Common Questions
- How do I get a copy of my House Plans ?
Provided that the Townsville City Council has records of your property available, and that you have the appropriate authority (defined as being the owner of the property, or acting on behalf of an owner with their consent) to access the files, you have two [2] options:
We can make all the building files available for you to come in and search. You will be permitted to take photocopies of all the documents you require (please note that photocopying charges and a retrieval fee do apply).
If you require a specific document, such as your house plans or a final certificate etc, a Council Officer can search the files on your behalf for up to 30 minutes and try to source the required documents. Fees and charges vary depending the type/s of document/s requested, and further photocopying charges may apply depending on the size and quantity of copies you require.
Whether viewing files or requesting specific documents, all requests are to be submitted using the Search of Council Records Form  (26kB). The completed form can then be faxed or posted.
Please note that some files may be stored in Council's archives and it is therefore a requirement that a minimum 48 hours notice be given when viewing files, otherwise search information is generally available within 5 business days, or upon receipt of a completed search form. Further note that whilst every effort is made to maintain all of Council's property files, generally the Council is only required to maintain them for a period of ten years. If you have any concerns or further questions please don't hesitate to contact the Planning Services Department.
For an up to date list of fees and charges please refer to the Planning Services - Schedule of Fees and Charges.
- How do I know exactly where my boundary is ?
The Townsville City Council advises that you could try to find the original survey pegs, or contact the Department of Natural Resources and Mines to obtain the original survey plan. However, if you want to know exactly where your boundary is, you will need to contact a private surveyor and engage them to come out and survey the property to find the exact boundary line. If you just require an estimate, Council can, through its GIS Mapping System, produce an aerial map which can be made to show boundary lines and distances. This is however only an estimate, but it will give some indication as to where the boundary lies.
- What are the regulations to become an Owner Builder ?
An Owner Builder's Licence is issued by the Queensland Building Services Authority (QBSA). They are located at 287 Ross River Road, Townsville and can be contacted on 4725 2588.
If the estimated value of work is less than $11,000 (including GST) a person can nominate themselves to be an Owner Builder on the building work application form and needs no other paper work.
If the estimated value of building work exceeds $11,000 the QBSA will issue an Owner Builder permit on application and this must be sighted by the Building Certifier before a Building Permit can be issued.
- What are developer contributions for headworks?
Developer contributions for water supply and sewerage headworks (headworks) are a charge on development to pay for their 'fair share' of the establishment cost of infrastructure required to service that development. These charges are generally based on the cost of the trunk sewer and water supply network divided by the total users of that network - this results in a headworks rate ($/Equivalent Population, or $/EP, for water and sewer headworks). Since the costed network consists of some existing and some future infrastructure items, this represents a user pays charge to 'buy into' the spare capacity of the existing system, and those upgrades to the system required to meet the demand from new development. It is important to note that subsidies of the system etc are not included in the infrastructure costs and that 'credits' are given to the extent of existing 'as-of-right' uses on the land being developed (i.e., not requiring a planning approval).
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- So if these are headworks, what are the rates for water and sewerage?
For the most part, rates for infrastructure cover ongoing operational costs, maintenance, depreciation, etc of the infrastructure (which can not be included in the headworks charges).
Despite the headworks policy described above, not all infrastructure costs are recoverable by developer contributions as some users are from 'existing' development which are not subject to the headworks policy. In these cases, rates provide a method of recovering the remaining infrastructure costs. To avoid 'double dipping' to pay for this infrastructure, new development is given 'credits' equivalent to the existing land use on the property, as noted above.
- Why use developer contributions at all?
There are limitations with using a soley rates based method of funding infrastructure, particularly for alignment with landuse - infrastructure planning. For example, Council effectively has to 'borrow' funding to deliver the infrastructure first then set a rate to recover the costs over the life of that infrastructure - the standard of service is then limited to what and when Council can afford to 'borrow' rather than what population growth etc is demanding. The developer contribution system enables Local Government to require developers to pay their share of the infrastructure costs 'up front', aligning infrastructure delivery with demands from growth and easing the burden on the local council financial capacity.
These systems also provide more accountable and transparent mechanisms for allowing large developments to provide such infrastructure 'in kind' - with ongoing operation, maintenance and depreciation costs (enabling replacement at end of life) to be funded from the rate base.
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