Question 1

Is a ReefReport an official planning document or legal advice?

Accepted Answer

No. ReefReport pulls together public planning, cadastral, and demographic data and adds a plain-language analysis grounded in that data, but it is not legal, financial, or planning advice, and isn't a substitute for a qualified town planner, solicitor, or surveyor before a purchase or development decision.

Question 2

Why Victoria only?

Accepted Answer

The founder's planning expertise is Victoria-specific, and getting Victoria genuinely right matters more than covering every state thinly. The underlying architecture is built to extend nationally later without a rebuild — it's a deliberate launch scope, not a permanent limitation.

Question 3

What happens if my address doesn't resolve?

Accepted Answer

We check that the address, parcel, and zone all resolve before asking for payment. If the pre-check fails, you're shown exactly what didn't resolve and you're never charged.

Question 4

How current is the data in my report?

Accepted Answer

Your report is a permanent, timestamped record of exactly what the planning zone, overlays, and ABS figures showed on the day you paid — locked at that point, and never quietly changed afterward, even if the underlying data later does. Every report shows a prominent "as at" date so that’s always clear. If you need a more current read on the same address later, use the lower-priced refresh — it creates a new, separately-dated report rather than altering the one you already have.

Question 5

What's the difference between a refresh and buying again?

Accepted Answer

A refresh re-runs the same analysis against current data for an address you've already paid for, at a lower price than a first purchase, and creates a new, separate, independently-dated report. Your original report is never modified and stays in your account.

Question 6

Do I lose my report if I close the tab or don't save the PDF?

Accepted Answer

No. Every paid report stays in your account indefinitely and is retrievable at any time at no extra cost — you're paying for the report once, not for a one-time view of it.

Question 7

What data do you actually check?

Accepted Answer

Planning zone and schedule, all overlays (plus nearby overlays that don't affect the land), heritage flags, native vegetation and bushfire-prone-area status, computed site area/frontage/dimensions from real cadastral geometry, a parcel diagram with neighbouring lots for context, and ABS neighbourhood data (dwelling mix, building approvals, median income).

Question 8

Is the analysis written by AI?

Accepted Answer

The interpretive sections are generated with AI, grounded in the actual retrieved planning clause text for your property — we call this "Analysis", never "AI", in the report itself, and we flag anywhere the underlying data can't ground a claim rather than let the model guess.

Question 9

What if a field can't be resolved?

Accepted Answer

It's shown as unresolved with a reason, never silently dropped or guessed. We'd rather tell you we don't know than present a guess as fact.

Question 10

How is this different from VicPlan or Landchecker?

Accepted Answer

VicPlan (free) gives you a flat list of zone/overlay names with no interpretation and no site geometry. Landchecker's paid tier ($24.90) adds site dimensions behind a paywall but still doesn't interpret what the zone actually means for your property, doesn't estimate anything, and explicitly disclaims its own reliability. ReefReport's core differentiator is the grounded, plain-language analysis — what the zone and overlays actually do to this specific piece of land — plus real computed site geometry and free ABS neighbourhood context, on every report.

Question 11

Do you store my card details?

Accepted Answer

No — card details are handled directly by Stripe and never touch our servers. We store a card fingerprint (not the card number) so we can flag likely duplicate purchases, which is a standard fraud-prevention measure.

Question 12

Can I get help if something goes wrong?

Accepted Answer

Yes — email support@reefreport.com.au with your job ID (shown on the report page if something fails) and we'll sort it out.

Frequently asked questions