Keeping our network protected from damage and accessible for inspection and maintenance activities is incredibly important. If you are planning work near or over our pipes, you'll need to get approval before any building or construction works commences. Urban Utilities offers two different application types based on the works to be undertaken.

 

Build Over Assets

Build Over Assets – involves the construction of buildings or structures, which are defined as assessable building works in the current Building Regulation legislation (e.g. construction of a new dwelling or 1.5m high retaining wall), near or over Urban Utilities’ water or sewerage infrastructure or encroaching on or over a Urban Utilities registered easement.

As per the Queensland Development Code (QDC) MP 1.4 – Building over or near relevant infrastructure, assessable building works which meets the following criteria do not require advice to be provided to or approval to be obtained from Urban Utilities.

Class 1 or 10 building or structure
  • All loads created by the building works and the associated footing arrangement will be at least 300mm below the bottom of all water or sewerage infrastructure, and
  • When complete, all parts of the building or structure will be located at least 3m horizontally clear from the centreline of the water or sewerage infrastructure.
Class 2 – 9 building
  • All loads created by the building works and the associated footing arrangement will be at least 300mm below the bottom of all water or sewerage infrastructure, and
  • When complete, all parts of the building or structure will be located at least 5m horizontally clear from the centreline of the water or sewerage infrastructure.
Building works involving the use of driven piles or piers
  • The piles or piers are located at least 5m horizontally clear from the centreline of the water or sewerage infrastructure.
Building works involving the use of ground anchors or rock bolts
  • The ground anchors or rock bolts are located at least 10m horizontally clear from the centreline of the water or sewerage infrastructure.

Construction Over Assets

Construction Over Assets – involves the construction of operational works, which are not defined as assessable building works (e.g. construction of stormwater pipework, stormwater retention basin, roads, and earthworks), near or over Urban Utilities’ water or sewerage infrastructure or encroaching on or a Urban Utilities registered easement.

Construction works which meets the following criteria do not require Construction Over Assets approval to be obtained from Urban Utilities.

Construction works
  • All loads created by the construction works and the associated footing arrangement will be at least 300mm below the bottom of all water or sewerage infrastructure, and
  • When complete, all parts of the construction works will be located at least 3m horizontally clear from the centreline of the water or sewerage infrastructure.
  • When complete, all parts of the construction works will not encroach on or over an easement for water and/or sewerage purposes.
Excavation works
  • The excavation works are located at least 3m horizontally clear from the centreline of the water or sewerage infrastructure.
  • When complete, all parts of the construction works will not encroach on or over an easement for water and/or sewerage purposes.

Building or Constructing Over Easements

Building or Constructing Over Easements – involves building or construction works encroaching on or over a registered easement, which consent from the easement owner is required prior to any works being undertaken.  For more information, please refer to the individual sections below.

Visit the Research my land page for services and advice to help you locate our infrastructure within or adjacent to a property.

Note that as stormwater infrastructure is owned and operated by Councils, and you will need to contact your Council to obtain their 'building over stormwater' requirements and/or approval.

As of 1 March 2019, Urban Utilities no longer accepts Self-Assessment Referrals.

There are two ways in which building over or near water and/or sewerage infrastructure approval can be obtained.

If the building works complies with all the applicable acceptable solutions provided in the Queensland Development Code (QDC) MP 1.4 – Building over or near relevant infrastructure, a Private Building Certifier can lodge a Form 32 (Compliant Advice) submission to Urban Utilities.  Note that the Form 32 submission will need to include the relevant plans and drawings of the building works which have been assessed against the acceptable solutions provided in QDC MP 1.4 – Building over or near relevant infrastructure

If the building works do not comply with all the acceptable solutions provided in the QDC MP 1.4 – Building over or near relevant infrastructure, the building works will need to be referred to the relevant Service Provider (i.e. Urban Utilities) for assessment via a Build Over Asset (BOA) Referral submission.

Useful Links for Reference

Queensland Government – Build over infrastructure webpage

Queensland Development Code MP 1.4 – Building over or near relevant infrastructure document

Queensland Government – Newsflash - Light-weight class 10 buildings and structures under MP 1.4

Queensland Government – Form 32 – Relevant information for service providers

Queensland Government – Development Assessment Rules webpage

Urban Utilities – Form 32 Fact Sheet

 

 

Form 32 Submission
Acknowledgement: Within five business days
Urban Utilities Fees: Nil
Please note: Form 32 submission can only be made by Private Building Certifiers
Building work comply with QDS MP1.4? Building works encroach on Urban Utilities easement? Building works encroach on non-Urban Utilities easement? Form 32 submission acceptable?
Yes No No Yes
Yes Yes Yes
(Easement owner consent to be provided with Form 32 submission)		 Yes
Yes Yes No No
(BOA Referral required)
No Yes / No Yes No
(BOA Referral required)
How to lodge a Form 32 Submission
  1. Download and complete Form 32 from the Queensland Government forms website.
  2. Email the completed form and associated material to development.boa@urbanutilities.com.au
  3. We will review the submission and issue either:
    1. Acknowledgement advice, and register the submission, or
    2. Non-compliance advice.

 

BOA Referral Submission

Referral Assessment: BOA Referral Submission will be assessed as per the timeframes specified in the Development Assessment Rules.

Compliant referral submissions:

            Referral Confirmation period (5 business days) plus Referral Assessment period (20 business days)

Non-compliant Referral Submissions:

           25 business days

Urban Utilities Fees: Please see the Developer Customer Price List for further details.

Referral Applicant: Urban Utilities will accept a BOA Referral Submission from Private Building Certifiers, Property owners, Engineers, Contractors, Builders etc.

Assessment Manager: Urban Utilities requires the Assessment Manager of the assessable building works to be a Private Building Certifier (with all details being included on the BOA Referral Form)
Building work comply with QDS MP1.4? Building works encroach on Urban Utilities easement? Building works encroach on non-Urban Utilities easement? Form 32 submission acceptable?
No No No No
Yes Yes No Yes
Yes Yes No Yes
No No Yes Yes
(Easement owner consent to be provided with BOA Referral submission)
How to lodge a BOA Submission
  1. Download and complete the latest BOA Referral Form.
  2. Gather the following supporting information
    1. copy of the building application, including plans, drawings and specifications that comply with the Building Act 1975 Chapter 3 Parts 1 and 2
    2. supporting technical documentation (as outlined in the BOA Referral Form).
  3. Email the completed form and copies of the necessary supporting information to development.boa@urbanutilities.com.au
  4. Issue you a Charge Notice for payment.
  5. Upon receipt of all necessary fees, your referral submission will be assessed and a Concurrent Agency Response issued. The notice will contain approval conditions for the building design. 
Note: Missing or incorrect information will delay assessment. Referrals that are not properly made will not be progressed.
 

As indicated above, construction works involves the construction of works which are not defined as assessable building works near or over Urban Utilities' water or sewerage infrastructure or encroaching on or over a Urban Utilities registered easement. 

The trigger of the submission of a COA Referral is to comply with the Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008, Section 192 – Interfering with service provider’s infrastructure. As such, the criteria for a COA Referral is as follows,

The scope of works assessed under a COA Referral submission excludes,

  • Any water or sewerage infrastructure works (which would need to be coved by a separate Urban Utilities Water Approval Application).
  • Any building or construction works which would trigger a BOA Referral under the Queensland Development Code MP1.4.
  • Any projects handled by Urban Utilities’ Planning Group.
  • Any works covered by a Type 1 Network Access Permit.

Urban Utilities requires such works be assessed to ensure that proposed construction works will be undertaken to ensure that:

  1. the construction works do not:
    1. adversely affect the operation of Urban Utilities infrastructure; or
    2. place a load on Urban Utilities infrastructure that could adversely affect its structural integrity; and

  2. the integrity of the construction works is unlikely to be affected as a result of Urban Utilities infrastructure:
    1. being maintained or replaced; or
    2. failing to function properly; and

  3. when completed, the construction works allows for:
    1. any gas that builds up in Urban Utilities infrastructure to escape in a way that ensures persons in close proximity to a maintenance cover for the infrastructure are not harmed by the gas; and
    2. suitable access to be maintained to Urban Utilities infrastructure required for inspecting, maintaining or replacing the infrastructure.
COA Referral Submission
Referral Assessment: COA Referral Submission will be assessed within 25 business days
Urban Utilities Fees: Please see the Developer Customer Price List for further details
Referral Application: Urban Utilities will accept a COA Referral Submission from Private Building Certifiers, Property Owners, Engineers, Contractors, Builders etc
Assessment Manager: Urban Utilities requires the Assessment Manager of the construction works to be a Registered Professional Engineer of Queensland (RPEQ) (with all details being included on the BOA Referral Form
Construction works within 3m of water an/or sewerage infrastructure? Construction works encroach on Urban Utilities easement? Construction works encroach on non-Urban Utilities easement? COA Referral submission required?
No No No No
Yes No No Yes
Yes Yes No Yes
Yes No Yes Yes
(Easement owner consent to be provided with BOAS Referral submission)
How to lodge a COA Referral Submission
  1. Download and complete the latest COA Referral Form.
  2. Gather the following supporting information.
    1. Supporting technical documentation (as outlined in the COA Referral Form).
  3. Email the completed form and copies of the necessary supporting information to development.boa@urbanutilities.com.au
  4. Upon receiving your properly-made referral, we will issue you a Charge Notice for payment.
Note: Missing or incorrect information will delay assessment. Referrals that are not properly made will not be progressed.

Due to a large number of registered easement located within Urban Utilities’ service area were created for water and/or sewer purposes, and not transferred to Urban Utilities, such easements remain in favour of their respective local government (i.e. Brisbane City Council, Ipswich City Council, Somerset Regional Council, Scenic Rim Regional Council, Lockyer Valley Regional Council).

In accordance with the Building Act 1975 – Section 65, an assessment manager must not approve the application for any works unless each of the registered holder of the easement/s has consented to the works.

If it is identified that Urban Utilities are the registered owner of the easement, consent to build or construct on or over the registered easement can be obtained by submitting a BOA or COA Referral Submission.

If it is identified that Urban Utilities are not the registered owner of the easement, consent to build or construct on or over the registered easement must be obtained from the registered owner of the easement.

To determine who the registered owner of an easement and to obtain other relevant information pertaining to an easement, the following documents can be obtained (via application) from the Queensland Titles Search webpage,

  • Current title search - Shows current owners of a lot and other registered interests
  • Survey Plans - Image of a survey plan showing location, dimensions and area of a parcel of land
  • Dealing search - Statement of registered dealing or administrative advice. Shows dealing information, type, status and all current and non current titles affected

In some circumstances, building and/or construction works will not comply with the acceptable solutions provided by QDC MP1.4, or they will require a referral under QDC MP1.4.

To assist in these situations, we offer a range of alternative solutions for building over or near our infrastructure, that are also acceptable as part of a BOA referral.

The following downloadable technical drawings may help prepare alternative solution plans or engineering drawings prior to submission. For further information, including the meaning of various terms, please refer to BOA Definitions document.

 

List of BOA Alternative Solutions Technical Drawings

Drawing number: BOA -SEW-P1-1201-2
Title: Concrete sleeper retaining walls Adjacent to or over Small Diameter Sewers and Sewer Services (PE Sewers Only) 1
Version: 01
Date: 18 April 2019

Drawing number: BOA -SEW-P1-1201-3
Title: Concrete sleeper retaining walls Adjacent to or over Small Diameter Sewers and Sewer Services (PE Sewers Only) 2
Version: 01
Date: 18 April 2019

 

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If you have a sewer maintenance structure, also known as a manhole, in your yard, it indicates there is a sewer running through your property.

We need to be able to access maintenance structures to undertake activities such as clearing blockages, routine cleaning, camera inspection or repair/replacement.

If you’re doing work on your property that affects the sewerage pipeline, you’ll need to lodge a Water Connection application in our Development Applications Portal

Tips to keep manholes/maintenance holes accessible

  • Trim shrubs and grass around the manhole
  • Avoid parking vehicles over the manhole
  • Do not build any structures over the manhole, including establishing a garden on top of, or burying the manhole.

If you need assistance determining whether a sewer runs through your property or the size and depth of the sewer, you can request an engineering search.

Maintenance structure alterations

During construction or excavation at your property, you may need to make an alteration to the manhole.

How do I arrange for a manhole to be raised or lowered?

For all property types, submit a Property Service Connection application in our Developer Applications portal. 

When completing your online application select 'Wastewater Alteration' under Connection details and provide details in the Additional Information section.

We will assess your application and identify the classification of the manhole. If it is classified as a G type maintenance structure and you are raising it up to one metre, we will give you the option of proceeding under our standard connection process. All other classifications of manholes, raising above one metre, and all lowering manhole applications will be processed under our endorsed consultant certification scheme for minor works.