Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Mar 11, 2016 11:49 am Just wanting a quick idea. So today my site has been cut, yippee - however the SS and I have discovered in the corner where my garage is and driveway the cut is deep and needs a retaining wall. There is a retaining wall on that side due to the house above being build many year ago, but they didn't go all the way to the front boundary as their house didn't need it. In theory I wouldn't need it if I hadn't placed my house up against this side of the block. Now its looking like needing about 1m high (could get away with a little less so then we don't need engineering reports etc) by 2m long. In my contract which is fixed price it does state not included Landscaping: landscaping drainage, retainer walls, top soil, turf, garden beds and plants are not included. So in theory the way its written with the : it means landscaping retaining walls. However I guess they can push and say this includes this, however I consider it house building needed works. I know the the builder will push to make me pay like they all do - and I know in theory its likely only about $2000-$3000 in work - but I feel they should have known they needed this - I haven't hidden the land, its always been mowed, the survey sticks are in so they knew what was my land, they had it surveyed themselves with a contour report so its not like they didn't know about this drop needed, they used their own engineer who hasn't picked it up either. Also I did mention early on during planning stage before contracts - do you think you will need to extended the retaining wall and was told 'no that should be fine, plus the head builder and engineer will go over your plans and add it to the contract before you sign if needed.; So I feel I have a right to push the cost back to them as its their mistake, I'm paying them to know if I needed that wall or not - they had 6 months to see if it needed doing and decided it didn't. So I just my question is where do I stand - but also what would you do - I mean they have to build my house and I don't want to be nasty either - I'm thinking 50/50 so we share some responsibly and keep each other happy as they still have much to do with my house . However I want to see what others feelings are and also where I stand. Thanks ~Shellby~ GJ Bridgewater 203 11/3/2016 - Site Work Started 29/9/2016 - Handover 142 Work Days 6 Work Days Over https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=80174 Re: Building, unexpected retaining wall - who pays? 3Mar 14, 2016 7:57 pm So its all be measured and I'm awaiting a quote - it is 9m long and 1.6m high *ouch*. Guessing its going to be around $6,000 - yay not. However there is good news (not money though damn), its not needed for the house structural or the house above structural either, so does not need to be done now. We can if we want do it ourselves later after handover and we move in - just it will be harder to get in as we only have 1m space to work in. We can shorten it by about 3m also as that is just driveway but he is quoting the lot for us as it would look neater and would be what we would do anyway. So I do have the option of leaving it and nothing will change and I can save up for it. We are in talks with the bank though anyway and we may borrow the extra and won't need to draw down on that until the end so can still save the cash over the couple of months - but either way we would be covered. We decided it would be best to do it with the builder as he will be able to connect the drainage to our stormwater drainage as the build goes and we won't have to worry about it - plus engineer plans as its over 1m. Of course though, because it is not needed for the build then the cost is 100% our cost which I understand. ~Shellby~ GJ Bridgewater 203 11/3/2016 - Site Work Started 29/9/2016 - Handover 142 Work Days 6 Work Days Over https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=80174 Re: Building, unexpected retaining wall - who pays? 5Mar 15, 2016 9:46 am shellby So its all be measured and I'm awaiting a quote - it is 9m long and 1.6m high *ouch*. Guessing its going to be around $6,000 - yay not. I think your estimation on cost might under budget unless you're doing it yourself. Re: Building, unexpected retaining wall - who pays? 6Mar 15, 2016 10:23 pm Yep the contour report was done before contracts were even drawn up plus they actually went and looked at the block - which I kept mowed so you could easily see it - that is what annoys me as it shouldn't have been a 'surprise' plus I brought it up before the contracts were done as well. Its $8,100 for a cinder block retaining wall - he knew that price as that is per m - $900 - due to that is what they mostly do because its for structure reasons and needed for the house. We only need a timber which will be cheaper and looking around $600-$700 per m, however he didn't have the exact figures as its been a while since they have built one and he needed to get up to date prices on the timber and braces used. ~Shellby~ GJ Bridgewater 203 11/3/2016 - Site Work Started 29/9/2016 - Handover 142 Work Days 6 Work Days Over https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=80174 Re: Building, unexpected retaining wall - who pays? 7Mar 16, 2016 7:26 am Well if they had a contour survey it should have been evident that a retaining wall was required when the house plans were drawn up. Have you approached them about this? The only thing I would suggest is that you PM someone like Building Expert on this forum and ask him if it is reasonable to assume that the retaining wall should have been on the plans. If he says yes, I would be pushing for them to pay the cost or at least to go halves. Re: Building, unexpected retaining wall - who pays? 8Mar 17, 2016 5:23 pm Well the quote finally came in, its $5,300. So we decided to just go ahead with it as long as they put it in for the final payment timeframe variation so we have time to save up for the cost. ~Shellby~ GJ Bridgewater 203 11/3/2016 - Site Work Started 29/9/2016 - Handover 142 Work Days 6 Work Days Over https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=80174 Re: Building, unexpected retaining wall - who pays? 9Mar 18, 2016 1:37 pm Well you should extend the retaining wall for your own convenience part.And gabion basket in Melbourne can make it quite easier for you. Reference: http://www.gabionbasketsmelbourne.com.au/retaining-walls Re: Building, unexpected retaining wall - who pays? 10Mar 20, 2016 10:58 pm I don't need to extend it as there is a retaining wall that starts half way down my block from the build above me - but this bit wasn't done as it wasn't needed for their build. So my retaining wall will join theirs as theirs ends on the boundary and then angels onto their land and mine will continue up my driveway. ~Shellby~ GJ Bridgewater 203 11/3/2016 - Site Work Started 29/9/2016 - Handover 142 Work Days 6 Work Days Over https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=80174 Thank you again Simeon.. I will call my certifier for that. Have a good day 4 5179 Hello, We are about to build and the plans show a part of the exterior wall is being built on top of a limestone retaining wall. Does this mean the retaining wall will… 0 6950 Thanks for the insights, that makes perfect sense, and yeah, I will be leaning on the experience of the excavator operator entirely. 6 16122 |