Straight answers to the questions we hear most.
Approvals, energy ratings, scanning, setbacks — plain-language guides to help you understand your project before you start it. General information only; every site is different, so treat these as a starting point.
Do I need council approval for my renovation?
Almost all structural residential work in Queensland needs a building approval issued by a private building certifier — that covers extensions, raises, decks over a certain size, carports and new homes. This is different from a development application (DA), which is a planning approval from council and is only required when your project doesn’t meet the “acceptable outcomes” of the planning scheme — for example, building closer to a boundary than the standard setback, exceeding height limits, or altering a home protected by a character overlay.
Many well-designed projects avoid a DA entirely, or need only a minor variation (a “relaxation”). Part of our job is designing to the compliant pathway wherever possible — and when a relaxation or DA is genuinely needed, knowing how to present it so it’s approved.
Requirements vary by council and site. We confirm the approval pathway for your specific property at the start of every project.
What is 3D laser scanning, and why does it matter for my project?
A 3D laser scanner captures millions of measurement points across your site and building in a single visit — floor levels, wall positions, roof geometry, ground falls — producing a “point cloud” accurate to within millimetres. We process this into a digital twin of your property that every drawing is built from. Why it matters: traditional tape-and-laser measure-ups are approximations, and the gaps get discovered on site as variations — the expensive kind of surprise. Scanned existing conditions mean new work joins old work cleanly, renovation and build-under designs fit first time, and your builder prices from drawings that match reality.
A typical residential scan takes around two hours on site.
What are setbacks and relaxations?
A setback is the minimum distance a building must be from a boundary — front, side and rear — set by your council’s planning scheme and the Queensland Development Code. Setbacks vary with lot size, building height and zoning, and they shape what’s possible on your block more than almost any other rule. A relaxation (formally, a variation or siting dispensation) is permission to build closer than the standard setback. On small lots and character sites, relaxations are common and often approvable — if the design demonstrates the variation won’t unreasonably impact neighbours or the streetscape. That demonstration is a design task as much as a paperwork task, and it’s one of the things we do most.
We assess likely setback constraints and relaxation prospects during the site investigation at Stage 1.
What does a character overlay mean for my home?
Large parts of Brisbane’s inner and middle suburbs sit under the Traditional Building Character Overlay, which protects pre-1947 homes and streetscapes. If your home is covered, the overlay influences what you can demolish, how additions must relate to the original building, and what your street elevation can look like — and it usually means a development application for significant changes.
A character overlay is a constraint, not a dead end. Raises, build-unders and rear extensions are approved every week across these suburbs — the difference between an easy approval and a hard one is a design that genuinely respects the character provisions rather than fighting them. Our scan-based documentation of the existing building also makes the required drawings far more accurate.
Check your property’s overlays on Brisbane City Council’s online mapping, or ask us to review it as part of your enquiry.
How do building design fees work?
We quote a fixed fee for a defined scope, split across the three stages of our process — site capture and sketch design, design development and pricing drawings, then compliance documentation and approval. Each stage is invoiced as it begins, so you’re never paying for work that hasn’t started, and you can pause between stages if you need to.
Consultant fees — structural engineer, certifier, surveyor where needed — are separate and are either quoted directly to you or passed through at cost. We coordinate those consultants as part of Stage 3, and we’ll tell you early which ones your project is likely to need so there are no late surprises in the budget.
Every proposal includes a full fee schedule and scope of works before you commit to anything.