Helping the building industry future-proof Brisbane homes

Flooding is a natural process and can occur anywhere. Because of Brisbane’s location on a floodplain, along with our sub-tropical climate and unique land features, many residents may experience flooding in their lifetime. Despite the prevalence of flood events, many building industry clients may not be aware of their property’s flood risk or the importance of building flood-resilient homes. With your help, Brisbane City Council wants to ensure the community stays safe as our climate changes. In part, achieving that goal relies on building flood-resilient homes. 

“Building for flood resilience is a common-sense approach to building,” says Tom Yabsley, Director of Evolved Construction, Brisbane. “After a flood event, you often see like-for-like replacements happening, and when you pull everything out, you can see where the previous floods have been. If the client keeps replacing the damaged materials with the same thing, the damage keeps happening again and again. From a sustainability point of view, flood-resilient building is a common-sense approach.”

Thankfully, flood-resilient construction is based on easy to find materials and pre-existing building techniques, and this can be presented as a complete package that solves your customers’ needs.

“Flood-resilient building is basically about looking at every room as a wet room,” explains Tom. “We’ll waterproof it like we would a bathroom, so we’re tanking the walls to the floor, and that reduces the possibility  of water getting into the cavity.”

Brisbane-based JDA Co. specialises in design that is flood, fire and storm-resistant. Their principal architect, James Davidson, recognises the growing demand for flood and climate resilient strategies when renovating and building new homes. He says, “Flood-resilient design aims to enable people to effectively live through an event and then wash it out very easily afterwards. The house elements that we look into are typically flooring materials, wall materials, and construction systems related to non-cavity construction. By using flood-resilient materials and design, we can have a positive impact on the broader community by doing things better.”

Flood-resilient building strategies won’t stop the flooding but will ensure your clients spend less time cleaning up with less damage and expense. By proactively offering flood-resilient outcomes for your clients, you’re positioning your business as one that’s up to date with current building techniques and contributing to building a more resilient city. You’re also offering your customers peace of mind that their investment is safe and protected.

To access property-specific flooding information, head to Brisbane City Council’s Flood Awareness Map. You may also consider getting a surveyor to conduct a floor level survey. For more information and video resources about creating flood resilient homes click here.