South East Queensland's storm season is a known quantity: it arrives every year, brings damaging winds, dumps heavy rainfall, and tests every weak point in your landscape. The facilities managers who get through it without insurance claims, public liability incidents or emergency callouts all do the same thing — they prepare in winter for what spring brings.
This 20-point checklist is the same audit Element Queensland walks through with our commercial and council clients across Brisbane, Moreton Bay and the Sunshine Coast each July to September. Use it as a working document with your grounds contractor.
Trees & vegetation
- Commission or refresh a Visual Tree Assessment for high-risk trees
- Carry out crown lifting, deadwood removal and weight reduction to AS 4373
- Remove identified hazardous trees and stumps
- Stake and adjust juvenile trees against prevailing winds
- Clear vegetation from gutters, downpipes and roof catchments
- Inspect and prune trees adjacent to overhead service lines (use a qualified contractor)
Drainage & soil
- Clear all stormwater pits, grates and headwalls of debris and silt
- Flush subsoil drains in garden beds and turf areas
- Inspect and clear culverts, swales and detention basins
- Top-dress eroded turf areas and stabilise exposed soils with mulch or matting
- Check that mulch depth in garden beds is 50–75mm — not piled against trunks
Hardscape & infrastructure
- Tighten or replace loose fixings on signage, bollards and fence panels
- Inspect playground equipment for loose components (AS 4685)
- Secure or relocate mobile assets — bins, planter pots, outdoor furniture
- Check shade structures, sails and pergolas for compromised fixings
- Photograph asset condition before the season for insurance baseline
Documentation & response readiness
- Update your contractor contact list and after-storm response protocol
- Confirm public liability and asset insurance details are current
- Brief on-site teams on hazard reporting and exclusion-zone procedure
- Stockpile critical consumables (sandbags, signage, traffic management)
Build the checklist into your annual programme
The most resilient sites we work with treat pre-storm preparation as a recurring line in their annual maintenance plan — not a panic project in October. Here's how to phase it across the year:
| Window | Focus |
|---|---|
| April – June | Visual Tree Assessments, asset condition audits |
| July – September | Pruning to AS 4373, drainage clearing, hardscape repairs |
| October – November | Final walk-through, response-plan briefing, photo baselining |
| December – March | Active monitoring, post-event re-inspections |
Don't skip the documentation step
Photograph and date every tree, asset and drainage point in October. If you make a claim after a storm, dated “before” evidence dramatically reduces the time it takes for an insurer to settle and rebuilds the asset register at the same time.
Where to start if you're behind schedule
If you're reading this in October and you haven't started, prioritise in this order:
- Trees in high-occupancy target zones (carparks, walkways, play areas)
- Stormwater pits and roof catchments
- Loose signage, bollards and mobile assets
- Asset condition photos for insurance baseline
Element Queensland's grounds and arborist teams deliver pre-storm programmes across South East Queensland — combining commercial arboriculture, grounds maintenance and infrastructure inspections in a single seasonal package. If you'd like a copy of our full pre-storm scope template, get in touch.
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Element Queensland delivers commercial landscape services across Brisbane, Moreton Bay, the Sunshine Coast and beyond. Talk to our team about scope, scheduling and reporting.
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