Browse Forums Building Standards; Getting It Right! 1 Dec 30, 2011 1:49 pm Hi everyone, hubby and I have found a kit home design we like and are ready to get slowly into things. After having a look on the kit home website, we stumbled upon this: "All Stone Homes are designed and certified to the Building Code of Australia. The plans supplied will be fully engineered only for general sites (class A, S and M), NOT for any other classes. If your site does not fall within these categories additional engineering and a Geotech Survey plus a Surveyors report is required for us to generate the engineering for the plans, incurring an additional cost." I got no idea what this classification of the site means nor where or how I would find out how our site is classified. Note: we'll be building very rural. Would the council have this information at hand or do we need to enlist a surveyor to find the class? I did a little google about site classification but couldn't find anything. Thank you in advance! Regards, Mel Re: What does site classification mean? 2Dec 30, 2011 4:26 pm This link talks about site investigations which you will need to get a classification. Within the page there is a link to a site classification table. http://www.anewhouse.com.au/?p=347 The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: What does site classification mean? 3Dec 30, 2011 6:40 pm Thanks for the link! The area where we'll be building has been extensively surveyed a while ago and consists of lime stone and sand. I assume that lime stone would either fall into the category sand or rock and both of those are class A. If anyone thinks differently, please let me know! Regards, Mel Re: What does site classification mean? 4Jan 01, 2012 11:19 am A geotechnical assessment (soil test) is carried out on the site at the location where the home will be built. Even if the general area of the site is, for example, sand it may be that the report could determine that there is deep fill or a water table at that particular position in which case the classification could possibly come back as class p. Peter Clarkson - AusDesign Australia www.ausdesign.com.au This information is intended to provide general information only. It does not purport to be a comprehensive advice. Re: What does site classification mean? 5Jan 10, 2012 5:22 pm Island Ob, Would recommend getting a Soil Inspection Report done. They don't cost much and worst case, if you sell your block can hand it over to the purchaser for their information. Can be done at the same time as a Contour Survey. You will need all this information for building a home to get sand pad, levels etc right. Looking at the surface of your block will provide an indication, but once you put shovel to ground may find that a few feet down you've got rock or perhaps even a water table! Re: What does site classification mean? 6Aug 25, 2012 10:34 am yes, get the report. if it is a or m, most likely you wont need to worry about it. leighton clark new homes Re: What does site classification mean? 8Sep 03, 2012 3:33 pm Just to expand for those interested this a copy of one of our information articles. As a part of an application for a Building Permit for a new home, a Soil Test report (Geotechnical report) will be required to be included to verify that the foundation design documented on the working drawings is correct for the conditions relating to your site. Your designer will have compiled a suitable footing system, whether for a concrete slab or stumps and timber flooring, based on the applicable Australian Standard AS2870, to suit your particular site as a result of the recommendation of the soil report. A soil test is undertaken by drilling 2 or 3 small diameter bore holes within the area that the home is to be built and then from the soil profiles obtained a site classification and foundation depth will be nominated by the Geotechnical firm. The standard requires that all sites be classified basically as either - Class A - Most sand & rock sites with little or no ground movement from moisture changes. Class S - Slightly reactive clay sites, which may experience only slight ground movement from moisture changes. Class M - Moderately reactive clay or silt sites, which may experience moderate ground movement from moisture changes. Class H1 - Highly reactive clay sites, which may experience high ground movement from moisture changes. Class H2 - Highly reactive clay sites, which may experience very high ground movement from moisture changes. Class E - Extremely reactive sites, which may experience extreme ground movement from moisture changes. or Class P - Sites which include soft or unstable foundations such as soft clay or silt or loose sands, landslip, mine subsidence, collapsing soils and soils subject to erosion, reactive sites subject to abnormal moisture conditions. Designs for footing systems for Class A to Class H sites can be adopted by your building designer directly from the Australian Standard. Designs for Class E & P sites must be designed by a suitably qualified engineer. All site assessments should be done after any 'cut and fill' operations are carried out as an alteration to the finished levels, other than removing the top litter, will require a new assesment to be undertaken. What does this mean to you as a home builder. Fundamentally footings on a Class A site are cheaper than those on a Class H site, with a more substantial increase in difference when a Class E or P classification. For example a brick veneer home with a concrete slab on a Class A site is required to have edge beams a minimum 300mm deep around the perimeter. The same home on a Class H2 site is required to have edge beams, & internal stiffening beams at 4 metre centres, 600mm deep. There is also an increase in the steel reinforcing required, which again adds to the cost. Similarly, a strip footing used in conjunction with stumps on a solid brick home on a Class A site is 300mm deep by 400mm wide; on a Class M site 900 deep by 400 wide. As material prices will vary throughout Australia, it is not possible to give exact cost variations, but it is clear that the type of site you build on could impact substantially on your budget. In a worst case scenario the required foundation type and depth could add many thousands of dollars to your project. Classifications can vary within a small area. For example - Cut and fill operations during road and drainage construction could leave your site with deep uncontrolled fill. The adjoining site may be entirely on natural soil. Removal of large trees during estate development, can create very localised variations. In rural subdivisions, filled dam sites could possibly be a major problem. For those people looking to purchase land, I would recommend requesting a soil report and using the findings as part of your decision making process. For those people with land, engage a firm to compile a soil report before you start designing your new home. You and your designer will then be able to make any necessary adjustments at the start of the design process. The soil test should be carried out at the proposed building site level, therefore on sloping sites and the like any cutting or levelling of the building area should be carried out prior to the test. - A soil test carried out prior to land purchase may have to be redone if there is subsequent significant site works but the initial cost may well be money well spent Peter Clarkson - AusDesign Australia www.ausdesign.com.au This information is intended to provide general information only. It does not purport to be a comprehensive advice. Re: What does site classification mean? 9Jan 22, 2013 2:48 pm That's great info thanks Ausdesign. We bought a property on which the previous owners had a test done, with the result: - Site: P/M Does that mean it's part P, part M, or that it's just somewhere in between & they don't know 'cause there's a house in the way? It also says: Exposure (site location classification) SL3 What does that mean? Re: What does site classification mean? 10Jan 22, 2013 5:13 pm Thanks Ausdesign thank you very much for the info Deposit on land 20/03/12 Deposit with Builder 01/07/12 Tender signing 12/10/12 Into Council 20/01/2013 Site work started 30/04/2013 Keys 15/11/2013 What can i do tomorrow better then today Re: What does site classification mean? 11Feb 21, 2013 6:11 pm ausdesign Just to expand for those interested this a copy of one of our information articles. (... ) All site assessments should be done after any 'cut and fill' operations are carried out as an alteration to the finished levels, other than removing the top litter, will require a new assesment to be undertaken. So your recommendation is to do the geotech report after the sand pad is in ?? I have just demolished my old house and the site is flat and raked. It is all sand but I reckon it will still require a 300mm compacted sand pad, jut to make it level with the road; but I was waiting for the building permit to do that. Re: What does site classification mean? 12Feb 21, 2013 8:34 pm kylie40 That's great info thanks Ausdesign. We bought a property on which the previous owners had a test done, with the result: - Site: P/M Does that mean it's part P, part M, or that it's just somewhere in between & they don't know 'cause there's a house in the way? It also says: Exposure (site location classification) SL3 What does that mean? A classification of P/M means that they identified the two kinds of soil within the samples they took. I know of someone who had this classification due to buying a block that had a lot of fill. The P in their instance was from the fill and the M was the moderately reactive soil underneath it from the original ground level. A blog about our renovation http://notmynightmare.blogspot.com.au/ Re: What does site classification mean? 13Feb 27, 2013 4:19 am One more point. A builder is required to obtain this type of information before he/she enters into a contract to build. cheers Re: What does site classification mean? 14Mar 29, 2013 11:10 pm Hi, I need your assistance and opinions on Slab Construction. My builder has indicated that my slab needs to be a H2 class slab for which I had to pay additional. This is because their soil test results showed this. The soil sample was not sent to a lab to determine this. At the same time, the soil test done by the developer with lab testing indicates that the site classification is M. I was lucky enough that one of the bore holes were done at the CENTER of my lot. I am now at a stage where my slab has been laid. I notice that the following is what has been structurally been implemented: - 300mm pods, - beams are 385mm deep - external beams are 270mm wide and internal beams are 100mm wide. - standard concrete of 20MPa has been used. - there are no other major beams in the middle if the house at 4m intervals. Can some please what the key difference in construction is between M, H1 and H2 class slabs. To me based on above information the slab does not appear to be a H2 class slab. Appreciate your comments and assistance. Best Regards, Approvals are covered in the cost we are paying to the pool company. The only thing stated in our home build contract for the additional cost is engineering support. … 3 1215 I've just built 3 stairs off a landing out the back and been told by the private certifier I need hand rails sorry tried to attach a pic but couldn't mine don't have sides… 5 4109 i had the my concreters concrete right up to the fence. I have pits all along my path, so the water tends to drain away from the house and into the pits. There's only one… 7 9695 |