Tiles landed on the Gold Coast

The tiles we priced

150 m2 of 600 x 600 matt porcelain, one production batch, 10 percent spares, palletised.

Landed on the Gold Coast, line by line

Every line from the factory gate to your site. Low, middle and high use the low, middle and high of every published rate at once. Estimate: no delivered Elje job sits behind this figure yet.

By the container

About 1,000 m2 in its own 20 ft container into the Gold Coast: about $19,863 landed, $17 to $24 per m2. Estimate.

Shipped with a kitchen

On its own, a tile order pays the full set of fixed charges and Elje's minimum fees. Added to a kitchen in the same shipment it adds about $2,243 to the kitchen's landed price ($1,713 to $2,961), because the port, broker, delivery and Project Plan are already paid. Estimate.

Against Gold Coast prices

Supply only is the fair comparison with a landed price; installed prices include labour, which you pay either way.

The Tile Collective has Burleigh and Labrador showrooms; same prices as Brisbane, $28.95 to $38.95 per m2 for 600x1200 porcelain. National chains $60 to $150.

WTD tiling $39 to $98 per m2.

Is it worth it?

It depends how you ship them. 150 m2 on its own lands at about $43 per m2, close to what local porcelain costs ($29 to $39 per m2). With a kitchen they add about $15 per m2, and a full 20 ft container lands at about $20 per m2. Estimate.

The Gold Coast market

The Gold Coast tracks Brisbane, about 2 percent under it on the same cost index: kitchens $11,750 to $44,100 installed, bathrooms $9,800 to $34,300. Rider Levett Bucknall expects the same 7 percent a year escalation as Brisbane from 2027. The Tile Collective prices its Gold Coast store the same as Brisbane, and plumbers charge about $78 to $195 an hour.

How it gets to the Gold Coast

Foshan factory to Nansha or Shekou, a South China service to the Port of Brisbane, then about 95 km by road down the M1 to Southport, Burleigh or Palm Beach.

The Gold Coast has no container port. Everything lands at Fisherman Islands in Brisbane and comes down the M1.

Most Gold Coast deliveries are tautliner loads from a Brisbane depot rather than a container at the kerb, because of apartment access and the extra distance.

What moves the number

• Weight, not volume. Tiles fill a container's weight limit long before its space. A shared container charges the larger of cubic metres and tonnes, so 150 m2 of porcelain pays for about 3.4 tonnes.
• Quantity. Around 1,000 m2 of 600 x 600 porcelain fills a 20 ft container by weight. At that size the landed price per m2 drops sharply.
• Size and thickness. Large formats and 20 mm outdoor pavers weigh more per m2 and break more in transit.
• One batch. Order every tile for the project from one production batch, with 10 percent spares. A second batch will not match.
• Testing. Slip rating reports for wet areas, and an asbestos-free test report for any new tile body.

What it has to comply with

• Wet areas and outdoors need an AS 4586 slip rating (P3 wet indoor, P4 outdoor is common). Ask for the P rating report, not a European R rating.
• Australia bans asbestos. The ABF can test ceramic imports at the importer's cost, so get the test report before shipping.
• Porcelain tiles: tariff 6907.21.90, general duty 5 percent, Free from China with a certificate of origin. Mosaics under 7 cm are Free anyway.

Notes for the Gold Coast

Coastal and subtropical, with salt air within a few kilometres of the beach. Specify PVD or 316 stainless on tapware and hardware, and marine-grade powder coat on anything outside.

• The landed price is the Brisbane price plus a longer truck run. The ocean leg is identical.
• High-rise apartments need a booked loading dock, lift and body corporate approval. Containers are unpacked at a depot and the goods come in by truck and trolley.
• Many Gold Coast renovations are apartments and townhouses, where the order is a kitchen and two bathrooms, not a whole house. That usually means a shared container, not your own.

Questions