Positive Covenant Specifications

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  Duckie2hh on 13/10/2025 - 09:36

  Is the brick fence part of the system?

  Ask a plumber

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  jv on 13/10/2025 - 09:54

  -1

  Positive Convent Specifications

  Do you have Ecclesiastical permission?

  

  jv on 13/10/2025 - 09:54 (Collapsed - Offtopic. Show)
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  Far Cough on 13/10/2025 - 10:18

  sounds like hard work

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  AngoraFish on 13/10/2025 - 10:50

  +3

  I think it's very unlikely that a brick fence would be considered part of a storm water detention system, even if it's there to protect the system from, say, cars parking on top of it.

  Honestly, I'm struggling to imagine what a brick wall would have to do with a storm water detention system at all. Why did the bricklayer think it might be?

  Ultimately the system is almost certainly there because when the units were developed the developer had an obligation to ensure that storm water discharge from the property did not exceed the amount of discharge associated with the previous use prior to development. Essentially the system is just there to capture water during storm events and then to slowly discharge it at a reduced rate.

  Regardless, these are pretty typical questions. I think you just got an inexperienced call centre operator. Call the council back and ask to speak to someone in civil engineering about works you are planning to do around a storm water easement on your private property. There is usually a whole council team dedicated to issuing works over easement permits who should be familiar with all the ins and outs.

  • 

    mskeggs on 13/10/2025 - 11:24

    +1

    At my council they have a planner rostered to take inquires, and they are knowledgeable and able to refer calls appropriately. Ask to speak to the duty planner.

    • 

      AngoraFish on 13/10/2025 - 11:33

      +1

      Works on and around easements are not Planning matters, and Planning will not be able to help with OP's issue.

      The duty Planning officer only advises on issues such as whether a planning permit is required to do something (clearly no), and what works are permitted in particular planning zones (also not relevant).

      There's no need to go through Planning when OP can go straight to Civil.

  • 

    k15866 on 13/10/2025 - 11:52

    Thanks, the Civil Engineering sounds useful.

    what a brick wall would have to do with a storm water detention system at all. Why did the bricklayer think it might be?

    I sent him a photo of the site. Brickie was questioning whether the brick wall creates an container for stormwater, since the land slopes down towards the wall, excess water would pool at the wall for slower release. I'm not technical enough to challenge whether a brick wall is suitable for this use.

    There is one of these elevated stormwater access grates things right next to the brick wall, which is what I had always presumed the stormwater retetion system was (rather than the brick wall itself)

    • 

      AngoraFish on 13/10/2025 - 12:59

      +1

      I think he's correct, the example in your image does seem to be a storm water detention system.

      The grate on the ground will pick up and drain the area in the case of minor flooding. There will be a fairly small pipe running out of that first, low pit, underground into the adjacent raised grated pit. The small diameter pipe will function to reduce the speed with which the storm water is dispersed into council's storm water system.

      The raised grate looks like an overflow and it's there for situations where the low grate is at capacity, the area fills up with water, and once it tops the raised pit any excess storm water flows into that and hopefully gets away via much bigger pipes with much larger capacity and doesn't end up in the neighbour's property.

      There's even a small "spillway" at the back of the wall for really big storms where even the large pit has exceeded its capacity (eg 1:100 year storms), although it's not going to do much with the colorbond fence in the way.

      So yes, the wall is part of the system.

      It's not designed to be a dam though. It only needs to function for a couple of hours, at most, every five or ten years.

      Regardless, you should know exactly what standard the wall has been built to because parts of it are currently lying around in pieces. Probably just rendered core-filled cement block with starter bars over a simple concrete footing that's mostly just a leveling pad. Your bricklayer doesn't need to know anything more than that. Just build the wall back to the same standard it's currently built to.

      Honestly, council is very unlikely to have much of an opinion on the minor details, and it really doesn't matter much. It's not council's system, it's yours to comply with a permit obligation to manage your storm water. The existing wall design has already been approved as part of the original construction permit and should not need to be revisited. You're just doing standard repairs and maintenance.

      The covenant is just there to make sure that it doesn't end up getting demolished later on if someone decides that they want to build a granny flat in that corner of the yard, or the system deteriorates to the point that it starts creating problems for the neighbours.

      • 

        k15866 on 13/10/2025 - 13:15

        Thanks, to be exact, my one seems to only have the elevated grate, not a ground level one. The elevated grate is surrounded by dirt/grass only.
        I think once council confirms the wall is part of the system, the bricklayer knows what needs to be done, it's just been hard to get someone to confirm

        • 

          AngoraFish on 13/10/2025 - 13:20

          +1

          @k15866: It'd be rare to have no ground level pit in that situation, otherwise water could potentially sit around for months, in clay soils at least. With sandy soils perhaps they might not bother.

          If it's just a raised pit then it's just as likely to be a pit that was originally at that height that nobody could be bothered dropping when the area was re-leveled.

          Either way, the same principle applies. Rebuild back to the same standard the wall is currently built to and you can't go wrong.

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  Ocker on 13/10/2025 - 11:42

  -1

  Have you tried just flicking it back to the insurance company to sort out?

  • 

    k15866 on 13/10/2025 - 11:56

    Have not. The insurance company set their expectations which I did not challenge.
    They said I should get the quotes and send it to them. I presume they will challenge me to payout as little as possible, so if i put it in their hands, they would probably say, it's just a brick wall.

    Whether they are responsible to foot the bill, if the work does not meet requirements later down the track (or the tradie, or I am), I dunno, need a lawyer.

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  Muppet Detector on 13/10/2025 - 20:10

  +2

  It looks like you've had some excellent advice in here so far, however if you were after some additional input, there is an Aussie forum called property chat with quite a few qualified persons (including tradies, lawyers and other relevant personnel), who deal with this stuff and seem quite willing to help out with information and guidance where they can on all things property related.

  There's one dude over there who is an absolute master at fencing issues too! A few dedicated surveyors etc too.