Flood damage restoration in Sydney

Sydney floods in two very different ways. In the city and inner suburbs it is overland flow: intense rain that the drains cannot take, running across streets and into buildings. In the west it is the Hawkesbury-Nepean, rising metres over days. The insurance definition of flood treats those two differently, and so does almost everything that follows.

Overland flow or river flood: what changes

For a claim, the first column is the one that needs care. Water that came across the ground from an overloaded street drain is not flood under reg 34(1) unless it came out of a creek, river or other listed waterbody; whether it is covered as storm depends on the policy’s wording. Photograph where it came in and the water line it left. Storm, flood and water damage sets the three side by side.

Overland flow in the city

Two things from the council are worth keeping. The fifteen-centimetre figure is its own rule of thumb for when surface water may be flooding. And it says plainly that its pits and pipes have a limited role in intense rain, and that surface water can then enter properties. That is overland flow, and it is the first column of the table above.

The Hawkesbury-Nepean

River flooding in western Sydney is flood in the plain sense of reg 34(1). A house flooded by river water is a Category 3 job, not a clean-water drying job: what the floodwater soaked is stripped out and disposed of before anything is dried. The national flood restoration guide covers the order of work.

Whose drain, whose pipe

Put simply: the street gutter is the council’s, the big channel it drains to may be Sydney Water’s, and the pipes on your land are yours up to the point where they join Sydney Water’s system. Sydney Water owns the junction itself, but tree roots that get in at your connection are yours to clear. Queensland’s health guidance notes that floodwater is often contaminated by sewage from overflowing sewerage systems (Queensland Government, Floodwater contamination), which is why the scope after a flood treats the water as Category 3.

In a strata building, water from common property is the owners corporation’s to repair, and s 106(5) of the Strata Schemes Management Act lets a lot owner recover foreseeable loss from a failure to repair (Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) s 106(1)). Mould removal in Sydney covers that in detail.

Before the clean-up

NSW Health’s household clean-up guidance is to remove all wet items such as floor coverings, rugs, mats, furniture, bedding, linen and clothing where possible, with boots, gloves and eye protection (NSW Health, Household clean-up for after a flood or storm), and flood-affected mattresses may need to be discarded. Treat cuts seriously: all wounds other than clean, minor cuts are at risk of tetanus (NSW Government, Staying healthy after a flood). Keep samples and photographs for the insurer before anything goes to the kerb.

What flood drying costs in Sydney, and help that is not insurance

The rebuild is building work, and Home Building Compensation cover applies over $20,000 including GST. The Sydney page covers that and the strata two-policy problem.

For a household without insurance, the state’s help is narrow and means-tested:

Where a disaster is declared, Disaster Assist (Australian Government), Disaster Recovery Payment is $1,000 per eligible adult and $400 per child. Neither is a substitute for a policy, and neither pays a restorer directly.

Common questions