Building and Construction Award Reference

Coverage

The Building and Construction General On-site Award 2020 covers employers and employees performing on-site building, engineering and civil construction work — trades, labourers, operators and on-site supervisors. Off-site staff (estimators, admin, accounts) are usually under a different award, most often the Clerks Award, so a typical builder runs at least two awards side by side. Subcontractor arrangements don't remove award risk either: if a "subbie" is really an employee, the award applies regardless of the invoice arrangement.

What follows is a general orientation to the award's structure — the current award text and the Fair Work Ombudsman are where the binding detail lives.

The hours structure: ordinary hours and RDOs

This award's defining feature is its ordinary-hours arrangement, historically built around a shorter ordinary working week delivered through rostered days off (RDOs) — crews typically work slightly longer days and accrue time toward a scheduled day off. The mechanics (accrual, banking RDOs, what happens when an RDO falls on a public holiday, and the alternatives the award allows) are set out in the current award and matter enormously for payroll setup. If your payroll system doesn't model RDO accrual properly, errors compound weekly.

Classifications

On-site employees are classified into graded levels (CW/ECW-style classifications) based on skills, qualifications and the work performed — from entry-level labouring through trade-qualified and advanced classifications. Classification drives more than the base rate: many allowances and entitlements key off it. Classify from duties and tickets held, document it, and revisit when someone completes a qualification.

Allowances: the biggest trap in this award

Construction is the most allowance-dense award most SMEs will ever touch. Depending on the work, you may owe:

• Industry and tool allowances — often payable for all purposes, meaning they load into overtime and leave calculations.
• Site-condition allowances — height, confined space, wet work, dirty work and similar.
• Travel and fares provisions — for getting to and between sites.
• Meal and overtime-related allowances.

Underpaid allowances are the most common construction audit finding because each one is small and payroll defaults don't include them. Map your actual site conditions against the current allowance schedule rather than assuming the base rate covers it.

Overtime, penalties and inclement weather

The award sets overtime rates beyond ordinary hours, weekend and public holiday penalties, and specific provisions for inclement weather and lost time. Casuals attract a loading, and daily hire arrangements — a structure fairly unique to this industry — carry their own notice and payment rules. Take every current rate and percentage from the Fair Work Ombudsman's pay tools; this award changes often enough that cached numbers go stale.

Common compliance issues

• Flat day rates that don't reconcile against award entitlements for the hours and conditions actually worked.
• Allowances missing from payroll entirely, or paid but excluded from rates where the award says they count.
• RDO accrual handled informally, creating disputes at termination.
• Sham contracting exposure where regular workers are engaged on ABNs.

Keeping it under control

Award-heavy payroll is a systems problem: it stays compliant when rate tables, allowance triggers and RDO calendars are maintained on a schedule, not when someone remembers. That's the difference between a back office that runs and one that leans on the owner — see how to systemise your business and our people and payroll services. For current figures, always use the Fair Work Ombudsman and the Fair Work Commission's published award.