Maintenance holes

Raising and lowering of maintenance holes

The Queensland Urban Utilities sewerage system is built with maintenance holes. The sewerage system is a gravity system and most of the sewers are located at the back of properties. If there is a maintenance hole in your yard then there is also a Queensland Urban Utilities sewer running through your property.

Queensland Urban Utilities needs to be able to access these maintenance holes in order to undertake maintenance activities, such as clearing blockages, routine cleaning, camera inspection or repair/replacement.

Although it would be rare for Queensland Urban Utilities to access the maintenance hole in your property, when the need does arise it is usually important that access is gained quickly. For this reason, property owners are not permitted to bury maintenance holes.

 

How do I organise to have a maintenance hole raised or lowered?

Applying to have your maintenance hole raised or lowered is a simple process:

Step 1

Lodge an application to have the maintenance hole raised or lowered.

An application form can be emailed to customerservice@urbanutilities.com.au  or mail to

Queensland Urban Utilities
GPO Box 2765
Brisbane QLD 4001

Application to have a maintenance hole raised or lowered 

Step 2

Queensland Urban Utilities will process your application and provide you with a quote for the work.

Step 3

If you decide to proceed with the work, you must first pre-pay for the work to be undertaken. Payments can be made online, at Australia Post or via post.

Step 4

Once you payment has been made Queensland Urban Utilities will contact you to organise a time and a date for the works to take place.

 

What do I need to do if I am doing works that affect a maintenance hole?

If you are undertaking work that leads to an increase in the ground level around the maintenance hole then it must be raised and not buried. Likewise if you are excavating around a maintenance and the maintenance hole will be raised up, consideration should be given to lowering the maintenance hole to ground level.

Queensland Urban Utilities provides a service where your maintenance hole can be either raised or lowered.

If you have a sewer running through your property it is important that you consider whether your proposed works could affect the sewer. Increasing the ground level over a sewer can increase the load on the pipeline which may reduce the life of the sewer. Engineering advice should be obtained where any structure (e.g. retaining wall, shed etc is to be placed over a sewer).

Depending on the scope of works you may need permission from Queensland Urban Utilities for a build Over Sewer (BOS) approval. The Brisbane City Council and Ipswich City Council websites provide more information about BOS.

An excavation that reduces the level of the ground near a maintenance hole should also be checked to see that this doesn’t effect the sewer. Excavations can reduce the amount of protection around the sewer which can lead to premature failure.

How do I know where the sewer runs?

Sewers tend to run in straight lines between maintenance holes. Therefore, if you see where the next manhole then you will have a good indication of where the sewer runs.

You can find information about whether there is a sewer running through your property a well as information about the size and depth of the sewer by calling 13 26 57 (7am - 7pm weekdays) or by submitting an online request

 

Where can I find out more information?

If you would like more information about the process for raising or lowering maintenance holes call 13 26 57 (7am - 7pm weekdays).