What the QBCC statutory warranty actually covers in a Queensland bathroom, why our 10-year waterproofing and workmanship warranty stacks on top, and the small aftercare habits that keep both promises live. What voids them, and what does not.
Short answer: a Brisbane bathroom carries two warranties at the same time. The QBCC statutory warranty applies automatically to all regulated residential work. Our 10-year waterproofing and workmanship warranty stacks on top, in writing, on every Waterline bathroom. Both keep working in the background as long as the room is cared for the way the standard expects. The care is small. The cost of getting the care wrong is large.
Every regulated residential building job in Queensland comes with a statutory warranty under the QBCC. Structural defects are covered for six years and six months from completion. Non-structural defects, including waterproofing failures, are covered for twelve months. The Queensland Home Warranty Scheme (QHWS) sits behind it for non-completion and major defects on regulated jobs. The licensed builder is the named entity on both. The trail is what gives the warranty teeth.
Statutory cover is the legal floor. Our 10-year waterproofing and workmanship warranty is the room above it. On every Waterline bathroom, the membrane is covered for ten years from handover. The tile setting, screeds and falls are covered for ten years. The paperwork is one page in the handover pack, signed by us and given to you with the keys. If anything fails in that period because of work we did, we fix it. You do not have to argue. You just have to call.
The handover pack is the warranty in practice. It includes the waterproofing certificate signed by the licensed waterproofer, the plumbing compliance certificate signed by the licensed plumber, the electrical compliance signed by the licensed electrician, the fixture warranty cards by brand, our 10-year written warranty, and the as-built notes (where the membrane terminates, what brand the screed is, which grout colour was used). Keep this pack with your home documents. An inner-Brisbane buyer will ask for it at sale.
The room is built for two decades of normal use. The aftercare is small.
Ventilate after every shower. Run the exhaust fan for fifteen minutes after the shower turns off. Leave the door ajar. The fan is what stops silicone from going grey at year three.
Clean with the right thing. Warm water and a mild dish soap is enough for most weeks. Avoid bleach on coloured grout, and avoid solvents on silicone. The bottle that smells the strongest is usually the one that strips the seal.
Re-bead at five to seven years. The silicone bead at the floor-wall junction is a top layer, not the membrane. Plan to renew it on a Saturday morning when it starts to look tired. It is forty minutes of work that holds the room together for the next decade.
Do not drill the wet wall. A new towel rail, a new mirror or a new niche behind the shower means a hole through the membrane. That hole leaks for a year before you see anything. If the room needs to change, call us. We have a way to keep the membrane intact.
Three things, usually. Cuts through the waterproofed wall after the membrane is laid, because the membrane is what is warrantied. Strong solvent cleaners that dissolve the silicone, because the seal is the visible part of the system. And modifications by a non-licensed tradesperson, because the QBCC trail of accountability is the warranty. Normal use, normal cleaning and small re-beading keep both warranties live without thought.
Call us first. Take a photo. Do not let anyone else touch the bathroom yet. Most things we see are small (a hairline grout crack at the floor wall return, a fixture that has come loose, a silicone bead that has lifted). We come back, we make it good, and the warranty stays live. The job we did on day one is still on the line for us at year nine. That is how it should be.
If you are still choosing the company, read the renovator guide. If you are still budgeting, read the cost guide. If you want to know exactly what we do during the build, read the sequence guide. And if you are ready, book a Brisbane bathroom consult. We hand the warranty over with the keys, every time.
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