Retainingwall per CDC approval but builder says not required

Hi All,

Hope everyone is doing good. Looking for your guidance about the retaining wall build at rear and front of the house.

As per my CDC approval certificate, below is the statement
Construction Description : Construction of single storey dwelling and retaining walls

Accordingly my builder provided the site plan with retaining wall details. I was under the impression that retaining wall will be provided as part of my construction. However, now my builder is saying we will put the retaining wall only if required. But for your site its not required.


Now my question is why CDC approval says so? If retaining walls are not built, will that be an issue in obtaining occupancy certificate?

In the tender builder mentioned that retaining wall will be provided by builder as part of landscaping if required.

At rear of my house land is sloppy.

Please let me know your experience and in your thoughts. Thanks in advance!

Do I need to call certifier to clarify to avoid any delay/issue in Occupancy certificate?

It will depend on what Engineer will provision and it is important what will be approved as part of Construction Certificate, not CDC.

Is there a specific pricing for the retaining wall?

Call me cynical, but this is how post Preparation of Plans (PPA) variations basically work.
The builder will price it up with his markup, up to + 50%
The greater the difficulty in doing it after handover ..the higher the markup.. a double whammy.
This logic often astounds me because quite often you will be left in a worse position after handover with limited choices
to do the work than if it was done properly concurrently with the build.
eg, limited site access, alternate solutions, navigating built obstacles, multiple trades charging full days rates,etc,etc
Then the trades doing it after handover charge extra, so it becomes a triple whammy.
OT, Generally the better the information you put up, ie photos, data ( m,m2,m3,etc) and plans, the better the reply, also it helps others
Cheers
Chris