Approvals on a second home are a stack of smaller bills, not one. In South East Queensland the building approval all in, certifier plus the reports and the council plumbing permit, runs about $5,500 to $8,200 ex GST when no planning application is needed. The certification and approvals bucket on a modular install, which also carries the plans, the survey and the builder's time to run it, comes to about $25,000 as an owner builder and about $35,000 with a licensed builder, because the licensed path adds home warranty insurance, the QLeave levy and a margin. A planning application, where the block needs one, adds the council fee and a planner. An infrastructure charge, where the council levies one, can add up to $36,670.70.
Every line, with the number
| Line | Cost | Who sets it |
|---|---|---|
| Building certifier | About $700 to $2,400 ex GST | Private certifiers' own fees, 2026 quotes |
| Engineering, soil test, energy report | About $2,650, $900 and $650 inc GST | Installer invoices. The consultants |
| Survey | $2,400 to $3,850, indicative | Surveyors' market rates |
| Council plumbing permit | Brisbane 2026-27: $300 application plus $1,290 for up to five inspections; $300 more with an on-site sewage facility | Each council's fee schedule, set each July |
| Planning application, if needed | Brisbane 2026-27: $1,500 ex GST for a code assessable secondary dwelling, plus a planner and any overlay reports | Each council's fee schedule |
| Home warranty insurance | $644.20 on $100,000 insurable value, $876.80 on $150,000, $1,109.45 on $200,000 | QBCC premium table. Licensed builder's jobs over $3,300 only |
| QLeave and the two levies with it | 0.575% of the cost of work of $150,000 or more; nothing under | State levy, paid before the building approval issues |
| Infrastructure charge | $0 in Ipswich and Noosa, and on the Gold Coast up to 80 m². $26,193.40 or $36,670.70 in Logan by bedrooms. Redland above its caps only. Brisbane, Moreton Bay and the Sunshine Coast publish no granny flat figure | Each council's charges resolution, capped by the state |
Where the $25,000 goes
The certification and approvals bucket in the install calculator is bigger than the fees above because it carries the work around them: the drawings in the form the certifier wants, the applications lodged and chased, the consultants booked and their reports put in front of the certifier, the inspections attended. With an owner builder doing that work the bucket is about $25,000. With a licensed builder it is about $35,000, and the extra is the premium, the levy and the margin on a home the builder did not make.
What is not in any of it
The home. The footings, the crane, the connections. And the reports an overlay calls for, because the map decides those: a BAL assessment about $1,000, a flood report $1,300 to $6,600, a geotechnical report on a steep block $2,000 to $4,600. The block check shows whether the maps hit a block before any of this is spent.
See it for your block
Questions people ask next
How much do granny flat approvals cost in Queensland?
About $5,500 to $8,200 ex GST for the building approval all in with no planning application, from 2026 South East Queensland figures. The full certification bucket on a modular install, with plans, survey and the builder's time, is about $25,000 as an owner builder and about $35,000 with a licensed builder.
How much is home warranty insurance on a granny flat?
From the QBCC's premium table, $644.20 on $100,000 of insurable value, $876.80 on $150,000 and $1,109.45 on $200,000. It applies when a licensed contractor does the job, not to an owner builder.
When does QLeave apply?
When the cost of the building work is $150,000 or more, excluding GST. The combined levy is 0.575% of the cost of the work, paid before the building approval issues. Under $150,000 there is no levy.
- QBCC, Queensland Home Warranty Scheme premium table, construction of a new residence, read 16 October 2026
- QBCC, what is the Queensland Home Warranty Scheme, read October 2026
- QLeave, what is the levy, read 16 October 2026
- Brisbane City Council, plumbing and drainage fees 2026-27, read 16 October 2026
- Brisbane City Council, development assessment and compliance fees 2026-27, read 16 October 2026
- Planning (Prescribed Amounts) Amendment Regulation 2025, schedule 16, read 16 October 2026
- Logan City Council, domestic housing fact sheet, read October 2026
- City of Gold Coast, infrastructure charges resolution, read October 2026
- Redland City Council, secondary dwellings planning amendments, read October 2026
- Noosa Council, fact sheet 3, secondary dwellings (no infrastructure charge), read 15 October 2026
- Installer rates behind the install cost calculator, read 16 October 2026