New South Wales · flood risk, by address

How to check if a NSW property is flood prone, by address

There is no single NSW map that answers "is this house flood prone". There are four public sources, each answering a narrower question: a state planning layer, the council's own flood study, the NSW SES flood pages, and the flood notation on the section 10.7 certificate. This page walks through each one, what its "yes" means, what its silence means, and what to order once you have read them. Every step is free and needs no login except where stated.

Verified 16 September 2026

What "flood prone" means in NSW planning

NSW planning does not label a house flood prone. It draws lines on land. The line that matters for a buyer is the flood planning area: the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure's Considering flooding in land use planning guideline (July 2026) defines it as "the area of land at or below the FPL", where the flood planning level is "the flood level from the DFE plus the freeboard". The defined flood event is chosen by the council; the guideline says the 1 per cent annual exceedance probability flood "should be used as a minimum starting point", and that the typical residential freeboard is 0.5 metres. Above the flood planning area sits a second band, up to the probable maximum flood, which Bayside Council describes as "the largest flood that could possibly occur".

Inside the flood planning area, the council's flood related development controls apply. Since the state's flood-prone land package commenced on 14 July 2021, every standard local environmental plan carries clause 5.21 Flood Planning, which "aims to minimise the flood risk to life and property associated with the use of land within the flood planning area"; an optional clause 5.22 covers sensitive and hazardous uses between the flood planning area and the probable maximum flood. The guideline notes the controls themselves "are not defined but would include any development controls relating to flooding". In practice they mean minimum floor levels and conditions on what you can build, not a ban.

Two consequences for a buyer. First, the lines are set by the council from its own flood study, so the council's mapping is the primary source and everything else is a copy or a summary of it. Second, the lines describe modelled flood behaviour on the land, not what has happened inside the house.

Step 1: the state layer on the NSW Planning Portal

The NSW Planning Portal Spatial Viewer is the fastest check. The Portal's own quick reference guide gives the steps: open the viewer (you are asked to accept its terms), click the address icon and type the address, or click the lot icon and enter the lot, section and deposited plan. Then open the Layers tab and turn on the Hazard group; the flood layer in that group is named Flood Planning. The legend shows how it draws. The icon beside the search bar generates a Property Report as a PDF, which lists the planning layers that touch the lot.

What the layer is: the Portal's Environmental Planning Instrument, Flood dataset, which "identifies the land where development implications exist due to the risk of flood as designated by the relevant NSW environmental planning instrument". A shaded lot means a council's planning instrument applies flood related development controls to that land. That is a real planning fact and it will match the 10.7 certificate in most cases.

What the silence means: less than you would hope. The dataset page carries this note: "Since 14 July 2021, councils are responsible for accurate flood mapping as it pertains to their local area. Therefore, this dataset may not be the latest version." Its listed last update is 22 May 2019, and its update frequency is "as needed". Coverage depends on which councils contributed a flood layer to their LEP mapping and when. An unshaded lot tells you the state dataset holds nothing for it. It does not tell you the council's flood study holds nothing. Treat a blank result as "not answered here", and go to step 2.

Steps 2 and 3: the council's flood maps, then the NSW SES

The council's flood study and floodplain risk management study are the source documents. The 2026 guideline says these maps "must be made publicly available on the relevant council website, either as PDFs or interactive maps where available", and the flood-prone land package page repeats that councils "are still required to make flood maps publicly available". How they publish varies, and the three patterns you will meet are:

  • An online map you can search. Northern Beaches Council runs an online Flood Hazard Map, and offers a Flood Information Report, in Basic and Comprehensive versions, by application form.
  • PDF maps by catchment. Many councils publish the flood study as a report with map sheets. You find the sheet for the street and read the shading for the 1 per cent AEP extent and the probable maximum flood extent. The legend on the sheet tells you which.
  • A request or certificate, sometimes with a fee. City of Parramatta has no address viewer; it offers a Flood Enquiry Application through its online service request page and says "charges may apply". Inner West Council issues a Flood Certificate for $436.10, payable at lodgement, that states how far floodwater could spread around the property, how dangerous it could be, the flood levels for the 1 per cent AEP and probable maximum flood events, and how deep the water could be in a 1 per cent AEP flood. Bayside Council takes a Flood Advice Application Form.

Search the council's website for "flood study", "floodplain risk management" or "flood information". If the study covers the catchment the property sits in, the map answers whether the lot is inside the modelled extent and, on the better maps, the hazard category. If the council offers a property-specific report or certificate, that is the only document in this list that gives you a flood level and a depth for the lot rather than a line on a map. Order it when the property is inside or near any mapped extent, and before you exchange, since the council sets its own turnaround.

What council mapping does not tell you: whether the study is current (councils note a study in progress on the 10.7(5) certificate, step 4), and anything outside the study area. Overland flow paths in an urban catchment are only mapped if the council has done an overland flow study for that catchment.

Step 3: NSW SES Local Flood Insights and the Flood Data Portal. The NSW State Emergency Service publishes two things. Local Flood Insights is a set of pages by catchment, offering "an overview of flood-prone areas, historic flood events, and modelled flood risks through detailed maps, data and community stories". Use the map on that page to find the catchment, or the search bar. It is the best free source for what past floods did to the area and for how the SES expects a flood to arrive, which is useful for judging warning time and evacuation routes. It is not an address lookup and it does not state controls for a lot.

The NSW Flood Data Portal is the repository behind it. The SES flood data access page describes it as a joint partnership between the SES and the then Office of Environment and Heritage, holding data that "is entered by each Local Council at the completion of floodplain risk management studies undertaken in their area". The 2026 guideline "strongly recommends" councils upload their studies to it when adopted. The same SES page is explicit about who serves the public: "Responsibility for providing flood information to the public remains with Local Council. Therefore, queries in relation to flooding should be directed to the relevant local council." So the portal is where you may find a council's study collected in one place; the council is still the one you ask.

Step 4: the flood notation on the section 10.7(2) certificate

The vendor must attach a section 10.7(2) planning certificate to the contract, and the NSW Planning Portal's planning certificate page lists "level of flooding" among the constraints it shows. What it shows is two answers. Schedule 2 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021 requires the council to state, in the words of the Department's Planning Circular PS 26-001 (13 February 2026):

  • whether "the land or part of the land is within the flood planning area and subject to flood related development controls" (Schedule 2, section 9(1)), and
  • whether "the land or part of the land is between the flood planning area and the probable maximum flood (PMF) and subject to flood related development controls" (Schedule 2, section 9(2)).

Each is answered yes or no. The 2026 guideline adds that where a council does not have the information, "an 'unknown' response should be provided in the planning certificate until the information is made available", that unmapped locations may still be subject to controls and should be noted under section 10.7(5), and that a flood study or floodplain risk management study under way "should also be noted on planning certificates under section 10.7 (part 5)". Councils may also say under 10.7(5) whether the land is in the floodplain.

Read it this way. Yes to 9(1): the lot, or part of it, is inside the council's flood planning area; floor-level and other controls apply to new work, and the council's study has a level for it. Yes to 9(2) only: the lot is above the flood planning level but below the probable maximum flood; controls apply mainly to sensitive uses, but the land can flood in an extreme event. No to both: the council's current mapping puts the lot outside both bands. Unknown: the council has not mapped it, which is a reason to ask the council directly, not a clear. In every case the certificate gives no level, no depth, no hazard category and no history; those come from step 2. If the certificate on the contract is old, a study may have been adopted since, so check the council's flooding page for the adoption date of its latest study.

What none of these say, and the steps in order

None of the four sources records whether water has entered this house. The council models a catchment; the certificate reports the control band. For the house itself, ask the vendor in writing whether the property has flooded, ask neighbours, and, if the council will give you the flood planning level and a surveyed floor level, compare the two. None of the sources is an insurance quote either. Insurers price flood by their own data for the address, and the only way to know the premium is to ask one before exchange. Nothing above is a valuation or legal advice.

  1. Search the address in the Planning Portal Spatial Viewer, turn on Hazard > Flood Planning, and download the Property Report. Note a hit; do not treat a blank as a clear.
  2. Open the council's flood study or floodplain risk management maps. Find the lot on the 1 per cent AEP and probable maximum flood sheets, or search its online map.
  3. If the lot is inside or near any mapped extent, order the council's flood information report or flood certificate where the council offers one, or lodge its flood enquiry form. This is the document with levels and depths.
  4. Read the SES Local Flood Insights page for the catchment for flood history, warning time and evacuation.
  5. Read questions 9(1) and 9(2) on the 10.7(2) certificate attached to the contract, and any flood note under 10.7(5). If it says unknown or the certificate predates the council's latest study, ask the council.
  6. Get an insurance quote for the address, and ask the vendor in writing about past flooding, before you exchange.

Flood mapping by council

Every NSW council publishes flood information differently: an online map, a set of study documents, a certificate on request, or nothing we could find. One page per council says which, links the council's own source, and gives the steps for that council. Links checked 16 September 2026.

Questions about checking flood risk in NSW

How do I check if a NSW property is flood prone for free?

Four free sources, in order. First, search the address in the NSW Planning Portal Spatial Viewer and turn on the Flood Planning layer under Hazard. Second, open the council's own flood study or floodplain risk management maps, which councils must publish on their websites as PDFs or interactive maps. Third, read the NSW SES Local Flood Insights page for the catchment. Fourth, read the flood questions on the section 10.7(2) planning certificate attached to the contract. If the council offers a property-specific flood information report or flood certificate, that is the document that gives levels and depths for the lot.

What does flood planning area mean on the NSW Planning Portal?

The flood planning area is the land at or below the flood planning level. The flood planning level is the flood level from the council's defined flood event plus a freeboard; the NSW guideline says the 1 per cent annual exceedance probability flood is the minimum starting point for that event and 0.5 metres is the typical residential freeboard. Land inside the flood planning area is where a council's flood related development controls apply, usually through clause 5.21 of its local environmental plan.

If the Planning Portal shows no flood layer at an address, is the property clear of flooding?

No. The Portal's Flood Planning layer holds only what councils have contributed to the state dataset. The dataset page says that since 14 July 2021 councils are responsible for flood mapping in their own areas and the dataset may not be the latest version; its listed last update is 22 May 2019. A blank result means the state layer has nothing for that lot, not that the council's flood study has nothing. Check the council's own mapping and the 10.7 certificate before treating an address as clear.

What does the flood notation on a section 10.7 certificate actually say?

Schedule 2 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021 requires the council to state whether the land, or part of it, is within the flood planning area and subject to flood related development controls, and whether it is between the flood planning area and the probable maximum flood and subject to flood related development controls. The answer is yes or no for each, or unknown where the council has no mapping. It does not give a flood level, a depth, or a history. A council may add more under section 10.7(5), including whether a flood study is under way.

Does a flood notation tell me the house has flooded before, or what insurance will cost?

No. None of the four sources records whether water has entered this house, and none of them is an insurance quote. The council's study models flood extents and levels for a catchment; the certificate reports which control area the lot falls in. For the house itself, ask the vendor in writing, ask neighbours, and compare the floor level with the council's flood planning level if the council will give you both. For the premium, get a quote from an insurer for that address before you exchange.

Does Prova replace the council's flood information?

No. The free Prova check reads the state layers for an address and names the flags it finds. The A$19 report adds the council's own flood mapping, read or linked, the evidence behind each flag, and what to order next. It cannot clear an address, and it is not a valuation, an insurance assessment or legal advice. The council's flood study, its flood information certificate where it offers one, and the 10.7 certificate remain the documents your conveyancer and insurer rely on.