What makes a good building plan?
You need Icon Water approval before starting any building work or construction on your property, even if you don’t need ACT Government planning approval. You do this by submitting your plans along with a building application form (we strongly encourage you to engage a suitably qualified and experienced professional).
This will make sure your project doesn’t impact on yours, your neighbours’ or your neighbourhoods’ water or sewer supply and will remove some of the stress of building and renovating.
Step 1: Find out what you need to include in your application
A good application needs to include two things:
- A building application form.
- A set of drawings that clearly indicate what you would like to do.
Make sure you complete the form in full. Incomplete forms can hold up the application process or lead to your application being rejected. Get in touch with us for help with this process.
Drawings should be clear and to scale (see sample drawing). It’s important you show any distances to our underground infrastructure after you have properly located them. This includes any cross-section plans showing the depth of any proposed footings. For more information on how close your structure can be to our infrastructure, see Where can I build on my property?
Other approvals
You might also need approval from the ACT Government and possibly other utilities as well – please check with them individually.
Regardless, you must have our approval even if you don’t need ACT Government planning approval.
Step 2: Find out what’s in the ground
Find out what's in the ground
We recommend contacting Before You Dig Australia (BYDA). This free service will provide plans showing Icon Water’s assets (as well as assets for telecommunications, electricity, gas and stormwater) in your work area.
Once you’ve located our assets, confirm their location (they might have shifted from what is shown on plans because of past activities, erosion, subsidence or the slope of the land). For step-by-step instructions see How to Locate Icon Water Assets.
You may also want to find out where your own services are on your property (like the pipes that run from your water meter into your house) before you start digging. Ask a plumber, electrician or visit Access Canberra. These internal service lines belong to you and we don’t keep records of them at Icon Water.
Step 3: Prepare your site plan
We strongly advise you engage a suitably qualified and experienced professional to prepare your site plan in accordance with our requirements and show all the required information (including our services) clearly and accurately. Hand drawn sketches will not be accepted. Incomplete or inaccurate site plans will delay your application.
Step 4: Draw up your construction plans
As well as your site plan, you may also require additional construction drawings, such as a section drawing (the building viewed from each side), showing details like piers and footings that you propose to be built close to our pipes, manholes or mains.
We strongly advise you to engage a suitably qualified and experienced professional to prepare your construction plans. Incomplete or inaccurate construction plans will delay your application.
Construction plans need to contain exact dimensions.
Statements such as ‘builder to confirm on site’, ‘dimensions are approximate’ ‘typical depths’ etc are not acceptable and will result in your application being rejected. Construction drawings are to be ‘for construction revision’. ‘Draft’ revisions are not acceptable.
You may find these guides useful for Step 3 and Step 4:
Project-specific advice is also available for the most common building and renovation projects:
- Carports and garages
- Fences and walls
- Swimming pools and spas
- Concreting and paving
- Building or widening a driveway
- Demolition
What if I need to demolish a building?
Demolition works may involve removing underground structures like footings and piers, or changes to your existing service points. To make sure demolition works don’t impact our mains, your plans should clearly indicate any demolition works and how you plan to carry them out.
What if I’m just building or removing a swimming pool?
Swimming pools can become unstable and leak if they move during excavation works and must be designed so they don’t place any weight, when filled, on our mains.
Step 5: Prepare and submit your application/s
There are two types of applications and it’s easy to get them mixed up: a Development Application (DA) with the ACT Government, and a Building Application (BA) with Icon Water.
First, visit the ACT Government website or seek professional advice from a certified builder or private certifier to see if your project requires ACT Government development approval. If it does, you must first submit a development application through the ACT Government planning portal. The ACT Government will then send your application to us for review; we will assess it and respond directly to the ACT Government.
Then seek professional advice from a certified builder, private certifier or visit the ACT Government website to see if your project requires building approval. If it does, then your building application can be lodged with us through our online portal.
Important: You must receive development approval or an exemption from the ACT Government before you can lodge a building application with us, and you must receive building approval or an exemption from ACT Government before you start building work.
Does it cost anything to lodge a building application with Icon Water?
No. We do not charge a fee for you to lodge an application.
However, some ACT Government agencies or other utilities may charge a fee. Please contact those organisations for any fees and charges payable.
Following these steps will help your project run smoothly.
We’re always happy to help
For general queries, you can contact us directly at talktous@iconwater.com.au. Our team will do their best to respond within 24 hours.
If you need a bit more assistance, or just prefer talking to a person, you can call us on 02 6248 3111 (select option 3).