Common Flood Protection Challenges for Acquiring DA Approval

Acquiring Development Authority (DA) Approval is a certification process that most building projects in Australia are required to undergo. This ensures that the infrastructure is of high quality and possess qualities that take consideration of security and safety precautions based on local building code guidelines.

Flooding Solutions Advisory Group offer consultations and solutions to engineers and developers from the planning stage to implementation. In their years of expertise in the field, they have determined several factors that need to be considered in order for a building design to acquire DA Approval. The following list presents a number of issues that most architects and engineers need to work on, in order for their designs to qualify for building:

Floor Height Requirements

Planning instruments and schemes for land use will determine the minimum requirements related to flood risk management. This involves restriction of the area of development and, where development is allowed and the conditions that the development needs to follow. Habitable floors must be above the Flood Hazard Level including the freeboard as required by the Consent Authority.

For residential buildings, freeboard is usually 0.5m maximum unless a higher value is required depending on the location. A minimum of 0.3m freeboard is typically required for commercial developments

Material Requirements

All elements to be used for building need to conform to the requirements of the NCC including its referenced documents.