Terrain Report · $9 · PDF in minutes
Which way does the block fall, and by how much?
The fall of the land decides the driveway, the slab, the retaining walls and where the water goes - and a listing photo flattens all of it. This report reads the state elevation model across one property and hands you the contour map, four cross sections with the grade on each, and a 3D model of the block in its landform. Check the address free, then decide.
Free: whether the report can be built for this address, and which of the three LayeredGeo reports it can get. No payment, no account.
Also sold separately: the planning report and the Flood Model Report, $9 each.
- Address check is free
- No account needed
- Ready in minutes
- Automatic refund if it cannot be built
The numbers a sloping block hides
A photo cannot show half a metre of fall, and half a metre of fall is a retaining wall. These are the values the report reads off the elevation model for the lot itself, not the street.
High point
43.3 m AHD
The highest ground on the lot, in the same datum a surveyor and a flood study use, so it can sit beside a flood level or a floor level directly.
Low point
41.7 m AHD
The lowest ground - where the water finishes up, where the cut ends and the fill starts, and usually where the drainage has to go.
Total fall
1.6 m
Highest to lowest across the lot, with the direction it falls stated in words. The single number that separates a flat slab from a split level.
Average grade
8.1 %
The slope class of the block, plus the peak grade along each of the four cross sections - because an average can hide one steep corner.
Real values from the sample report below, for a Clayfield property in Brisbane. Every report states the same figures for its own lot, reads them from the state digital elevation model, and shows where they came from on the contour map and the four cross sections.
Read the whole report before you buy
All four pages of a real Terrain Report, generated for a Brisbane property. Click any page to enlarge it, or download the PDF.
Want the sample in your inbox?
We'll email you the sample terrain report so you can read it later or forward it to a client. No spam, no account needed.
What every report does
The same three figures and the same honesty for any covered address, from a flat suburban lot to an acreage on a ridge.
A contour map of the block
Contours over current aerial imagery with the parcel boundary drawn on and the four transect lines marked, so every number in the report can be pointed at on the map.
Four cross sections
W-E, N-S and both diagonals, each drawn to scale with the parcel marked on the profile and the peak grade inside the boundary stated as a percentage.
A 3D model of the landform
Aerial imagery draped over the elevation model for 200 m around the lot, with the boundary outlined - the hill the block sits on, the gully beside it, the fall of the street.
Which way the water goes
The fall direction in words, the high and low points, and the site's relative elevation against the surrounding 200 m - the shape runoff and drainage will follow.
Honest about what it is
Every figure names the state elevation model it was read from, and the report says plainly that it describes the surface only - no soil, rock or groundwater claims.
Minutes, not weeks
Built on demand and emailed as a PDF you can forward. If the map or the cross sections cannot be produced, nothing thinner is delivered - the payment is refunded.
Where it sits beside a survey
This is the screening step, not the survey. It is what tells you whether the block needs a surveyor's numbers before you commit, and what to ask for when it does.
| Comparison | Terrain Report | Detail & contour survey | Listing photos & free maps |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you get | Contour map, four cross sections with grades, 3D landform model, fall and slope figures for the lot | Surveyed levels, features and boundaries certified by a licensed surveyor | A photo that flattens the slope, or coarse contours with no boundary and no numbers for the lot |
| Basis | The state digital elevation model, read across the parcel and named on every figure | Instruments on the ground - the authoritative record | Varies, and rarely stated |
| Cost and wait | $9, minutes, no account, no site access needed | Typically $1,000 or more and days to weeks, and you need access to the site | Free |
| Use it for | Deciding whether to buy, an early quote, and whether the survey is worth ordering yet | Design, drainage, construction set-out and anything lodged with council | A first impression, at your own risk |
The council's planning controls on the lot - zoning, the flood overlay, bushfire, heritage, easements - are the planning report, also $9. The modelled flood depth in metres is the Flood Model Report, also $9. The ground beneath the surface - geology, soils, reactive-soil screening, bore logs, groundwater - is the geotechnical desktop report.
Who reads this before they commit
Buyers
A sloping block found after the contract is signed is a retaining wall, a split slab or a cut-and-fill bill. See the fall, the grade and the landform for every property on the shortlist, without driving to any of them.
Builders and designers
A number on the grade before the quote goes in, and the cross sections to sketch a driveway or a slab against - in time for the tender, not after the surveyor's invoice.
Owners planning works
A shed, a pool, a granny flat or a retaining wall all start with the same question: how much does this part of the yard actually fall? The cross sections answer it per direction.
Engineers and drafters
The same elevation data as data: 0.5 m or 1.0 m contours, the DEM and a TIN in DXF, GeoPackage, Shapefile or KMZ. Order it through GIS Export →
Buying the property? Get all three
The Pre-Purchase Property Report binds the three LayeredGeo screening reports for one address into a single PDF. One document for the contract file: the planning risk, the modelled water and the lie of the land.
Planning report
$9 on its own
Zoning, the council flood overlay, bushfire, heritage, character, easements, utilities, transport and every development application on the lot and next door. Its page →
Flood Model Report
$9 on its own
Where a council or state publishes flood model grids: the modelled depth, velocity and flood level for every event, with a map of each. Included where a model reaches the property. Its page →
Terrain Report
$9 on its own
This report - the contour map, the four cross sections with grades, and the 3D model of the landform. The elevation half of the pre-purchase picture.
Questions
See the shape of the block
The address check is free and takes a few seconds. The report follows in minutes.
Built from each state's published digital elevation model, read across the cadastral parcel. Every figure describes the shape of the ground surface as most recently captured, with no interpretation of the soil, rock or groundwater beneath it. This is a screening report: it is not a survey, boundaries shown are cadastral mapping rather than a boundary survey, levels are model values rather than surveyed levels, and it does not replace a licensed surveyor or engineering advice for design, drainage or construction. Need the elevation as data - contours, DEM and TIN in DXF, GeoPackage, Shapefile or KMZ? See Contours & Elevation in GIS Export.