Frequently asked questions

A warehouse builder plans, gets approved and constructs warehouses and industrial buildings: the structure, slab, cladding, services, office and site works. Builtwise does this as a design-and-construct builder in Queensland, working from how your business will use the building.

Yes. Builtwise Group Pty Ltd (ABN 73 675 775 096) holds QBCC licence 15445275, class Builder – Open, which covers building work on all classes of buildings. You can check it on the QBCC licensee register.

Brisbane, Logan, Ipswich, Redland City, the Gold Coast, the Scenic Rim, Moreton Bay, the Sunshine Coast and Noosa, Gympie, Toowoomba, the Lockyer Valley and the Fraser Coast. If your site is outside these areas, call us and we will tell you straight away whether we can help.

Warehouses, distribution centres, cold storage and specialised facilities, steel-frame and clear-span buildings, tilt-panel warehouses, commercial workshops, manufacturing facilities and mixed-use industrial and office buildings.

They are the same company. Builtwise Group Pty Ltd also trades as Lockyer Sheds, which builds steel sheds, farm buildings and smaller steel structures from its Crowley Vale head office. Builtwise is the company's commercial and industrial construction brand.

The lot address, approximate floor area and height, what the building will be used for, office and amenity needs, and your timeline. Plans and reports help but are not needed to start.

Rider Levett Bucknall's Riders Digest 2026 (Queensland edition, fourth-quarter 2025 rates) puts a Brisbane industrial building of 4,500 m² with 6 m to the underside of the truss at $1,360 to $1,800 per m² of gross floor area with metal cladding, and $1,460 to $1,960 per m² with precast concrete cladding, excluding GST, land, fees, site works, hardstands and roadworks. Your price depends on size, height, structure, the office component and site conditions, so we quote each project individually.

Yes. For investors we plan the building so it suits a broad range of tenants: flexible clear height, a column grid that works for common racking systems, a separable office and a site layout that can be split into units where the planning scheme allows it.

A warehouse is mainly for storage. A distribution centre is organised around moving goods in and out quickly, so docks, hardstand, truck circulation and sorting space get more of the design effort and the budget.

It depends on the number of vehicles you handle at peak, how long each one stays and whether inbound and outbound share doors. We work it out from your actual vehicle movements rather than a rule of thumb.

The refrigeration system is designed, installed and commissioned by a licensed refrigeration contractor. We coordinate them as part of the project so the building, slab, penetrations and power are ready for the plant.

Often, yes, subject to the existing slab, structure, power supply and approvals. We assess the building first and tell you what has to change.

In Rider Levett Bucknall's Riders Digest 2026 (Queensland edition) the Brisbane range for a 4,500 m² industrial building is $1,360 to $1,800 per m² with metal cladding and $1,460 to $1,960 per m² with precast concrete cladding. The right choice for your project depends on size, height, fire separation, security, lead time and how long you will own the building, so we price both where either could work.

Yes, if it is planned for. We leave the end wall and footings detailed for an extra bay and reserve the space on the site plan.

Span is an engineering decision for each project, based on height, roof loads, wind actions and cost. We size it to your layout and show you the cost of wider spans against adding a column line.

Clear-span describes the layout (no internal columns). It is usually achieved with steel portal frames, so most clear-span warehouses are steel-frame buildings, but not every steel-frame building is clear-span.

They can be. Tilt-up panels can be designed to carry roof loads as well as enclose the building, or to act as cladding on a steel frame. The engineer decides this for each project.

Rider Levett Bucknall's Riders Digest 2026 (Queensland edition) gives $1,460 to $1,960 per m² of gross floor area for a 4,500 m² Brisbane industrial building with precast concrete cladding, at fourth-quarter 2025 rates, excluding GST, land, fees, site works, hardstands and roadworks. That is a benchmark for precast-clad buildings generally, not a quote for tilt-up on your site.

A workshop where goods or vehicles are repaired is generally Class 8 under the NCC; QBCC's summary includes mechanics' workshops in Class 8. An attached office is usually Class 5.

Yes. Crane capacity, span and runway length are designed into the columns, crane beams and footings from the start.

Yes. A Class 8 production area with an attached Class 5 office and amenities is a common combination; each part meets the requirements for its class.

Yes. We coordinate with your equipment suppliers and consultants so the slab, structure, services and openings are ready for the equipment when it arrives.

Offices cost more per square metre than warehouse space. Rider Levett Bucknall's Riders Digest 2026 (Queensland edition) lists attached air-conditioned offices of 200 m² at $3,100 to $3,500 per m² in Brisbane, compared with $1,360 to $1,800 per m² for a metal-clad industrial building, at fourth-quarter 2025 rates excluding GST.

Yes. A mezzanine office saves floor area and can overlook the warehouse; access, egress and accessibility requirements are designed in.

In a traditional contract you engage designers first, then tender the finished drawings to builders. In design and construct the builder is responsible for both, so design and cost are developed together and you have one party accountable for the outcome.

Council decides any development application under the planning scheme. The building approval is decided by a licensed building certifier under the Building Act 1975. Certifiers are licensed and audited by the QBCC and must not design or build the project they certify.

Multiply the gross floor area by a current benchmark rate for the structure type, add the office area at the office rate, then add site works, hardstand, external services, fees and GST. Benchmark rates like RLB's exclude those items.

In RLB's Brisbane benchmark, yes: $1,460 to $1,960 per m² for precast cladding against $1,360 to $1,800 per m² for metal cladding. Precast can still be the better value where fire-rated boundary walls, security or durability are needed.

A licensed building certifier, under the Building Act 1975. Private certifiers are licensed and audited by the QBCC and must be independent of the design and construction.

No building work should start until the required development approval (if any) and the building approval are in place.