Rainwater tank installation requirements April 2014

[greenbuild]

Building Codes Queensland

Building and Plumbing Newsflash 527
Rainwater tank installation requirements

Comment from GreenBuild.com.au: BEWARE: All water tanks require a building approval in cyclonic areas for tie-downs in particular. It’s in Schedule 2 of the Building Act. Where information is provided below that building approval is not required for certain size tanks, this only pertains to tanks in southern Queensland.


Purpose
To advise of installation requirements for rainwater tanks under the Queensland Development Codes (QDC) Part 4.2—Rainwater tanks and other supplementary water supply systems (for residential buildings) and Part 4.3—Supplementary water sources (for commercial buildings).

Background
Laws that required the installation of rainwater tanks (or other water supply systems) with new houses and commercial buildings where the property was located in a reticulated town water area were repealed on 1 February 2013. Housing providers and property owners can now choose to voluntarily install a rainwater tank.
Rainwater tanks can only be required to be installed with new houses and/or commercial buildings where a local government has been approved by the Minster to opt-in to the QDC.

Application
To ensure appropriate health and safety standards, the installation of all rainwater tanks must comply with performance requirements of the relevant QDC (as identified in Table 1 of the QDC). The QDCs are available on the Department of Housing and Public Works’ website at http://www.hpw.qld.gov.au.

Voluntary installation requirements
Where a rainwater tank is voluntarily installed with a new or existing house or building, it is not required to have:
- a minimum tank size
- a minimum roof catchment area
- internal plumbing connections (to supply toilets and washing machines), and
- a continuous supply of water (NB. if the rainwater tank is connected to supply water to internal fixture(s) it is recommended that a continuous supply of reticulated town water be provided via an automatic switching device or a trickle top-up).

A rainwater tank can be installed for:
- outdoor use only (such as gardening and car washing), or
- both outdoor and indoor use (servicing internal fixtures such as toilets and washing machines).

New house or building
Where a rainwater tank is included with a new house or building, it will be assessed as part of the building and plumbing approvals.

Existing house or building
Where a rainwater tank is connected for indoor use to an existing house or building, the plumber must lodge a Form 4—Notifiable work (as it is plumbed to internal fixtures that have connection to the reticulated town water supply). A Form 4 is not is not required where a rainwater tank is to be installed for outdoor use only.
A building approval is only required where a rainwater tank is greater than 10 metres squared in plan area and is more than 2.4 metres in height above ground. However, where it is smaller and shorter than these dimensions, it will not require a building approval.

Local government planning and siting requirements
Inclusion of a rainwater tank on the property may also be subject to local government planning requirements for siting and boundary setbacks to correctly locate the rainwater tank on the property. For more information about rainwater tank installation requirements, contact your local government.
Requirements where a local government has been approved to opt-in
Local governments may apply to the Minister to opt-in to QDC 4.2 and/or QDC 4.3. Where a local government is approved to opt-in, all applicable performance requirements of QDC 4.2 and 4.3 will apply to rainwater tank installations in that council area. Details regarding approved local governments, including any variations, will be provided on the department’s website.

More information
More details about rainwater tank installation requirements can be found using the search string ‘water supply systems’ on the department’s website at http://www.hpw.qld.gov.au.
Contact for further information
Building Codes Queensland
Department of Housing and Public Works Email: buildingcodes@qld.gov.au
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DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this Newsflash is provided by the State of Queensland in good faith. The material is general in nature and before relying on the material in any important matter, users should carefully evaluate its accuracy, currency, completeness and relevance for their purpose. It is not intended as a substitute for consulting the relevant legislation or for obtaining appropriate professional advice relevant to your particular circumstances. The State of Queensland cannot accept responsibility or liability for any loss, damage, cost or expense you might incur as a result of the use of or reliance on information contained in this Newsflash. It is not intended to be, and should not be relied upon as the ultimate and/or complete source of information.