It turns out that the Brisbane City Council has a multitude of building codes. Wordy, full of tables and hard-to-decipher pictures, it can be confusing for the prospective house buyer. But it's essential to understand these before purchasing your own block of land or renovator's dream if you're planning to make any modifications.
I discovered this while looking around West End and Highgate Hill for property over the last year. Initially Michael and I were looking quite seriously at a property on Granville Street. The property was a full upper level, with the lower level probably around half the floor space of the upper, due to a slope on the block. We thought it would be a great idea to lift the house and build in a full storey underneath. Then we discovered the restriction on building height and realised we wouldn't be able to lift it enough to fit in a full floor underneath... and subsequently didn't bid on the house.
So where to find this information? Start here:
Once you have a house or block in mind, PD online is your best friend!
To the 'property enquiry' tab and go to 'new property enquiry', where you will find this screen:
You can use this screen to search for your property of interest. Once you search for the property, click on the magnifying glass symbol that says 'more details', and you will come up with this (I'm using the Granville St property that we'd initially checked out in this example):
Here, you will find the zoning, which will affect what kind of building you can construct on the site, or what restrictions apply to your property. In addition, the Brisbane City Council overlays can be found here. Keep in mind that not all the overlays will affect your property - you will need to get onto the BCC overlay map to see this. For example, this property shows a flood overlay, but on the flood map, it is a tiny portion of overland flow at the back of the block.
Even more confusingly, not all the applicable codes will come up here (this a list of overlays - there are also building and fire codes which would apply to this property).
Many of the codes are found in the Brisbane City Plan 2014, such as the small lot code:
Or the traditional building character overlay code (demolition):
But don't forget there is also a traditional building character overlay code for design (!):
Despite careful reading, these codes are sometimes contradictory, confusing and difficult to interpret. So who to turn to for help? Your draftsperson, building designer or architect can be of very much help to you. In addition, town planners can be very helpful. The Brisbane City Council also has a phone line you can call to speak directly with a town planner. This page is an excellent resource:
Good luck! And feel free to comment if you have any questions or additional advice :-)
