Residential Driveway Gradients in Queensland: A Complete Guide

Builders say ratios, homeowners say percentages, spec sheets sometimes say degrees. Same thing.

1 in 5 is the ordinary limit, and 1 in 4 the concession with conditions.

NMP 1.1 of the Queensland Development Code gives two acceptable solutions rather than one limit.

The second is the one people quote incorrectly. The 6 m cap and the transition at each end are conditions of the 1 in 4, not optional extras.

A car doesn't scrape because a driveway is steep. It scrapes because the slope changes faster than the car's underside can follow.

Easing that change over a metre or more at each end is what the transition rule is for. See what 1 in 8 actually means.

NMP 1.1's performance requirement says as much: a vehicle should travel the driveway without scraping, scratching or being damaged. The numbers are the certifier's test; the vehicle is the owner's, on moving day.

More in why rate of grade change matters and why your car scrapes.

AS/NZS 2890.1 is the Australian and New Zealand off-street parking standard, and its residential access provisions are the other document a certifier may have open. It sits outside the Queensland Development Code, and the two aren't identical.

Whichever one your approval cites is the document to design to, staying within the tighter of the two where they differ.

NMP 1.1 is a non-mandatory part of the code. Councils still reference it, and certifiers use it as the yardstick when nothing more specific applies, but it stays guidance, not a statutory requirement.

A planning scheme, a council standard drawing, or a condition on your approval can require something different. The strip between kerb and boundary is usually a council-owned vehicle crossing, built to the council's drawing rather than NMP 1.1.

We have read what each south east Queensland council publishes and written it up separately, because the differences are real.

• Brisbane publishes its own figures, and its rate-of-change limit is tighter than the state code
• Gold Coast dimensions the crossing on a drawing that takes precedence over NMP 1.1
• Moreton Bay publishes four drawings, and only one covers a house
• Logan lets you skip the application entirely if you pass its checklist
• Sunshine Coast sorts every crossover into standard or non-standard
• Redland requires a permit for every crossover, with no self-assessment path
• Toowoomba requires no approval at all, provided you avoid a published list
• Ipswich uses none of the drawings its neighbours use, so their figures do not carry across

Same process whether it's poured or still on paper:

1. Get the two end levels. The reduced level (RL) at the street boundary and the finished floor level of the garage. On a new build these come off the site plan; on an existing driveway, measure them.
2. Work out the overall grade. Total rise or fall divided by total length. A 1.5 m rise over 8 m is 1 in 5.3, inside the ordinary limit.
3. Find the steepest section. The average grade can comply while a section in the middle doesn't, and that section governs.
4. Measure the steep run. Any part steeper than 1 in 5 must stay within 6 m to use the 1 in 4 concession.
5. Check both transitions. At each end of the steep section, look for at least 1 m of easing at no steeper than 1 in 8.

Boundary RL to garage RL covers setting these levels on a design. If it's already poured and grounding cars, read what getting it wrong costs.

How steep can a driveway be in Queensland?

No steeper than 1 in 5 (20%). Up to 1 in 4 (25%) where the section steeper than 1 in 5 stays within 6 m. It also needs a transition of at least 1 m, no steeper than 1 in 8, at each end.

Why does my car scrape even though the driveway passes?

An abrupt change in grade rather than the grade itself, usually where the driveway meets the street or the garage floor. A long front overhang or low clearance finds a sharp transition a higher car rides through.

Is 1 in 8 a limit on how much the grade can change per metre?

No — the most common misreading. The 1 in 8 is the steepness of the transition at each end of a steep section; the 1 m is how long that transition must run.

Who is responsible for the section across the footpath?

Usually a council-owned vehicle crossing, not your driveway, built to the council's standard drawing. Who owns the crossover varies by council.

Do these rules apply outside Queensland?

No. Other states work from their own codes and from AS/NZS 2890.1, so the figures aren't interchangeable.