QLD · Caloundra
Home builders in Dicky Beach
A builder’s licence is permission to trade. It is not a solvency test. 2,361 construction companies entered external administration last financial year, more than any other industry in the country — and no regulator checks whether the one quoting your Dicky Beach job can still pay its framer on Friday. We run the Four-Point Builder Check™: licence with QBCC, insurance sighted, still trading, and genuinely working in Dicky Beach. Then one name and the reasoning behind it — or a straight no.
- Costs you nothing, ever
- No obligation to use them
- Details never sold
Why this is harder than it looks in Dicky Beach
- Dicky Beach is not a generic block
Mapped here: 2 residential zones, 10 overlay families, bushfire-prone land. A builder who prices the house and discovers the site is a builder whose quote moves — and the variations land on you, not on them. The ones who work Dicky Beach regularly already know which of these reach which streets.
- A current licence tells you nothing about solvency
Every one of the companies behind that figure held a valid licence the day before it failed. The certificate on the wall says they are permitted to build. It does not say they can pay their framer on Friday.
What building in Dicky Beach actually involves
Ten overlays are mapped over Dicky Beach's 1.03 km². At that size the sensible assumption inverts: on a large locality an overlay list is a set of questions, most of which miss your block, but on a suburb this small you should expect nearly all of them to reach it.
Small suburb, high confidence, and a different kind of diligence
The useful consequence is that a Dicky Beach page is unusually predictive. Where a 100 km² locality forces a lot-specific search before anything can be said, here the overlay set probably is your overlay set, and the research task changes from "which of these apply" to "what does each of them require, together". That second question is the harder one. Ten instruments do not stack politely: a floor level driven by storm tide, a structural response to erosion, an acid sulfate trigger keyed to excavation depth and a bushfire attack level all land on one building, and the design has to satisfy the most demanding of each rather than negotiate between them.
Medium density as the dominant zone
The Medium Density Residential Zone is dominant, with the Low Density Residential Zone also mapped. Medium density contemplates attached and multi-unit housing, so on much of this square kilometre the entitlement is for more than a house — which on beachfront land is the reason sites are valued the way they are, and also the reason the hazard requirements above get expensive, because they apply to a larger building.
Three coastal instruments, each asking something else
A coastal management district adds a state-level assessment to the council's. An erosion prone area is a band set back from the shoreline for the coast's expected movement, and inside it the issue is siting — whether a permanent structure belongs in that strip. A storm tide inundation area under the scheme, plus a statewide storm tide hazard area at the high band, deal in height: the floor level, and what may be enclosed beneath it.
Acid sulfate across both bands
Both bands are mapped — Area 1 at or below 5 m AHD, and Area 2 above 5 m and below 20 m. With both present, the depth at which an investigation is triggered depends on where the parcel sits, so two lots a street apart can face different thresholds for the same excavation. A contour survey against the Australian Height Datum resolves it, and it answers the storm tide floor level in the same exercise.
Flood, slope and bushfire
A flood risk area is mapped under the flood hazard overlay — catchment water, separate from the two storm tide instruments. A landslide hazard overlay applies, which few expect beside a surf beach. Bushfire sits in the Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme 2014's overlay; Queensland has no statewide equivalent, so there is nowhere else for that answer to come from.
What to establish on a Dicky Beach block
Assume the overlays apply and work out what they require together, because on 1.03 km² that is the likely position. Start with a contour survey, which answers the acid sulfate band and the storm tide level at once. Then the erosion prone band, which governs siting. Then the zone, and whether the entitlement is for more than one dwelling.
What you are dealing with in Dicky Beach
Six things a builder prices differently. This is the suburb-level picture — which of them reaches your block is an address check.
- Bushfire Mapped BAL assessment; glazing, decking and screening spec.
- Flood Mapped Sets a minimum floor level. Flood report first.
- Heritage Not checked Held in each council's own planning scheme overlay and on the Queensland Heritage Register; no statewide layer publishes a per-suburb count
- Slope Mapped Geotech report before footings can be priced.
- Soil Acid sulfate Below trigger depth: management plan, treatment, disposal.
- Density controls 2 zones What may be built, and how much. Set parcel by parcel.
What is mapped in Dicky Beach
Read from Queensland Government open spatial data + individual councils, not a summary of it.
- Council
- Sunshine Coast Council
- Planning scheme
- Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme 2014
- Overlays mapped here
- Bushfire hazard overlay · Flood hazard overlay — flood risk area · Landslide hazard overlay · Coastal management district · Erosion prone area · Storm tide inundation area · Acid sulfate soils overlay · Erosion prone area · Storm tide hazard area · Acid sulfate soils
- Residential zones mapped
- Low Density Residential Zone
Medium Density Residential Zone - Bushfire-prone land
- Mapped in this suburb
- Acid sulfate soils
- Mapped in this suburb
- Storm tide hazard
- high hazard area mapped
Planning data from Queensland Government open spatial data + individual councils (CC BY 4.0), read 2026-10-02. Suburb-level, not a report on your block — check your address on the Queensland planning portal.
Overlay families mapped here
The mechanism
The Four-Point Builder Check™
Every one of them is something you could do yourself. What we sell is that it has been done, dated and published — and repeated on a schedule, because a check that happened once is worth nothing.
- 01 · Licence
Looked up on QBCC's own public register — number, class and status, with the date we looked recorded.
- 02 · Insurance
Public liability plus whatever warranty or indemnity cover QLD requires. Sighted by us, not self-declared on a form.
- 03 · Still trading
Solvency re-checked on a schedule. A licence stays current right up until the day a company fails.
- 04 · Works in Dicky Beach
Confirmed with the builder against the suburbs they genuinely service — not a radius drawn on a map.
How this works
- 01Tell us about the build
Six questions, about three minutes.
- 02We match it against Dicky Beach
Against the 2 residential zones mapped here, 10 overlay families, bushfire-prone land — and against which builders hold the right licence class for it, have done it before, and actually work under Sunshine Coast Council.
- 03One recommendation, with the reasoning
Not six quotes to sift. We negotiate on your behalf; you deal with the builder directly. Builders pay us, only once you sign.
What you get, and what it costs you
- One builder, not a list
We read your brief against what is actually mapped in Dicky Beach — 2 residential zones, 10 overlay families, bushfire-prone land — and against which builders hold the right licence class, have built under these constraints before, and genuinely work under Sunshine Coast Council. You get one name and the reasoning in writing.
- Or a straight no
The same business day you get one of two things: our recommendation, with the reasons — or a plain email saying we have not got a builder in Dicky Beach we would put our name to yet, and what we are doing about it. No drip campaign, no being passed around.
- It costs you nothing, ever
The builder pays us, and only if you sign with them. You are never charged, and you are never under any obligation to use the builder we name. How the fee works.
We are not a builder, we do not manage your build, and we do not hold your money.
Fair questions before you send anything
- You have no builders listed in Dicky Beach yet. What use is that?
A fair question, and the honest answer is that a list is not what we do. We do not publish a builder until the licence is checked, the insurance is sighted and we have confirmed they are still trading — so an empty list here means we have not finished that work in Dicky Beach, not that we cannot help. Send the brief and we go and find one for your block. If we cannot, you get told that, the same day, rather than being added to a mailing list.
- Why not just get three quotes myself?
You can, and for a simple job you probably should. The difficulty on a block in Dicky Beach is that quotes are only comparable when they assume the same things — and with 2 residential zones mapped here, two builders can price the same house against different assumptions about the site and both be quoting honestly. Sorting that out is the part we do.
Builders serving Dicky Beach
Questions about building in Dicky Beach
Ten overlays on one square kilometre — do they all apply to my block?
Probably, and that is the point. On a large locality an overlay list is a set of questions that mostly miss your block; on 1.03 km² you should expect nearly all of them to reach it.
So what is the research task here?
Not “which of these apply” but “what does each require, together”. A storm tide floor level, a structural response to erosion, an acid sulfate trigger keyed to depth and a bushfire attack level all land on one building, and the design must satisfy the most demanding of each.
What zone is Dicky Beach?
The Medium Density Residential Zone is dominant, with the Low Density Residential Zone also mapped. Medium density contemplates attached and multi-unit housing — which is why beachfront sites are valued as they are, and also why the hazard requirements get expensive, because they apply to a larger building.
What coastal controls apply?
Three asking different things: a coastal management district, which adds a state-level assessment; an erosion prone area, where the issue is siting; and storm tide — both a scheme inundation area and a statewide hazard area at the high band — which deals in height.
How do the acid sulfate bands work?
Both are mapped, so the trigger depth depends on where the parcel sits and two lots a street apart can face different thresholds for the same excavation. A contour survey against the Australian Height Datum resolves it, and answers the storm tide floor level in the same exercise.
Is there really a landslide overlay beside a surf beach?
Yes — a landslide hazard overlay is mapped, which few expect here. A flood risk area also applies, which is catchment water and separate from the storm tide instruments.
What to ask a builder about a block in Dicky Beach
Each one is here because of something mapped in Dicky Beach. Take them to whoever quotes.
- 01
Which of the 2 residential zones mapped in Dicky Beach covers this address, and what does that one permit that the others do not?
- 02
What bushfire attack level have you built to in Dicky Beach before, and what did it change in the glazing, decking and screening?
- 03
How deep can we excavate before acid sulfate soil management is triggered, and who carries that cost?
Local landmarks in Dicky Beach
- Moffat Beach
- Currimundi Beach
- Sir Leslie Wilson Park
- Dicky Beach Family Holiday Park
- Ballinger Beach Park
- Caloundra Place Care Community
No catch
What you are agreeing to
- Nothing. There is no contract with us, no account to create, no card, and nothing to cancel.
- No obligation to use whoever we recommend. Take the name and the reasoning and do what you like with it, including nothing.
- No phone number needed to start. Give us one if you want to be called; otherwise we write.
- One builder contacts you, not six. And only after you have seen the brief and said yes.
- Your details go to that builder and nobody else. Never sold, never auctioned, never shared with a panel.
- If we have nobody in Dicky Beach, we say so. That is a real answer we give, and the empty builder list above is the proof we mean it.
Building in Dicky Beach?
Licence checked with QBCC, insurance sighted, still trading, genuinely working in Dicky Beach. If we cannot find one worth recommending, we will say so.
Find my builder — free →Free · about 3 minutes · no obligation · your details are never sold