building in brisbane, mitigating flood risks

[eyespy]

hi there,

i am looking at development sites in brisbane and notice that lots of them are in flood risk areas. most of these areas never flooded but the risk is there.

the agent has told me that house can still be built but may need to be at higher level. eg, to be raised to 900mm higher to mitigate floood risk.

anyone have any experience with this,as to how much it may add to costs of building ??

thanks in advance

 

[RPI]

suspended timber floor - often cheaper to build in QLD (unless the builder has no experience with them), the materials are way cheaper anytime I have priced it.

 

[eyespy]

Thanks rpi !

 

[RPI]

No worries

If you use this tool you can see how high you need to build it.

http://flood.brisbane.qld.gov.au/floodwise_property_report/address.do?dispatch=prepareSuburb

 

[gaiusb]

Also FYI, it may not be as simple as finding out your flood level and building above that.

When building within a flood prone area in QLD you will need an engineer's footings design to verify that the building can withstand the hydrostatic actions etc, which is basically the velocity of the flood water. This is irrespective if you are a house on stumps or a concrete slab.

You can't find out the hydrostatic and hydrodynamic actions from Council as they do not have this info, so you would first need to engage a hydraulics engineer to get the velocity of the water. You're looking at between $500-$2500 for this report.