Brisbane rules that hit businesses
Food means trade waste approval
Urban Utilities says every business that prepares food must hold a Trade Waste Approval before it discharges wastewater to the sewer, from restaurants and bakeries to school canteens. Most also need a grease arrestor.
Grease traps run on a 13-week clock
Unless the approval says otherwise, a grease arrestor is pumped out as the maker recommends or at least once every 13 weeks. Units under 550 litres may need more frequent service and basket strainers on sink and floor drains.
The owner holds the approval
Trade Waste Approvals go to property owners, not tenants, usually for no more than five years, and they can't be transferred. A sale, a change to strata title or regulated plumbing on the trade waste drainage means a new one.
Backflow devices on most sites
Council expects testable devices on things like fire hose reels and hydrants, commercial machinery on the mains, cooling towers and outlets near grease traps or chemicals. Each one is registered and tested every year.
Council permits for commercial work
Plumbing permit work on anything other than a house goes to Brisbane City Council as a Building Type Other Than Dwelling application. That covers apartments, offices and commercial or industrial buildings, plus fire services and new trade waste fixtures. You'll need a Form 1 and a set of hydraulic plans, and an Urban Utilities water approval where it applies.
Small jobs can be quicker. A minor commercial installation is fast-tracked with no plans, provided it involves no more than 4 fixtures, no in-ground sanitary drainage, no trade waste and no performance solution.
When Urban Utilities needs to hear from you
Regulated plumbing work on the trade waste drainage means applying for a new approval afterwards. If plumbing approval changes that drainage, or a new process materially changes the volume or quality of your trade waste, the existing approval has to be amended.
If you stop discharging trade waste, cancel the approval, or the charges may keep coming. The grease arrestor and other trade waste drainage then have to be cleaned and sealed under the plumbing rules. Our Brisbane backflow page covers the annual test.
Gas, hot water and leaks
Some commercial gas equipment counts as a type B gas device, which needs a gas work authorisation rather than an ordinary gas work licence. Ask your gas fitter which one your equipment falls under. See gas fitters in Brisbane.
Care and education buildings have a tighter limit. In the residential part of aged care, patient care areas, the parts of early childhood centres and schools used by children, and facilities for people with a disability, hot water for personal hygiene is capped at 45°C rather than 50°C. If a concealed leak has pushed up a business's trade waste or sewage charges, Urban Utilities' leak assistance can apply to the sewer component.
What your staff can do
You can
- Keep sink strainers and basket arrestors in place, and scrape plates before washing.
- File every waste transport certificate or docket from grease trap pump-outs on the premises.
- Know where the water meter and isolation valve are, and keep the box clear.
- Pass Council's backflow notice to whoever books maintenance as soon as it arrives.
Leave to a licensed plumber
- Installing, resizing or altering a grease arrestor or other trade waste drainage.
- Testing, repairing and replacing backflow devices.
- Permit work, hydraulic plans and fire services.
Questions to ask a commercial plumber
- Does this fit-out need a Council permit, or can it go through as a minor commercial installation?
- Will this work change our trade waste drainage, and who tells Urban Utilities?
- Is our grease arrestor big enough for the way we cook now?
- Do you hold the backflow endorsement, and will you lodge the Form 9?
- Can you work around our trading hours?
What we would do
Before a fit-out, ask the plumber to map the job against both bodies: Council for the permit and plans, Urban Utilities for trade waste. If you lease, talk to the owner early, because the trade waste approval is theirs. Then put the routine on a calendar: grease trap pump-outs at the required interval, the backflow test as soon as Council's reminder arrives, and every docket and report kept on site.