Flood Resilient Suburbs – Apartments Program

Brisbane Sustainability Agency is working with Brisbane City Council to improve the flood resilience of Brisbane’s apartment buildings.

Do you live in an apartment building that is at risk of flooding in Brisbane?

Your building’s body corporate may be eligible to participate in the free Flood Resilient Suburbs – Apartments Program. To register your interest, click the below button and fill out the form.

If you’re unsure about your eligibility, don’t worry. We’ll check that for you once you have registered. 

Registrations close March 31, 2024.

About the program

The Flood Resilient Suburbs – Apartments Program is an initiative of Brisbane City Council, delivered in partnership with Brisbane Sustainability Agency. Brisbane City Council is aware of the impact of flood events on apartment buildings. For example, flooding in basements can cause apartment building occupants to experience periods of isolation and building service outages.

The program is designed to help apartment building bodies corporate prepare for, respond to and recover quickly from flood events with free online tools and resources. Eligible apartment buildings will also be offered a free Building Resilience Assessment, followed by a Flood Resilience Recommendations Report, to raise awareness of flood risks and to identify design, engineering and construction options that improve the building’s flood resilience. The program is currently focussing on apartment complexes with basements. 

The program aims to assist at-risk apartment buildings and consists of three steps:

Flood Resilience Information – all bodies corporate can express their interest in the program and receive free online tools and resources to help prepare for, respond to and recover quickly from a flood event.

Building Resilience Assessment – eligible bodies corporate can also receive a free Building Resilience Assessment conducted on-site by a flood resilience assessor.

Flood Resilience Recommendations Report – following the assessment, participants will receive a Recommendations Report outlining actions that bodies corporate can take to better improve their apartment building’s flood resilience.

For more information on the Flood Resilient Suburbs – Apartments Program, visit our frequently asked questions.

Who is eligible

All bodies corporate are eligible for free online flood resilience information. Bodies corporate will be eligible for the Building Resilience Assessment and Flood Resilience Recommendations Report if the building:

  • is located within the Brisbane City Local Government Area
  • has a basement
  • has a 50% chance of overland flow and/or creek flooding each year, or a 1% chance of river flooding each year or was impacted by the February 2022 severe weather event.

If you’re unsure of your property’s percentage chance of flooding, we’ll check this once you’ve registered your interest in the program.

What is overland flow flooding?
Overland flow is excess rainfall run-off from homes, driveways and other surfaces. Overland flow flooding is water that runs across the land after rain, either before it enters a creek or stream, or after rising to the surface naturally from underground. Overland flow flooding tends to affect localised areas rather than the whole city at once.
What is creek flooding?
Creek flooding happens when intense rain falls over a creek catchment. Run-off from houses and streets also contributes to creek flooding. The combination of the existing water flowing through the creek, heavy rainfall and run-off causes creek levels to rise.
What is river flooding?
River flooding happens when widespread, prolonged rain falls over the catchment of a river. As the river channel reaches capacity, excess water flows over its banks causing flooding. River flooding downstream can occur hours or days after the rainfall has finished. River flooding may coincide or exacerbate flooding in adjacent creeks and tributaries and may itself be exacerbated by higher than normal high tide conditions.

What is flood-resilient design?

Flood-resilient design is the use of materials, construction systems and design types that can withstand substantial and multiple inundations of water by actively mitigating the effects and minimising the cost of flooding. Flood resilient design enables property owners to take action before a flood event, easily clean and quickly move back in after such an event with minimal long-term disruption.  By implementing flood-resilient design measures, property owners can actively mitigate or minimise the effects of flooding.

View below for examples of flood-resilient design and building solutions in practice in a house:

Even if you are not eligible for the Flood Resilient Suburbs – Apartments Program, we strongly recommend investigating flood-resilient building and construction techniques for your building. To do this, view any of the resources below.

More information

If you would like more information about the Flood Resilient Suburbs -Apartments Program or flood resilient design generally, read our frequently asked questions or you can contact Brisbane Sustainability Agency at 07 3007 7013 or email floodwise@sustainablebrisbane.com.au

Be prepared for flooding

Brisbane City Council is committed to creating a more resilient city by ensuring residents, businesses and organisations are better prepared to endure future severe weather events. The free tools and information accessed through the below links can help Brisbane residents, businesses and organisations understand their property’s flood risk and how to prepare for future flood events:

Flood Awareness Map – To identify the likelihood and sources of flooding that may affect your property, sourced from the latest flood studies and models.

FloodWise Property Report – Download a FloodWise Property Report to understand the risk and type of flooding at a specific property to enable you to plan and build new habitable floor levels in accordance with Brisbane City Council’s requirements.

Brisbane Severe Weather Alert Service – Sign up to receive free alert notices of severe thunderstorms, destructive winds and potential flooding.

Visit Council’s be prepared web page for more information on how you can prepare yourself and your property for severe weather events.

Flood preparation, recovery and emergency phone numbers

Life-threatening emergencies: 000
Brisbane City Council: 07 3403 8888
State Emergency Service (SES): 132 500
Energex (power lines): 13 19 62
Queensland Urban Utilities: 13 26 57 (13 23 64 for emergencies)
Community Recovery Hotline: 1800 173 349
Lifeline: 13 11 14

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