We have a 10,000sqm acreage block and have been working with a custom builder to design our new house. He uses his architect to design, and then his company does the building. When he sent us the first draft, he included this comment:
"With the plans drawn, we can now see we require a 5m site cut to prepare the home to construct. As discussed initially, the cost is $15,000 per metre of fall/slope, so your site costs have equated to $75,000."
This was a lot, and the home was further back on the block than we wanted it, so we moved it to a flatter spot, and he reduced the fall to 3.5m. As I understand it, both 3.5 and 5-metre slopes are massive. The house design is single-story, there are no retaining walls on any plans, and the elevations show a house built on a level site. We calculated a 3.5m and 5 m drop over 20metres using our current house and the block is nowhere near like that.
Looking at the plans, including the contours and the elevations, we can't see where this number comes from. As we understand it, fall is measured diagonally across the building envelope from the highest to the lowest point. In the attached images, the contour lines represent 0.25m of rise.
Here is the proposed house site. The building sits across one contour line, which would be a 0.5-m-high difference.
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Here is one of the elevations. We measured the cut on here elevations, which was around 0.42m.
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I have highlighted the 1.0-metre intervals on the site survey below, as it is very hard to read the numbers at this size. The fall over the entire block is 5 metres.
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These numbers seem so far off that we don't know if we are missing something or if the builder is not being honest. We have emailed him to ask, but he is dragging his feet on the reply. We can't find anything online to indicate that site fall might mean something different or that there is a different way to calculate it.
Are we interpreting the documents correctly or is there something we don't understand? A price difference of $30-60k is HUGE.
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Browse Forums Building A New House  19 Jan 2020 114 NSW Senior Member Re: Need Help Understanding Site Fall 2Sep 15, 2024 4:00 pm  slatsWe have a 10,000sqm acreage block and have been working with a custom builder to design our new house. He uses his architect to design, and then his company does the building. When he sent us the first draft, he included this comment: "With the plans drawn, we can now see we require a 5m site cut to prepare the home to construct. As discussed initially, the cost is $15,000 per metre of fall/slope, so your site costs have equated to $75,000." This was a lot, and the home was further back on the block than we wanted it, so we moved it to a flatter spot, and he reduced the fall to 3.5m. As I understand it, both 3.5 and 5-metre slopes are massive. The house design is single-story, there are no retaining walls on any plans, and the elevations show a house built on a level site. We calculated a 3.5m and 5 m drop over 20metres using our current house and the block is nowhere near like that. Looking at the plans, including the contours and the elevations, we can't see where this number comes from. As we understand it, fall is measured diagonally across the building envelope from the highest to the lowest point. In the attached images, the contour lines represent 0.25m of rise. Here is the proposed house site. The building sits across one contour line, which would be a 0.5-m-high difference. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Here is one of the elevations. We measured the cut on here elevations, which was around 0.42m. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I have highlighted the 1.0-metre intervals on the site survey below, as it is very hard to read the numbers at this size. The fall over the entire block is 5 metres. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ These numbers seem so far off that we don't know if we are missing something or if the builder is not being honest. We have emailed him to ask, but he is dragging his feet on the reply. We can't find anything online to indicate that site fall might mean something different or that there is a different way to calculate it. Are we interpreting the documents correctly or is there something we don't understand? A price difference of $30-60k is HUGE. I think you have it about right. Not sure how it is so wrong-perhaps he as seen the building envelope and mistook for site boundary? Any excavation will be shown on your DA-are these not finished at the moment? Re: Need Help Understanding Site Fall 3Sep 15, 2024 5:42 pm  worldofmud slatsWe have a 10,000sqm acreage block and have been working with a custom builder to design our new house. He uses his architect to design, and then his company does the building. When he sent us the first draft, he included this comment: "With the plans drawn, we can now see we require a 5m site cut to prepare the home to construct. As discussed initially, the cost is $15,000 per metre of fall/slope, so your site costs have equated to $75,000." This was a lot, and the home was further back on the block than we wanted it, so we moved it to a flatter spot, and he reduced the fall to 3.5m. As I understand it, both 3.5 and 5-metre slopes are massive. The house design is single-story, there are no retaining walls on any plans, and the elevations show a house built on a level site. We calculated a 3.5m and 5 m drop over 20metres using our current house and the block is nowhere near like that. Looking at the plans, including the contours and the elevations, we can't see where this number comes from. As we understand it, fall is measured diagonally across the building envelope from the highest to the lowest point. In the attached images, the contour lines represent 0.25m of rise. Here is the proposed house site. The building sits across one contour line, which would be a 0.5-m-high difference. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Here is one of the elevations. We measured the cut on here elevations, which was around 0.42m. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I have highlighted the 1.0-metre intervals on the site survey below, as it is very hard to read the numbers at this size. The fall over the entire block is 5 metres. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ These numbers seem so far off that we don't know if we are missing something or if the builder is not being honest. We have emailed him to ask, but he is dragging his feet on the reply. We can't find anything online to indicate that site fall might mean something different or that there is a different way to calculate it. Are we interpreting the documents correctly or is there something we don't understand? A price difference of $30-60k is HUGE. I think you have it about right. Not sure how it is so wrong-perhaps he as seen the building envelope and mistook for site boundary? Any excavation will be shown on your DA-are these not finished at the moment? The plans are all drawn up for the DA and don't include any excavations. The builder and architect both visited the site with us, so they know what it looks like. My husband and I measured it out using our current house as the vertical axis and assuming a 20m run based on the length of the house to see what the fall would look like for both numbers. (I looked a right twit standing in the middle of the road with a tape measure). It was clearly much steeper than anywhere on our block, other than the grade cut at the front. I'm trying to work out how it could be something else, but I can't think of anything. 19 Jan 2020 114 NSW Senior Member Re: Need Help Understanding Site Fall 4Sep 15, 2024 7:21 pm Looks like it, the only time a 6m cut would occur it if the builder cuts straight between those opposite corners. But if you have got the DA drawings and minimal excavation is shown the error is his. Talk to your local council/building certifier regarding certification requirements for retaining walls even if you are retaining small heights. Different councils may have… 2 11473 For those following along, the engineers have kindly come to the party and will be implementing a solution that should ensure adequate fall to the house connection. This… 8 22421 Thanks for replying. In my case, there’s no house for the weather to run back on to. There’s just a free fall to the ground, 3 m below. The balcony has 3 posts at the… 11 32803 |
