A builder's guide for commercial agents and brokers

By Brenscot Builders | Last reviewed September 2026

This one is written for agents rather than for occupiers. If you deal in industrial land, industrial buildings or industrial leasing in Brisbane and Moreton Bay, you regularly hold two things a developer-builder wants: sites that could be developed, and occupiers whose requirement the market cannot satisfy. What follows is how we assess both, so you can tell early whether something is worth a phone call.

What makes an industrial site developable

Five things decide it, and four of them can be checked before anyone visits.

Zone and use. The site needs to be in a zone where an industrial use is contemplated by the planning scheme, and the intended use needs to fit the definitions. Under the Planning Regulation 2017, "warehouse" means the use of premises for storing or distributing goods, whether or not carried out in a building, or the wholesale of goods where that use is ancillary. A use that does not fit the definition on offer has a harder approval path. The level of assessment — accepted, code assessable or impact assessable — comes from the local planning scheme, and it drives both the timeframe and the risk.

Shape, area and frontage. Industrial buildings want depth for yard and manoeuvring. A site can have adequate area and still be undevelopable because a semi-trailer cannot turn in it. As a rough filter: if the site cannot accommodate the building plus a yard deep enough for the vehicles the likely occupier runs, plus parking, plus drainage, it will not yield what the area suggests.

Topography and ground. Fall across the site drives earthworks and retaining. A site with significant fall may need retaining walls, which carries cost, design and sometimes approval consequences. Fill of uncertain provenance, soft soils, or a high water table drive footing costs. See footings and foundations and retaining wall types.

Services. Power capacity is the one that most often surprises people. A site adjacent to an existing supply is not the same as a site with capacity available; a high-load occupier may require network augmentation with its own cost and lead time. Water, sewer and their capacity matter for any use with process water or significant amenities. See power supply and Energex connection.

Constraints and overlays. Flooding, bushfire, acid sulfate soils, environmentally significant areas, biodiversity, heritage, transport noise corridors, infrastructure easements, and referral agency triggers. Each one either adds assessment or removes developable area. Adjoining residential land is its own category, because amenity — noise, air, light, hours — becomes the determining issue. See industrial next to residential and buying industrial land: due diligence.

The approval path in short

Useful to be able to describe to a vendor or a buyer:

  1. Development approval for a material change of use, and for reconfiguring a lot where the land is being subdivided. Assessed by the council against the planning scheme, with referral agencies involved where the Planning Regulation triggers them.
  2. Operational works approval where required — typically for earthworks, stormwater, access and civil infrastructure. It is a separate approval, it follows conditions imposed on the development approval, and it is frequently the item that determines when construction can start. It is also the one most often left out of a programme.
  3. Building approval from a private building certifier, assessed against the National Construction Code and the Queensland Development Code.
  4. Construction, then certificate of occupancy. Under the Building Act 1975 a building cannot be occupied or used without one.
  5. Where lots are being created, plan sealing by council and registration with Titles Queensland. Council's decision on sealing includes, for a reconfiguration requiring operational work, that the operational works conditions have been complied with or satisfactory security has been given. See industrial units, community titles and plan sealing.

Approval currency periods matter to a vendor holding an approved site: under the Planning Act 2016 a material change of use approval has a currency period of six years, reconfiguring a lot four years, and other approvals including operational works two years, unless the approval states otherwise.

What an approved site is worth explaining

An agent who can articulate what an approval actually covers is worth more to both sides of a transaction. The questions worth asking a vendor:

A site described as "DA approved" with unmet operational works conditions and a lapsing approval is a very different product to one that is genuinely shovel-ready, and the price should reflect which one it is.

What we look for, specifically

So you know when to call:

How we work with agents

Brenscot originates and delivers its own projects: we acquire, obtain approvals, build, and then sell or lease. That has two consequences for an agent.

First, when we buy a site, we are a direct buyer without a finance or building approval chain behind us, and we can form a view quickly because the assessment above is work we do ourselves rather than commission.

Second, when a project completes, the units and buildings need selling or leasing, and agents who bring us sites and occupiers are the ones we work with on the way out. Introductions are documented and fees agreed in writing before anything proceeds — we would rather have that conversation at the start than argue about it later.

If you have a site you are not sure is developable, the fastest route is usually to send the address and the title details. Most sites can be given a preliminary read quickly, and a straight "no, and here is why" is more use to you than a maybe.

Frequently asked questions

What is a developer-builder?

A business that originates its own projects — acquiring the land, obtaining the approvals, designing and building — rather than tendering to build someone else's design. See developer-builder versus construct-only builder.

Do you pay introduction fees?

Introduction arrangements are agreed in writing before an introduction proceeds. The terms depend on what is being introduced and at what stage.

What size sites are you interested in?

It depends far more on the site's shape, services, constraints and location than on its area. A well-located site that yields several tenancies is often more interesting than a larger, more constrained one.

Can you assess a site before it is on the market?

Yes, and that is generally the more useful time to do it. Off-market assessments are treated as confidential.

Will you look at a site with a problem — flooding, contamination, a lapsed approval?

Yes. Sites with problems are frequently the ones worth looking at, because the problem is priced into the land and may be solvable. What matters is understanding the problem accurately before committing, not avoiding sites that have one.

Sources

General information only

This article is general information, current as at September 2026. It is not planning, legal or valuation advice, and every site is assessed on its own facts. Levels of assessment, constraints and charges differ between councils and change over time.

Planning an industrial warehouse?

Talk to Brenscot about your site or your requirements. Call 0480 800 077, email enquiries@brenscot.com.au, or start an enquiry. You can also read how we work.