City of Gold Coast Planning and Development Hub

As our roads become increasingly congested, construction works are more frequently occurring around City of Gold Coast (City) water and sewer infrastructure.

Due to this projected population growth, a new set of guidelines is now required to control how any construction works may affect City infrastructure.

The Guidelines for working near water and sewer infrastructure (Guidelines) have been developed to assist stakeholders (i.e. contractors, supervisors, project managers, designers, etc.) when undertaking works near City water and sewer infrastructure to ensure that the infrastructure is protected.

This guide was created in collaboration with the SEQ Design and Construction Code (SEQ Code) and the Gold Coast Water Network Modifications, Extension and Connections (NMEC) Policy Procedure.

To access the Guidelines document, please click here or select from the Document Library. Also within the Document Library is a fact sheet which provides an overview of the Guidelines.

To share your feedback on the Guidelines, or if you have a question, please use our survey form.

For further information, please contact Nathan Pearson at Gold Coast Water and Waste (07 5582 8145).

Personnel Qualifications – certification clarification for water and sewerage civil construction

Attention Developers, contractors and engineering consultants. Please be advised as of 1 January 2017, anyone working on Gold Coast Water (GCW) assets will require additional proof of certification for the installation of water and sewerage civil assets.

Each person carrying out and supervising sewerage construction activities must hold minimum qualifications appropriate to the work undertaken and the specific pipeline under construction (e.g. polyethylene, PVC, mild steel).

With respect to water supply construction activity, at least one person on site must have completed a pipe laying training course appropriate to the pipeline under construction. This training course must have been completed within the last 10 years.

This certification clarification is to ensure conformance with Section 12.2 of the Sewerage SEQ Design and Construction Code and Section 11.1.1 of the Water Supply SEQ Design and Construction Code.

Minimum qualifications refer to Statements of Attainment for Units of Competence, as nominated by GCW, from any of the following or other relevant, approved training packages:

• Water Industry National Training Package NWP01

• Local Government Training Package LGA00

• Civil Construction Training Package BCC98

The completion of the units ‘RIICPL303D – Install Sewer Pipelines’ and ‘RIICPL301D – Install Water Mains Pipelines’, part of RII30913 – Certificate III in Civil Construction Pipe Laying, would ensure compliance with the Sewerage SEQ Design and Construction Code with respect to all facets for the installation of rubber ring jointed water supply and sewerage reticulation. ‘Civil Train (the Civil Contractors Federations’ Training Division) offers these units, among other registered training institutions.’

For the provision of training or assessment services as required, approved registered training institutions are those listed by the National Training Information Service at www.ntis.gov.au.

Specialist accreditation, such as the laying and jointing of polyethylene pipe or welding of mild steel pipe, shall mean a qualification achieved through specialised training and assessment for a specific product and/or situation that is not covered by relevant Training Packages.

The contractor will need to provide documented evidence of such qualifications prior to commencement of the works. All relevant staff licenses, tickets and works permits must be held in a visible location and readily available on site of the works for inspection at any time. GCW reserves the right to determine whether a contractor is licensed to undertake certain works.

The Project Manager is responsible for ensuring all suppliers have the necessary technical qualifications / accreditation.

GCW is committed to ensuring our customers are satisfied with the quality, safety and compliance of our assets within the City of Gold Coast. To ensure we are delivering on our commitment, a high level of detailed investigation surrounding the construction and inspection of our assets is important.

For more information, please contact Kerim Sijercic at GCW (07 5582 8386).

Developers, contractors and engineering consultants are to note that as of 1 December 2016, no forms of sandwich wall pipe will be accepted for sewerage construction works on the Gold Coast. Only plain wall uPVC sewerage pipe will be accepted, i.e. one continuous layer of solid PVC throughout the pipe.

Solid core sandwich wall pipe will be allowed up until 1 December 2016. However, foam core sandwich wall pipe is not accepted at all.

This is to conform with Item 230 - 4.1 on the SEQ Water Supply and Sewerage Design and Construction Code Accepted Civil Products and Materials List, which states that plain wall uPVC pipe is only to be accepted for non-pressure sewerage pipes and fittings.

Gold Coast Water is committed to ensuring our customers are satisfied with the Quality, Safety and Compliance of our assets within the City of Gold Coast. To ensure we are delivering on our commitment, a high level of detailed investigation surrounding the construction and inspection of our assets is important.

With sandwich wall pipe, Gold Coast Water has noticed consistent pipe spigot delamination of the internal pure PVC layer in both factory pipes and field cut pipes. This create defects and deformation within the pipe’s internal surface creating obstructions to laminar flow. As a result there is potential for rag catching, pipe blockage, and delamination of the matrix of different PVC formats over time, reducing the pipe’s life expectancy.

The defects caused by the use of sandwich wall pipe have increased the time taken to review and approve the CCTV test packages and have a considerable effect on the overall time taken for plan sealing approval.

For more information, please contact Kerim Sijercic at Gold Coast Water (07 5582 8386).

Council officers have been receiving queries on determining the levels of assessment for development over multiple zones. Accordingly, the following advice is provided:

Section 5.3.2(4) of the City Plan identifies:

“Where development is proposed on premises included in more than one zone or overlay, the level of assessment is the highest level for each aspect of the development under each of the applicable zones or overlays.”

Where a site is included in more than one zone, proposed development would be subject to the level of assessment of the respective zones, to the extent the development applies to that zone.

Example site with split zoning

In the scenario of a Child care centre on the site above, two levels of assessment (material change of use tables) could be applicable:

• Neighbourhood centre zone (blue) – subject to Code assessment; and
  
• Open space zone (green) – subject to Impact assessment.

Both levels of assessment would be applicable, if the proposed development extended over both zones. The extent of development could include (but is not limited to) built form, carparking, communal open space, and storm water infrastructure.

To clarify (using the above scenario):

• if the extent of the proposed development is wholly contained within the Neighbourhood centre zone, the level of assessment for the development would be determined based on that zone (Code assessment).

• if the extent of the proposed development is over both zones:

1. the portion of the development within the Neighbourhood centre zone would be subject to Code assessment
2. the portion of the development in the Open space zone would subject to Impact assessment

You can lodge and pay your plumbing and drainage application online through our website at anytime, anywhere. The online application replaces the need to complete two forms, is compatible with most smartphones, tablets and PCs ,and you can save it and come back later. Applications can be lodged and paid for online at cityofgoldcoast.com.au/plumbing