House Raising & Restumping on the Sunshine Coast — questions and answers

The questions homeowners on the Sunshine Coast actually ask, answered with real figures and with the council requirement that applies here rather than a generic one.

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Cost

How much does house restumping and raising cost on the Sunshine Coast?

This site does not publish job prices, because cost is set at a site visit and a written quote from a QBCC-licensed contractor is the only number that binds. What is public is the framework around the quote. QBCC requires a licence for building work valued over A$3,300, and caps the deposit at 10% of the contract price for work valued at A$3,301 to A$19,999 and 5% for work valued at more than A$20,000. Council's flood information search is A$132.00 in its 2026–27 register. The pricing page sets out each figure with its source and the date it was read. The costs page's House restumping and raising costs and rules check shows which Queensland licence, warranty, contract, deposit and cooling-off rules apply at your job's value.

What should a raising quote spell out?

QBCC's checklist is whether the price includes all required certifications, inspections and fees, and whether contingencies are included and for how much. For a raise, add the items Council and QBCC rules put on the table: the building permit, stairs and handrails where the drop is 1.0m or more, the flood information search, the home warranty cover that most residential building work above A$3,300 needs, and who removes the old stumps and any spoil.

House raising on the Sunshine Coast

Raising a house on flood-mapped land on the Sunshine Coast

The approval, flood and height rules that reach a raise, in the order they come up. The state building code for flood hazard areas is not among them: it excludes work for raising an existing building, and the FAQ page cites the standard by section and version.

Ask a certifier about the permit
20%
of the stumps replaced, above which Council lists restumping as needing a building permit
A raise onto new stumps replaces every one of them. Council's list does not name raising itself, so a private building certifier advises on the permit.
Source: Sunshine Coast Council, What needs building approval · read 19 Sep 2026
Check both of Council's flood maps
21 September 2023
the date Council's map for building purposes took over from the planning scheme's
That map sets off a flood information search. The planning scheme's own flood overlay map still decides when the scheme's flood code applies, so a raise is checked against both.
Source: Sunshine Coast Council, Flood information relevant to building works; Land use planning: flood information relevant to development · read 19 Sep 2026
Order the flood information search
$132.00
Council's Flood Information Search fee, 2026–27
It returns the flood level, freeboard and floor level for the lot. Council's page names the search for a new house or a development application, not a raise, so ask the certifier which one the job needs.
Source: Sunshine Coast Council, Register of General Cost-recovery Fees and Commercial Charges 2026–27, fee 7174; Flooding questions and factsheets · read 19 Sep 2026
Set habitable floors above the flood
500 mm
the least height of habitable rooms above the defined flood event, where the scheme's flood code reaches a house
The code reaches building work on the overlay map unless it is minor building work, which the scheme keeps to a small gain in floor area. Rooms built in underneath can take a raise past that line.
Source: Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme 2014, 8.2.7 Flood hazard overlay code, AO1; Table 5.10.1; Schedule 1 · read 19 Sep 2026
Check the height limit before the lift
1 metre
the most the scheme's flood allowance adds to a house's height limit in the Low density residential zone
A raise adds height. On flood overlay land the scheme lifts the mapped height limit by the gap between ground and the design floor level, and caps that gap for a house in this zone.
Source: Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme 2014, 8.2.8 Height of buildings and structures overlay code, PO2; Table 5.10.1, note 13 · read 19 Sep 2026

Each step names its source and the date it was read. Your certifier settles which of these rules reach your lot and your design.

Process

Restumping or re-levelling — which do I need?

Re-levelling adjusts or packs existing stumps to bring the floor back to level, and it works when the stumps themselves are sound and the problem is movement. Restumping replaces them, and it is the answer when the stumps are split, rotted at the base, or already at the end of their adjustment. A contractor with access under the floor can usually tell you within one visit, and Council's permit line follows the answer: re-stumping is listed as needing a building permit where more than 20% of the stumps are replaced.

Can I stay in the house?

For most restumping work, yes — the lift is small and staged, and the house stays connected. A full raise is different: services are disconnected, the house sits on temporary supports, and the property is a building site for the duration. The contractor will tell you which one applies before work starts.

Timing

How quickly can someone get to me?

Enquiries are passed to a QBCC-licensed contractor covering your part of the Sunshine Coast. Call the number on this page, or send the quote form and the contractor will contact you directly.

How long does the work take?

How long it takes is set by the contractor's program, by approvals and, on a raise, by engineering. The contractor sets the timeline, not us. Two fixed points are public: a drainage deficient area survey flood information search takes up to 20 working days, and QBCC generally gives a cooling-off right of 5 business days after you receive the signed contract for building work valued over A$3,300.

Permits and approvals

Do I need council approval, and what does the Sunshine Coast require?

Structural work of this kind requires a QBCC-licensed contractor once the value passes A$3,300, and a private building certifier can advise whether it needs a building permit. Council lists re-stumping as needing one where more than 20% of the stumps are replaced, and underpinning at any size. If your property is in a designated flood hazard area, Sunshine Coast Council says building work there needs a flood information search, which returns the defined flood level, maximum flow velocity, freeboard and finished floor level for the lot. The Queensland building standard MP 3.5, Construction of Buildings in Flood Hazard Areas, does not apply to raising an existing building (section 3(2)(c) of the standard, version 1.1, published 12 December 2013). The Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme 2014 flood code can: on its flood overlay map it reaches building work other than minor building work, and for a house it asks for habitable rooms at least 500mm above the defined flood event. Council designated its building flood map by resolution OM23/99 on 21 September 2023.

Source: Sunshine Coast Council — flood information relevant to building works; what needs building approval · Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme 2014, Table 5.10.1 and 8.2.7 · Queensland Development Code MP 3.5, section 3(2)(c), version 1.1, published 12 December 2013, read at the standard on 25 September 2026

Service area

Which suburbs do you cover?

The Sunshine Coast Council area, coastal plain and hinterland — Caloundra, Kawana, Mooloolaba, Maroochydore, Coolum Beach, Marcoola and Peregian Springs on the coast; Nambour, Palmwoods, Woombye, Yandina, Maleny, Montville, Mapleton, Eudlo, Chevallum, Mooloolah Valley, Landsborough and Beerwah inland.

Who is behind this site?

This site is operated by a marketing company, connecting you with a licensed local provider. We are not builders, we hold no QBCC licence, we do not price or carry out the work, and we are paid a fee for the referral. The contractor quotes you directly and the contract is between you and them.