Whilst I'm not building one of the things I've noticed is the seemingly wild variations in site costs and the number of "surprises" people end up with regarding site costs.

Thought I might ask the community to share their site costs with their fellow forumites.....of course that requires us to talk on a common basis, so I'm proposing the following proforma:

Site Classification:
Final Footing Design:
House Size:
Location:
Wall Construction:
Cut and Fill Requirements:
Retaining Wall Requirements:
Drainage Requirements:
Special Requirements:
Cost:

Where do you get this info from?

From your soil report and drawings. It seems most people get their soil report at the contract stage....ask for it as soon as the builder has said he's completed the soil report - it's yours your entitled to it, and you can start preparing yourself one what might be coming re: foundation requirements.

What goes under each heading?....glad you asked:

Site Classification:

Site's are classified according to AS2870 as shown in the following table.
[ img ]
Often there will be a "D" added to the site slassification, eg. H-D that's important because it means that there's a likelihood of deep seated movement.

So just put in the Class letter in this part....

Final Footing Design

There's basically five types - please nominate the type:

1. Stumps - although builders by and large avoid them like a plague

2. Strip footing - A relatively small strip of concrete placed into a trench and reinforced with steel. Each footing supports the load of the wall above it.

3. Raft slab - A concrete slab with stiffening beams incorporated around the perimeter and at set intervals (say 4-6 metres) across the span of the slab

4. Waffle slab/ Waffle Pod Slab - An egg like box comprising a series of deep but relatively thin steel reinforced beams running at 90 degrees to each other to give a stiff structure. The floor slab is placed at the same time as the beams.

5. Piles or Deep Edge Beams - generally required because your on substantial fill can be concrete or screw piles and generally in combination with a H-class slab
[ img ]
[ img ]

6. Other - please describe cos' I can't think of one.

House Size:

Please provide you house size in square metres or squares - remember one square equals 10 ft by 10 ft or 9.29 square metres. Whatever your comfortable with.

Location:

Rough location such as Western Melbourne, Rural NSW, etc, this can have a bearing on prices.

Wall Construction:

Wall type and height and roof material, such as brick veneer, double storey, colorbond roof or light construction, single storey, tiled roof.

Cut and Fill Requirements:

It's gross generalisation but there are three types of site:

1. No cut or fill - minor site scrape and straight onto ground

2. Fill only - minor site scrape on sloping ground and house is predominantly on fill
[ img ]

3. Cut and Fill - site scrape with some cut that is used in fill
[ img ]

Retaining Wall Requirements:

Did you need a retaining wall - generally applicable to cut and fill sites - height and length would be useful.

Drainage Requirements:

Was there any drainage requirements - generally a retaining wall will require agricultural drains.

Special Requirements:

Special requirements can include root barriers

Cost:

The all important question.


I know it's a bit of information to gather but it should be there in your contracts....and it may help someone else budget for their site costs.....if nothing else it will make you look at your drawings again...not a bad thing....

So please use the proforma and see whether we can inform ourselves better....so here's the proforma again.

Site Classification:
Final Footing Design:
House Size:
Location:
Wall Construction:
Cut and Fill Requirements:
Retaining Wall Requirements:
Drainage Requirements:
Special Requirements:
Cost:

Great Idea Mike

I don't actually have my site cost/soil report on me, but I will answer the parts I do know

Site Classification: "P"
Final Footing Design: Waffle Pod Slab
House Size: 41 Square Double Story Home
Location: Newport
Wall Construction: Brick house, colorbond roof - I think the total wall heigh was just under 6000mm...I'll need to check this
Cut and Fill Requirements: (hoping for no cut and fill!)
Retaining Wall Requirements: N/A
Drainage Requirements: Stormwater drain upgrade to 100mm
Special Requirements: Building in an established area so we have to have extra protection for neighbours homes, existing crossover, surrounding trees etc
Cost:$13,400 - was told this could go up by $3000 at the most once the house comes down if we need added concrete piering/tree root barriers

That's me done

Fantastic idea, I was hoping someone would post a thread like this. was going to start one, but yours is superb.

I'll fill mine in in a couple of weeks when we get the all important, dreaded, costs back.

I'm looking forward to seeing what others post regarding their costs and site make-up.

Cheers.

Great post Mike. Will be of enormous assistance. Should be a sticky.



Site Classification: M class slab. (Site P due to trees)
Final Footing Design: Waffle Pod Slab
House Size: 42sq 390sqm (including alfresco and garage)
Location: Outer Northern Melbourne (Wallan)
Wall Construction: Brick veneer single storey. 2580mm external wall height. Tiled roof.
Cut and Fill Requirements: Cut and fill required. 1.1 metre (approx) cut at highest point
Retaining Wall Requirements: No. Battened back from cut.
Drainage Requirements: Agricultural drain along base of cut.
Special Requirements: Termite treatment
Cost: $19,643 (Including temp fencing and termite treatment)

EDIT: I did not end up building this house, but will leave the information here. Later in this thread, I will post the details of the house I am building on the same block.

Site Classification: S2 (wind rating N1)
Final Footing Design: raft slab
House Size: 275 m2 (including alfrsco/garage)
Location: Byford WA
Wall Construction: double brick and tile roof
Cut and Fill Requirements: nil
Retaining Wall Requirements: nil
Drainage Requirements: nil
Special Requirements: nil
Cost: approx$12000

Second that, excellent post Mike.

Hoping some Canberrans will contribute as I will be building in early 2009 in Forde, Canberra.

Still waiting on soil and contour survey so this will help with costing's ( hopefully 'M' class) but will update when I am ready to go.

Cheers Michael.

Site Classification: H Class (red soil/clay)
Final Footing Design: Waffle Pod
House Size: 34sq - 317sqm - lowset
Location: Brisbane - south side
Wall Construction: Brick veneer, concrete tile roof. 2590mm ext. wall height
Cut and Fill Requirements: equal cut/fill, 1.1m fill at highest point
Retaining Wall Requirements: see below. design and approval - $286
Drainage Requirements: yard gulleys/drains on cut side due to soil type
Special Requirements: build over sewer fee - $109
Cost: $9,419 (incl. the above fees)

Our builder quoted over $24,000 for hardwood sleeper retaining walls to the engineers design. Instead we had them built independently for $9,500 for the sides and rear, and had a sandstone boulder wall done at the front for $1,650.

Total Cost: $20,569

Site Classification: P Class (due to controlled fill)
Final Footing Design: Waffle Pod Slab, S Class
House Size: 35sqr
Location: Melbourne Bayside
Wall Construction: Double Storey, Brick Veneer Ground Floor, Weatherboard First Floor, Concrete Tile Roof, 5.25m Total Wall Height
Cut and Fill Requirements: None
Retaining Wall Requirements: None
Drainage Requirements: None
Special Requirements: Deepened Sewer Point
Cost: $7,184 (including temperory fencing and guard rails)

Site classification: M
Final footing design: Reinforced concrete grillage raft footings continously trenched a minimum of 200mm into firm natural ground. Slab on ground to be approximately 100mm thick reinforced with SL72 fabric top (UNO)
whatever all that means
House size: 216 m2, including garage, single story
Location: Whyalla, SA
Wall construction: brick venneer

Cut and fill requirements: nil (I think)
Retaining wall requirements: nil (I think)
Drainage requirements: ???
Special requirements: nil (I think)

Ground is very flat
Sorry, I do have a 25 page soil report and engineers report and foundation recommendations but most of it is gobbledegook to me

Now, the all important question: cost??
Wouldn't have a clue, house/land package, soil reports and fixed footing costs are included, we just accepted the overall price.

This might sound naive but we had a good idea of the market here and the expected price of a finished house of that size in our area and compared very favourably.

Hi Mike

Here's us.

Site Classification: "M"
Final Footing Design: Waffle Pod Slab
House Size: 45 Square Double Story Home
Location: Greenvale
Wall Construction: Brick house, colorbond roof - however parts of 2nd floor was light weight.
Cut and Fill Requirements: Cut 1.4m, fill 1.4m (corner to corner)
Retaining Wall Requirements: 29m mostly on one side, but about 6m on other side.
Drainage Requirements: agi pipe to selected areas.
Special Requirements: Concrete piers in fill area.
Total cost approximately 22k

Em

Our site costs were much less than everyone elses.


Site Classification: "M"
Final Footing Design: 310mm Waffle Raft Slab
House Size: 37 Square Single Story Home
Location: Narre Warren South, Camden Green Estate.
Wall Construction: Brick Veneer, Rendered and Feature Facade, Roof Tiles.
Cut and Fill Requirements: Cut 250mm and Fill 250mm.
Retaining Wall Requirements: None.
Drainage Requirements: As per construction drawings.
Special Requirements: Guardrails.

Costs: 250mm cut and fill = $1644
Guardrails = $750

TOTAL SITE COSTS: $2384 INCLUDING ALL REQUIREMENTS.

Heres ours:

Site Classification: M Class
Final Footing Design: Waffle Slab
House Size: 39sq [House & Garage]
Location: South Morang [Northern Suburbs, Melbourne]
Wall Construction: Double Storey, brick, teracotta roof tiles - not too sure about height]
Cut and Fill Requirements: Cut & Fill - approx 2m worth overall on block
Retaining Wall Requirements: Retaining walls required on the sides of the block
Drainage Requirements: Agi pipes
Special Requirements: None
Cost: $38,000

YES...$38,000 - total rip off if you ask me [boutique builder]. Our site costs took us wayyyyy over our budget and we were no longer in the position to build the house of our dreams. We have since brought an established home and not too sure if we will ever build on our lovely block

Such is life!

I will try and do this as best I can because a lot of it I don't understand. If there is anything missing someone might be able to help me as to where I can find it. We are at contract stage.

Site classification = P
Final footing design = Piering system (Can someone help me with this one)
House size = 36 squares double story
Locatin = Mernda Villages in Melbournes North
Wall construction = Brick Veneer, low profile roof tiles, part rendered facade
Cut and fill requirements = Nil
Retaining wall = Nil
Drainage requirements = Not sure
All up mine was $7130
I hope this is o.k Danielle

Well, after weeks of worrying after seeing the soil report and realising that we have probably bought the worst piece of dirt in Melbourne, our site costs are finally in.......I almost had a heart attack when I flisked through and cought sight of the word. "45 piers". Thankfully, they didnt cost as much as I had thought. Still, we're about $15k over what we thought but considering what's involved in our slab and piering, I think we have actually got of lightly. With the size of this slab, you could probably build the bloody Freedom Tower on there!

Site Classification: P
Final Footing Design: 'P Class' Waffle Slab - $5275
House Size: 39sq
Location: The Chase, Berwick, VIC
Wall Construction: Brick Vaneer, Concrete tile roof
Cut and Fill Requirements: Yes - $2272
Retaining Wall Requirements: No
Drainage Requirements: Aggie Drains & silt pits - $510
Special Requirements: 45, yes FOURTY FIVE concrete piers @ $14091
Additional Concrete: $950
Total Cost: $23098

Site Classification: M Class
Final Footing Design: Waffle Slab
House Size: 29sq under the roofline.
Location: Latrobe Valley, 150km east of Melbourne
Wall Construction: Single storey, brick veneer, concrete roof tiles. Ceiling height is 2580mm.
Cut and Fill Requirements: None (flat ground), but finished slab height had to be 310mm above kerb level due to the low ground level around here.
Retaining Wall Requirements: None.
Drainage Requirements: Stormwater pipes had to be 100mm instead of the standard 90mm due to the lack of fall on the block. Sewer and stormwater also cost extra because of the additional length of their runs due to the size of the block.
Special Requirements: Termite protection (Termguard), regional mark-up.
Cost: Approx $18,000 the vast majority of which was the regional mark-up.

Site Classification: S4 Wind Classification N2

Final Footing Design: It's not a waffle pad type slab. prob reinforced concrete slab. I think it has extra deep footings. can't find the info yet. I found one bit of info which says 350mm footings.
House Size: approx 349 including garage, verandah and alfresco
Location: Rural residential within a country town sw wa
Wall Construction: double brick colorbond roof
Cut and Fill Requirements:Sandpad recommended 600mm above cut base
A sand pad was on site but the current earthworks people want to remove it and see what prep was done below it then replace it. This means they will loose approx 1/3 of the sand pad which will then need to be replaced with new sand.
Retaining Wall Requirements: nil
Drainage Requirements: leech drains
Special Requirements:
Cost 45, 483 k initially but we've had some price reduction. includes the additional insulation required for zone rating I'll have a hunt through the mound of paperwork and see what i can narrow down for site works.
entire build is 269k

Site Classification: A, wind classification N2
Footing Design: Reinforced concrete slab
House Size: 171m2, including 1 car garage and a small patio
Location: suburban, med density, battle axe block in Perth metro
Wall construction: Frame, with reverse brick veneer to the North and West,
some non-load bearing masonry inner walls.
Roof: Hip, Colorbond on Trusses
Cut and Fill: not required
Site Prep Required: Clearing of 5 huge old trees (1 over 50 y old), root grubbing, removal of remnants of an old septic system, relocation of the sewage line.
Retaining Walls: nil
Drainage: will ask the council shortly
Site Cost: Budgeted for 8.5K will be lucky to do it for 10.
Services Costs: U/G power $1500, sewage headworks $7500
Builder: Owner built

Chris

Site Classification: H, wind classification N1

Footing Design: Concrete Slab – Waffle POD. 385 Freeboard, 135 Rebate to House, 135 Stepdown to Garage, 220 Stepdown to Porch.

House Size: 22.80sqrs

Wall construction: Brick Veneer, single storey tiled roof

Location: Suburban

Cut and Fill: Backfill to wafflepod and dispose of surplus soil from site

Retaining Walls: nil

Site Plan: Slight Fall

Total Cost: $6853 including termite protection, temporary fencing and 2nd site assessment

Site Classification: Class H
Final Footing Design: H Waffle Slab with deepened edge beam
House Size: 23 Squares. 222m2.
Location: Laurimar. Doreen, Vic.
Wall Construction: Brick Veneer. Tiled roof.
Cut and Fill Requirements: Cut and Fill (400mm Cut & 300mm Fill)
Retaining Wall Requirements: None
Drainage Requirements: Agricultural Drains. Drain to front of garage.
Builder: JG K1ng Homes
Cost: $7,594

Also there is a $3,703 charge for upgrade to H Waffle slab, not sure if that is part of site costs.. if so then total would be $11,297.

Site Classification: Class H
Final Footing Design: H Waffle Slab with deepened edge beam
House Size: 26 SQ
Location: Caroline Springs
Wall Construction: Brick Veneer
Cut and Fill Requirements: Cut and Fill up to 600mm
Retaining Wall Requirements: None
Drainage Requirements: Agricultural Drains to base of site cut
Rock removal allowance
Builder: PD
Cost: $17,000