FloodWise Property Report

Brisbane City Council is helping residents to be resilient and ready for flooding. Council's FloodWise Property Report is a technical report to guide planning and building in Brisbane. It will help you understand flooding risk on a property as well as applicable historic flood levels and survey levels so that you can build in accordance with Brisbane City Council's planning requirements in City Plan.

To access a FloodWise Property Report, go to the main page of Council's Flood Information Online. Firstly, select "I am a resident, business, or visitor," and then select "I want to search the Flood Awareness Map" to check for flooding on a property. Once the map opens, use the search bar to search for the property, then click the "Technical FloodWise Property Report" button.

The second way is to select "I am in construction or development," then choose "I want a Technical FloodWise Property Report." Enter an address or lot number, select the right option from the drop-down addresses, and then click the blue arrow. The FloodWise Property Report will open in a new tab and may take up to 20 seconds to generate.

The first page of the report provides general flood and survey information about a property. If applicable, the remaining technical details in the report are covered in a separate video. The header includes the property's address or lot number. If an address has more than three lots, there will be a message saying these will be shown in the appendix on the last page. Check the header to be sure you have the report for the correct property.

The opening paragraph explains that this is a technical report for building and development and uses the adopted flood planning information in City Plan. If there are no flood levels on the property for river, creek, or storm tide for 1% through to 20% annual likelihood, this message will show on the report. This simply means that these types of flooding will not affect residential building or development requirements. It is important to note that flooding may still present a risk and could include overland flow, which is shown as a property development flag further down the report.

The property may also be affected by rarer flood events such as the 0.2% annual likelihood, and if present, will be shown in the Flood Planning Information table. A graph will be shown when flood levels are applicable for residential building and development. The vertical axis on the left shows elevation above sea level, also known as meters AHD (Australian Height Data), which is a reference for defining ground levels above sea level in Australia. The horizontal axis along the bottom shows the likelihood of a flood occurring annually, ranging from 20% annual exceedance probability (most likely) down to 1% (least likely).

Annual exceedance probability (AEP) is the probability of a flood event of a given size occurring in any one year. It will also show if flood levels were recorded for the latest historic flood events in January 2011 and February 2022. The green bar running along the graph shows the minimum and maximum ground levels for the property, indicating the elevation of the land above sea level.

For example, if the minimum ground level is 5.6 meters and the maximum ground level is 6.5 meters, the dotted line represents the property's indicative existing floor level. This is the approximate level (in meters above sea level) of the lowest habitable floor in the existing building—recorded at 6.7 meters in this example. Some properties may have no floor level shown.

Vertical bars on the graph show the highest type of flooding on the property for different likelihood events. There may be various types of flooding present. It is important to note that the value or number above these bars does not indicate the depth of floodwater. The colors of the bars relate to the legend below: flooding from river is shown in shades of brown, flooding from storm tide is shown in shades of orange to pale pink, and flooding from creek is shown in shades of blue.

For example, this report may show flooding from storm tide, with flood levels for 5%, 2%, and 1% annual likelihoods. Flood levels should be read in conjunction with the minimum and maximum ground levels. In this example, the 1% annual likelihood is 20 cm above the maximum ground level and may affect up to 100% of the property. The existing floor level is shown as 4 meters above sea level, indicating that the lowest habitable area of the property is well above this flood level. The yellow bar shows the February 2022 flood level at 3.4 meters.

The bottom of the page includes an aerial map for the address or lot, outlined in red. The shading shows where the combined 1% annual likelihood of flooding from river, creek, and storm tide may occur. This flood extent is taken from the adopted flood levels in City Plan. In many cases, no flooding will be shown on a property. In other cases where 1% flooding is present, the shading will either fully or partially cover the property.

For more technical information about reading the rest of the FloodWise Property Report, watch "How to Read a FloodWise Property Report – Part 2." Council's Flood Information Online is helping residents and visitors stay safe, confident, and ready.

Brisbane City Council is helping residents to be resilient and ready for flooding. Council's FloodWise Property Report is a technical report to guide planning and building in Brisbane. It will help you understand the modeled flood risk on a property so that you can build in accordance with Brisbane City Council's planning requirements in City Plan.

This video will explain the FloodWise Property Report from page 2 onwards—page 1 is covered in the Part 1 video.

This is the technical section of the report and is intended to assist surveyors, builders, certifiers, architects, town planners, and engineers to plan and build in accordance with Council's planning scheme. In this section, if the property has no modeled or historic flood levels, this area will be blank.

If flooding is shown on a graph on the first page, then this Property Information Summary Table will display. It provides a quick snapshot of the minimum and maximum ground levels, the indicative existing floor level, and the highest source of flooding—in this case, from storm tide. The far-right column is marked "Data Quality Code," with letters A, B, and C indicating how Council obtained the data for these levels. Explanations are in the "Useful Definitions" section further down the report.

The Flood Planning Information Table provides a snapshot of the likelihood of flooding from river, creek, and storm tide. It includes the annual chance or likelihood of flooding for 20%, 5%, 2%, 1%, and 0.2% AEP where applicable. A 20% AEP is considered a regular event, whereas a 0.2% AEP is considered a rare event.

Flood levels are shown as meters AHD (Australian Height Datum), a national vertical datum where mean sea level is 0.0 meters AHD. All levels shown here indicate elevation above mean sea level. In this example, we have a mix of river, creek, and storm tide flooding. The creek or waterway flood type will also include the name of the creek or catchment in brackets. River flooding shows the Brisbane River as the source. Historic flooding, if applicable, will also be displayed in this table—for example, the February 2022 flood event, with the source being the Brisbane River.

The final row of the table may show the minimum habitable floor level for a dwelling house. This equates to the 1% AEP flood level of the highest flood type plus 0.5 meters. This is the minimum level (in meters AHD) at which habitable areas of a development must be constructed, as required by City Plan.

In the next example, we see a level and source for the Defined Flood Level (DFL), which is used for commercial and industrial developments. Refer to the "Useful Definitions" section in the report and City Plan for more details. The Residential Flood Level (RFL) simply equates to the 1% annual likelihood of flooding from the Brisbane River.

The Flood Planning and Development Information section of the FloodWise Property Report contains details about Council's planning scheme overlays. The Flood Overlay Code guides the future development of land at risk of flooding within Defined Flood Planning Areas (FPAs). FPAs outline development requirements for a property based on flood likelihood, depth, and velocity.

This table shows if the Flood Overlay Code may apply to a property due to river, creek, waterway, or overland flow flooding. In this example, there are no overlays for river or overland flow; however, two flood planning areas apply to this property for creek or waterway flooding. For more information, search "Flood Planning Areas" on Council's website.

Depending on the location of the property, it may be subject to planning overlays. In this example, the property is within the Coastal Hazard Overlay, meaning the Coastal Hazard Overlay Code in City Plan applies. The table below shows the subcategories and development guidelines for the Coastal Hazard Overlay, with explanations available in City Plan.

Property Development Flags may be displayed in this section and can include a Waterway Corridor, Overland Flow Path, or Large Allotment Flag. A Large Allotment Flag appears if the property is over 1,000 square meters or located within a large allotment. Ground levels may vary across the property, and Council recommends further investigations to determine variations in flood levels.

Other property information flags may also appear, indicating if a property is located near a Brisbane River backflow device, in an area near a referral dam, or has participated in the Flood Resilient Homes Program. Details about works under this program can only be obtained by the property owner.

The "Useful Definitions" section provides a quick reference for key terminology used in the report. The bottom of the report may include an appendix listing lot numbers, which will apply only when there are more than three lots.

The FloodWise Property Report is a technical document designed to guide planning and development in Brisbane. If you require professional advice about the information in the report, Council recommends engaging a Registered Professional Engineer of Queensland. Brisbane City Council's Flood Information Online is helping residents and visitors stay safe, confident, and ready.