By Dana Row, CERTLOC.
Queensland’s Major Projects Pipeline Report (QMPPR) 2025 presents one of the strongest construction outlooks in Australia — but also one of the most challenging. With a projected $127.5 billion in major infrastructure scheduled over the next five years, the scale and speed of delivery will place unprecedented pressure on contractors, supply chains, and project teams across the state.
As activity accelerates, pre-excavation risk management has become a critical capability. Utility strikes, compliance failures, and early-stage delays remain among the most avoidable — and most costly — risks impacting major project delivery.
This article summarises the key insights from the QMPPR 2025 and outlines how CERTLOC’s Pre-Excavation Management Course (PEMC) supports safer, more compliant, and more productive outcomes during Queensland’s infrastructure boom.
1. An Expanding Pipeline — and a Rising Delivery Challenge
The QMPPR projects:
- $127.5 billion in major infrastructure over the next 5 years
- $78 billion funded, up 21.7% from 2024
- $49 billion unfunded, representing 38.7% of the pipeline
- A required industry delivery rate of at least $14.5 billion per year
To deliver the funded pipeline, industry output must increase by around 60%, and to deliver the total pipeline, it must rise more than 150%
This rapid uplift places pressure on:
- Project planning
- Procurement efficiency
- Workforce capability
- Safety management
- Early works and ground disturbance processes
As workloads rise, even small delays or incidents can multiply across delivery programs – making strong pre-excavation processes and workforce competency essential.
2. Workforce Shortages Will Intensify Risk
The engineering-construction workforce must expand from 26,000 to nearly 41,000 workers by 2029-30. As more projects transition into construction, labour shortages will intensify.
This means:
- Strong competition for skilled workers
- Higher reliance on new, inexperienced entrants
- Increased pressure to accelerate training
- Greater risk of skill gaps in early works
For teams performing ground disturbance, these conditions heighten the likelihood of:
- Inadequate or rushed risk assessments
- Incorrect interpretation of utility plans
- Non-compliant locating processes
- Utility strikes and delays
With the Queensland Productivity Commission reporting a 9% decline in construction productivity since 2018, targeted skills development – particularly in AS 5488, damage prevention, and utility risk management – is essential.
3. Early-Stage Risk and Compliance Pressures
(and why early works are now a point of project vulnerability)
The QMPPR highlights systemic pressures that are making early works more fragile and risk-prone:
- Increasing complexity in procurement
- Major bottlenecks in project approvals
- A sharp decline in on-site productivity
- Persistent delays in investment decision-making
These factors increase the likelihood of schedule slippage, cost growth, and early-stage disruption.
Additional risks affecting excavation and underground utilities
Beyond the QMPPR findings, industry experience shows recurring early-works issues:
- Gaps in ground disturbance procedures
- Inconsistent use of Certified Locators – and at times, their technical advice not being followed, significantly elevating the risk of underground asset damage
- Misinterpretation or over-reliance on utility plans
- Rising rework costs caused by avoidable errors
Together, these issues contribute to:
- Time overruns
- Budget blowouts
- Avoidable safety incidents
- Reputational and regulatory consequences
With cost escalation forecast at 6–8% over the medium term, minimising preventable rework has become a decisive competitive advantage.
4. Regional Hotspots & Areas with High Unfunded Project Value
Pipeline growth varies significantly by region:
- Brisbane – up $4.5 billion
- Sunshine Coast – up $3.7 billion
- Fitzroy – up $2.9 billion
Unfunded project value has increased to $49.4 billion (38.7% of the total pipeline), presenting risk and uncertainty if approvals and procurement roadblocks are not resolved.
Regions with the highest share of unfunded project activity are:
- Townsville — 60.3% unfunded
- Mackay–Isaac–Whitsunday — 55.7% unfunded
- Fitzroy — 55.9% unfunded
Many of these projects are resource-sector driven, making them sensitive to changing investment regimes, lengthy approvals, commodity markets, as well as local regulatory settings impacting investor confidence. Delays in approvals and procurement could stall delivery of these projects.
5. Industry Calls for Productivity & Procurement Reform
The QMPPR identifies several areas where industry-wide improvements are essential:
- Expanding labour capacity
- Delivering more output with existing resources
- Improving industrial relations
- Addressing cultural and behavioural issues
- Reducing indirect project delivery costs
- Improving planning, approvals and procurement
Recommended initiatives include:
- Greater flexibility in industrial relations
- Increasing workforce multi-skilling
- Broader adoption of technology and innovation
- More collaborative procurement and delivery approaches to better understand, allocate and manage project risks
- Streamlined approvals and procurement
- Shifting from prescriptive to performance-based specifications
- Addressing onsite cultural and behavioural issues. The ‘Cost of Doing Nothing’ report, based on Oxford Economics research, estimates that cultural issues cost the Australian economy almost $8 billion each year due to workplace injuries, mental illness, suicide, long work hours and a lack of diversity.
How the Pre-Excavation Management Course (PEMC) Supports These Reforms
PEMC directly strengthens early-stage capability and contributes to:
- Improved workforce skills and multi-skilling
- Reduced rework, delays, and indirect costs
- Stronger planning and risk-based decision-making
- Better use of locating technologies and NDD practices
- Safer onsite behaviours and adherence to Certified Locator advice
- Improved productivity through smoother work sequencing
- Reduced exposure to regulatory or audit findings
Why Pre-Excavation Competency Matters More Than Ever
With Queensland’s pipeline accelerating, organisations need workers who can:
- Accurately identify underground utilities
- Interpret utility plans and quality levels
- Apply compliant locating and excavation processes
- Manage ground disturbance risk
- Prevent costly and dangerous utility strikes
A single strike can halt a project — an avoidable incident that underscores the importance of strong and consistent pre-excavation competence.
Prepare Your Team for Queensland’s Infrastructure Boom
CERTLOC’s Pre-Excavation Management Course (PEMC) helps teams:
- Understand the causes and consequences of utility strikes
- Interpret utility plans and apply AS 5488
- Perform safe and compliant ground disturbance
- Avoid delays, rework, and cost escalation
- Improve early-works readiness and audit compliance
If your organisation is planning, supervising or performing excavation work, now is the time to ensure your teams are ready.
Across Queensland’s $127.5 billion major project pipeline —
there is no safe depth to dig.
Access the QMPPR Full Report and Executive Summary
Download or view the QMPPR 2025 Full Report (PDF)
Download or view the QMPPR 2025 Executive Summary (PDF)