City of Gold Coast Planning and Development Hub

Contractors and engineering consultants please be aware that operational faults or failures to the City’s live water supply and sewerage networks requiring an urgent response are to be reported to Gold Coast Water and Waste on 1300 000 928 to conduct the necessary urgent repairs. Operational faults or failures requiring an urgent response include the gushing of water and sewer spills. This applies to all live infrastructure, whether deemed on or off maintenance.

Operational repairs undertaken by Gold Coast Water and Waste as a result of damage from a contractor, or damage to infrastructure that is deemed ‘on-maintenance’, will be invoiced to the contractor.

Non-urgent defects that can be repaired by the contractor for assets that are ‘on-maintenance’ include damaged meter boxes or lids, lowering or raising of valves/manholes/hydrants/meters, damage to sewer lids, or slow leaking at meter box/stop tap/ fire hydrant/etc. Those non-urgent defects that require shutting down the network will require connection applications to be submitted to Gold Coast Water and Waste’s Asset Audit and Handover Section for approval. Note that only Gold Coast Water and Waste are permitted to operate and shut down their networks.

As we prepare for a busy 2017 and in order to help applicants progress through the DA process with ease, we would like to remind you that each application needs to be lodged with the mandatory supporting information.

It is important to ensure that the application is on the approved IDAS form/s, has owner’s consent, and the appropriate fee for administering the application is allocated. Correct IDAS forms and supporting information enables the pre-assessment process to be undertaken without delay, resulting in applications being deemed properly made and progressing to the next IDAS stage of the development assessment process.

However, if your application fails to satisfy any of the requirements under Section 260 of the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 (SPA), and is lodged with any of the following, it will result in a 'Not Properly Made Notice' being issued to the applicant under Section 266.

1. additional applications forms not required for the proposed application,

2. relevant boxes not ticked or too many ticked on the application forms,

3. a cover page being copied from previous applications therefore misleading as the information pertains to a different application,

4. insufficient site information, inadequate information to pre-assess the application,

5. incorrect fees or no break-down of fees or no attempt to calculate our fees and charges, and

6. no owners consent or consent requirements as per SPA.

The 'Not Properly Made Notice' then stalls the pre-assessment process as the applicant must take the action as mentioned in the notice within 20 business days. If the required action is not undertaken within the prescribed period, the application will lapse in accordance with Section 266(3) of SPA.

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