few exemptions.
How do I lodge my fire protection upskilling qualifications with QBCC?
Qualifications need to be sent to QBCC’s dedicated fire upskilling team at fireupskilling@qbcc.qld.gov.au, who can also help with enrolment issues and equivalency assessments. Completing a course isn’t enough on its own — it has to be recorded against your licence before the due date.
