A report examining damage to homes and buildings in the wake of Cyclone Yasi has found Queensland's current building standards for structures in cyclone zones satisfactory.

However Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) commissioned report has recommended the development of new construction requirements for buildings within a storm surge zone.

It has also reinforced the need to design low rise buildings, including cladding, doors, windows, roller doors, eaves lining and skylights to resist the expected maximum wind forces.

The ABCB commissioned the Cyclone Testing Station at James Cook University (JCU) to undertake a field study of damage to the area.

Yasi made landfall in the early hours of Thursday 3 February 2011 with the eye passing over the Mission Beach region. Wind gusts were estimated to range from 133 to 245 kilometres per hour and travelled across an area stretching from Townsville to Innisfail - maximum gusts were predicted as reaching 245 kilometres per hour at South Mission Beach and Kennedy, and 234 kilometres an hour at Tully.

Deputy Premier and Minister for Local Government Paul Lucas said: "JCU's report shows that less than three per cent of all post-1980s houses in the worst affected areas experienced significant roof damage, although more than 12 per cent of the pre-1980s housing inspected had significant roof damage.

"The report shows that the poorer performance of some pre-1980's houses was largely due to deterioration of the structure over time, as well as inferior tie-down standards when compared to modern building codes."

The report analysed buildings replaced and repaired in places such as Innisfail after Tropical Cyclone Larry and how they performed during Tropical Cyclone Yasi.

"It was heartening to see that most buildings repaired after Tropical Cyclone Larry received little or no damage to the repairs," Lucas said.

"However, the report indicated that performance of repaired buildings was lower than that of newly constructed buildings, highlighting the difficulties of working within an existing structure.

"This also highlights the importance of thorough inspections for damage and bringing all important structural details to current requirements, whether they have been damaged or not.

"There were a number of instances observed where sliding glass door panels had in fact been blown out of their tracks and the glass not smashing until the frame hit the floor.

"Additionally, newer houses where latches, bolts and hinges - not traditionally thought of as structural elements - failed causing cyclonic winds to penetrate the building envelope, which can then lead to large internal pressures that may lead to the failure of the roof system."

Lucas said a destructive storm surge was recorded between Clump Point and Lucinda and fortunately it did not coincide with a high tide, but several structures were still significantly damaged.

"The level of the ground floor of the building relative to the storm surge level was important in determining structural damage due to storm surge," he said.

"Buildings could survive in storm surge locations if the ground floor is above the maximum water level experienced and the sub structure is designed to allow the water to flow largely unimpeded beneath - though the report added that the possibility of scour needs to be taken into account.

"The report has recommended the development of new construction requirements for buildings within a storm surge zone to reduce the risk of structural damage in the future."

The report recommended that education and ongoing maintenance of homes will help build resilience of communities.

It also reinforced the need to design low rise buildings, including cladding, doors, windows, roller doors, eaves lining and skylights to resist the expected maximum wind forces.

Lucas said the report also highlighted the role of garage doors and openings in determining the internal pressures in buildings.

"The poor performance of roller doors was clear, chiefly through failure by disengagement of the door from its tracks leaving it to flap in the wind or be blown away," he said.

"Roller doors that incorporated wind blocks to restrain them in the guides offered better performance than those that did not, however there were still failures.

"Sectional or panel-type doors, particularly those with stiffening to the inside of each panel, had a significantly lower failure rate than roller doors in similar applications."

Lucas said the generally low incidence of damage in the post-80s buildings indicated that the current building practices are able to deliver a satisfactory outcome for most of the building structure.

"But the report did call for more anemometers, or wind speed measurement devices, to be installed along the tropical coast to provide better coverage during tropical cyclone events," Lucas said.

"Accurately measuring wind speeds for building code development and emergency response planning is a necessity in these cyclone regions."

Building Codes Queensland is working with the ABCB as they review existing cyclone standards and zones.