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DUE DILIGENCE

Conveyancing Searches in Brisbane

A.L.F Lawyers manages the full suite of conveyancing searches in Brisbane required for the safe purchase of property in Queensland. We recommend the search package suited to your property, order the searches on your behalf, review the results, and advise you on anything that needs to be acted on before settlement.
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THE BASICS

What are conveyancing searches?

Property searches for conveyancing in Brisbane are formal enquiries made to government departments, local councils, body corporates and other authorities to confirm the legal and physical status of a property before settlement and to confirm unpaid liabilities such as rates, water or body corporate levies.
They identify matters that are not apparent from inspecting the property or reading the contract, such as unpaid amounts that will transfer with the property, undisclosed encumbrances, planned road resumptions, building approval issues, and other liabilities that fall on the buyer at settlement.
For a Queensland buyer operating under the “buyer beware” principle, searches in Queensland are the mechanism by which due diligence is done. Conveyancing due diligence in Brisbane helps buyers identify potential liabilities, restrictions and other property issues before settlement. A search package costs a few hundred dollars. The risks it addresses can run to tens of thousands.
WHAT WE ORDER

The categories of conveyancing searches in Queensland

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A note on the new disclosure regime applies to several of the categories below. Since 1 August 2025, certain searches that previously fell on the buyer to conduct at their own discretion are now provided by the seller with the Form 2 Seller Disclosure Statement, including the title search, plan of survey, Body Corporate Information Certificate (where applicable), and contamination register searches. These are point-in-time documents. Even where they are provided, current searches are still required closer to settlement to confirm unpaid liabilities and pick up anything that has changed.

A title search in Brisbane (Titles Queensland) confirms ownership and the registered interests on the title: mortgages, easements, covenants, caveats and leases. A property title search in Queensland can help buyers confirm the interests recorded against the property before settlement. The registered plan of survey confirms boundaries. Both are typically provided in the Form 2 disclosure, but we order a current title search closer to settlement to confirm the position has not changed. Where the title raises a question about boundaries or encroachments, an updated survey can be ordered.
These cover the council’s records including rates owing, zoning, planning constraints, overlays for flood, bushfire and landslide risk, heritage protections, building approval history, show cause notices, enforcement notices, and orders relating to dangerous structures or unauthorised work. Rates owing are a current liability that adjusts at settlement, which is why these searches are done close to settlement regardless of what was disclosed at contract.

The most common are land tax, water rates and water access, road resumption searches (Department of Transport and Main Roads), and contamination register searches (Environmental Management Register and Contaminated Land Register). Contamination register references are typically included in the Form 2, but land tax and water searches must be ordered for the buyer to confirm unpaid amounts. Vegetation Management Act searches are routine for rural or semi-rural land.

For a unit, townhouse and other community titled property, the Body Corporate Information Certificate captures the body corporate’s financial position, special levies, by-laws and disputes. The Form 2 includes this certificate, but body corporate levies are a current liability that needs to be confirmed close to settlement. Where the building has a maintenance history that warrants closer review, we may recommend that you order a full body corporate records history search.
Ordered where the property warrants them or you request them, such as pool safety register, QBCC searches (where building work is recent or under warranty), asbestos register, council approval searches for additional structures to warrant approval and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage searches for certain rural or development land. We discuss any additional searches with you before ordering them.

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Property contracts are complex, and the wrong advice at the wrong time can cost you dearly. Our conveyancing lawyers will review your contract in full, explain exactly what you’re agreeing to, and identify any conditions or clauses that put you at risk before you’re legally bound.

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COSTS & TIMEFRAMES

Cost and timing

Property searches for conveyancing in Brisbane are charged at cost. We pass through what the search providers charge us, without markup, and itemise them in your statement.
At the start of your matter, we provide you with a list of recommended searches and the cost associated with each. You choose which searches to proceed with. Total search costs for a standard Queensland residential purchase typically range from a few hundred dollars to around a thousand dollars, depending on the property type.
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COMMON QUESTIONS

Frequently asked questions

What searches do I actually need to order?
The minimum package for a standard Queensland residential purchase covers a title search in Brisbane along with survey plan, council records, water, land tax, and any prescribed certificates not provided in the Form 2. Additional title searches in Brisbane are recommended based on the property’s specific risk profile, including flood searches for low-lying areas, contamination searches for properties with prior commercial use, and body corporate searches for units.
No search is mandatory in the sense that the law requires you to order it. However, certain searches are universally recommended because the risks they address are universal for example title, council rates, water, land tax, and body corporate (for units). A buyer who refuses these is accepting risk a competent conveyancing lawyer would never recommend accepting.
The buyer pays for the searches ordered in the course of their due diligence. The seller pays for the prescribed certificates accompanying the Form 2 Seller Disclosure Statement.
Depending on what is revealed during conveyancing due diligence in Brisbane, your options may include negotiating an adjustment, requiring the seller to rectify the issue before settlement, terminating the contract where you have a contractual right to do so, or proceeding on the basis that you understand and accept the risk.
Yes. The search providers are state-wide, and we can order searches for any property located in Queensland.