Gold Coast flood level search: A$113 a lot in 2026-27

What the register lists

The City's register of fees and charges for 2026-27 has an entry numbered 12028, Defined Flood Level Information, described as defined flood information for each property lot, at A$113.00. The City's flood level search page adds that an administrative fee is payable for undertaking the search and forwarding the results. We read both on 25 September 2026.

The register has a column that flags GST. The row as printed does not show whether the flag applies, so this page says only that the register lists A$113.00 and does not add or remove GST. The same row also carries an hourly fee with a two-hour minimum, which is not used here.

What the search gives you, and what it does not

The City says the designated flood level reflects a rain event with a minimum one per cent chance of occurring in any year, coinciding with a storm tide for most areas. It also says search results refer to riverine or regional flooding only, that they do not cover local flash flooding, and that the search does not show the flood extent. It recommends that owners engage a licensed surveyor to determine accurate property and floor levels.

So the fee buys a level for one lot, from the City's own modelling. It does not say that a house floods, and it does not measure your floor.

The rule the level feeds

The City says it requires residential habitable floor levels to be at or above the height of the combined defined flood level, with minimum freeboard of 300 millimetres, as prescribed in the Flood Overlay Code of the City Plan and the Building Regulation 2006. That is how a level from the search becomes a height on a drawing.

Whether that rule applies to a particular raise or restump of an existing house is for a certifier or the City to say. The City's page on building works that need approval does not name either job, and the Building Regulation 2021 items for repairs and alterations exclude work that changes a building's height.

Where this meets a quote

An owner weighing a raise can ask any provider three ordinary questions before agreeing a price: whether a defined flood level search has been done for the lot, what floor level the design is working to and where that number came from, and who will confirm it. A provider can answer those, and this site cannot, because it passes enquiries on and does not do the work.

What could change

The register is for 2026-27 and the City can revise a fee or its search page at any time. Check the City's current register before you rely on the number.