Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Oct 17, 2022 9:15 am First time builder here in SA. Our Builder has requested a Controlled Fill Certificate from the Developer regarding our build. It is a new recently developed area - an old building workplace was knocked down and 100 lots of land were created. Other companies have already started building in other lots in the same area and there are already some slabs down. Email correspondence with the Developer has not been fruitful. We tried to contact the surveying company Alexander Symonds who completed the survey plan. They wrote to us and advised that their client who completed the ground works do not have a certificate. When we advised our Builder he mentioned that without control fill the footings "must be considerably deeper to go into natural ground. If the developer filled the site they must supply one, if they do not this means that they have not backfilled the site properly and you can definitely get them to do it or threaten to pass extra footing cost on to them" Not sure how to proceed from here - any advice would be greatly appreciated. Legally do we have a leg to stand on to request the fill certificate (if they backfilled the area) must be supplied? Are there any legal issues should the developer not use controlled fill? Re: Requesting Controlled Fill Certificate from Developer 2Oct 17, 2022 9:42 am sohcan22 Legally do we have a leg to stand on to request the fill certificate (if they backfilled the area) must be supplied? Are there any legal issues should the developer not use controlled fill? That sounds like questions for a lawyer specialising in construction, not an internet forum. Don't mean to be blunt, but anything legal related, you should get legal advice. Dark matter scientist, can breathe underwater, mind reader and can freeze matter just by willing it. Trust me, its in my sig. Re: Requesting Controlled Fill Certificate from Developer 3Oct 17, 2022 9:47 am Hey sohcan22 Welcome to the forum Sounds like the developer, Surveyor, Salesman, builder, et al are playing a game of silly buggers (re pass the site parcel costs humour ) Unfortunately, the client always gets lumbered with non compliance and additional site costs.... That is something you should have looked into before you engaged with the builder. The problem now is did the developer cheapen the site development costs or is your builder gouging addition charges after you've signed ..sorry there is no way of knowing at this late stage. Site work costs are money for jam if the builder is running low on cash flow, a virtual atm for unforeseen cost increases and it's legal OT, I recommend anyone considering building, become a member, ask questions and read this forum -> before you sign Forewarned is Forearmed Cheers Chris Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: Requesting Controlled Fill Certificate from Developer 4Oct 17, 2022 10:12 am StructuralBIMGuy Hey sohcan22 Welcome to the forum Sounds like the developer, Surveyor, Salesman, builder, et al are playing a game of silly buggers (re pass the site parcel costs humour ) Unfortunately, the client always gets lumbered with non compliance and additional site costs.... That is something you should have looked into before you engaged with the builder. The problem now is did the developer cheapen the site development costs or is your builder gouging addition charges after you've signed ..sorry there is no way of knowing at this late stage. Site work costs are money for jam if the builder is running low on cash flow, a virtual atm for unforeseen cost increases and it's legal OT, I recommend anyone considering building, become a member, ask questions and read this forum -> before you sign Forewarned is Forearmed Cheers Chris Thanks for your reply, much appreciated Re: Requesting Controlled Fill Certificate from Developer 6Oct 18, 2022 9:16 pm Here's Controlled Fill You pay extra to the site developers so you don't need piles Free Soil Dumped on a site is not controlled fill then you may well require Engineered Piles Talk to the development engineers if that is what was paid for...no point in paying more to someone else if the developer didn't complete his part of the land sales contract. You probably paid $30K CF , do you have another spare $30K for piles? Just curious Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: Requesting Controlled Fill Certificate from Developer 7Nov 01, 2023 6:27 pm Hi I am also in the similar situation. The builder has asked for the certificate and the developer is not responding. I hope you have built the house by this time. I would appreciate if you could share your journey. Our Builder has requested a Controlled Fill Certificate from the Developer regarding our build. It is a new recently developed area - an old building workplace was knocked down and 100 lots of land were created. Other companies have already started building in other lots in the same area and there are already some slabs down. Email correspondence with the Developer has not been fruitful. We tried to contact the surveying company Alexander Symonds who completed the survey plan. They wrote to us and advised that their client who completed the ground works do not have a certificate. When we advised our Builder he mentioned that without control fill the footings "must be considerably deeper to go into natural ground. If the developer filled the site they must supply one, if they do not this means that they have not backfilled the site properly and you can definitely get them to do it or threaten to pass extra footing cost on to them" Not sure how to proceed from here - any advice would be greatly appreciated. Legally do we have a leg to stand on to request the fill certificate (if they backfilled the area) must be supplied? Are there any legal issues should the developer not use controlled fill?[/quote] Re: Requesting Controlled Fill Certificate from Developer 8Nov 01, 2023 9:05 pm PrK Hi I am also in the similar situation. The builder has asked for the certificate and the developer is not responding. I hope you have built the house by this time. I would appreciate if you could share your journey. [/quote] Hi, thanks our handover is in 2-3 weeks and its been mostly smooth and uneventful aside from this issue. The developer completely ignored all of my attempts to contact them as did the agent that sold the land for several months. We did indeed eventually confirm that it was uncontrolled fill and my engineering friend advised that its 'crazy' for this to be used in such a big estate unless the company was trying to take shortcuts and cut costs. There was no mention of this in the land contract we signed when we purchased the land. Mind you this occurred 12 months prior to settlement since it took the developer 12 months to prepare the civil works and to prep as well as divide the land for the estate. We ended up paying the $30k for the deeper footings in the end. Luckily we could afford to but I could empathise with someone that would be unable to as it makes complicates the contract/loan and possibly changes build selections/inclusions. A friend who works in law also mentioned that our builder shouldn't have told us that we could 'definitely' get the developer to use controlled fill or threaten them. Litigation is a minefield and always dependent on the facts, legislation (if any) and common law. Good luck with your build, happy to answer any other questions that you may have. Re: Requesting Controlled Fill Certificate from Developer 9Nov 02, 2023 8:28 am If your purchase of land contract states that there will be controlled fill then you have right to expect it to be so. If stated but not so not then it would be misrepresentation and a breach of contract but you should get a legal opinion. In any case your own geotechnical report should identify the condition of fill on your land. Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Not unless you have managed to put it as a special condition into the contract somehow. 1 6214 We are in NSW and require 2 positive covenants to be placed on the property didnt really underdtand this but apparently it will take a few months, and have just been… 2 7506 For anyone that comes across this issue in the future - Just did what aussieta said and found a plumber to inspect it and sign off on it. Was difficult to find someone to… 3 7086 |