Building approval for raising a house on the Gold Coast

The distinction that matters

Straight restumping, where existing stumps are replaced at the same height and nothing about the building changes, is commonly treated as repair or maintenance of an existing structure. In many cases that does not require building approval.

Raising a house is different. The height changes, the form changes, and usually the space underneath is intended for some new purpose. That is a change to the building, and it generally does require building approval.

Since the answer depends on the specific property and the specific scope, the responsible position is to confirm rather than assume. A private building certifier or the City of Gold Coast will tell you which category your job falls into, and that conversation is far cheaper than finding out afterwards.

Two different approvals

People use "council approval" as one phrase, but there are two distinct things and a project can need one, both, or neither.

Building approval deals with whether the building work complies with the National Construction Code and the relevant standards. Structure, fire, health and amenity. It is assessed by a building certifier, who can be a private certifier or the council.

Development approval deals with planning: whether the use and form of what you are proposing is acceptable under the City Plan for that site. Height, setbacks, character, flooding, vegetation and so on. Whether you need one depends on how the planning scheme categorises your proposal for your zone and overlays.

A house raise on a straightforward site in a standard residential zone may need building approval only. The same raise on a site with a flood overlay or a character provision may need both.

Overlays worth checking on the Gold Coast

The City Plan applies overlays to properties based on their characteristics, and several of them bear directly on raising a house.

• Flood overlays. Substantial parts of the city are affected. Where a flood overlay applies, there is usually a defined level that habitable floors are expected to sit above, and this can be the reason for raising in the first place. It also constrains what you can do with the space underneath.
• Building height. Zones carry height controls, and raising a house increases its overall height. On a two storey outcome this can become the binding constraint.
• Character and heritage provisions. Some areas have provisions relating to the character of existing dwellings, which can affect what alterations are supported.
• Landslide, bushfire and vegetation. More relevant in the hinterland, around Tamborine, Currumbin Valley and the western fringes.
• Setbacks and site cover. Building in underneath can change how the site is counted, even though the footprint has not changed.

The council provides an online mapping tool where you can enter a property address and see the zoning and overlays that apply. It is free and it is the right first step before spending money on design.

The sequence that avoids wasted money

1. Check the property against the planning scheme using the council's mapping tool. Note the zone and every overlay.
2. Talk to a private building certifier or a town planner about what those overlays mean for your intended scope. This is the cheapest hour you will spend on the project.
3. Decide what you actually want. Useful storage and access underneath is a different project to legal habitable rooms, which carry minimum ceiling height requirements under the National Construction Code. Establish which one before design starts.
4. Engage a designer and engineer to produce the documentation the approval will need.
5. Obtain development approval if required, then building approval.
6. Engage the licensed contractor, confirm the QBCC licence, and confirm home warranty insurance is taken out before work starts.
7. Inspections through the build, then the final certificate. Keep every document.

The most common expensive mistake is running steps 4 and 5 in the wrong order, paying for a design that the overlays were never going to support.

Keep the paperwork

Approvals and final certificates are property records, not project admin. They come up when you sell, when you insure, and when the next owner's solicitor asks what was done to the house and under what approval. Unapproved structural work is a genuine problem at sale and it is much harder to resolve retrospectively than to do properly at the time.