Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jan 22, 2009 9:35 am Hi All
We received some bad news last night that our footings variations is $30550 over budget. I just can't believe they got it so wrong. Our block is flat and our soil type is M, but $42000 worth of footings seems incredibably high to me. Out house is 268.21sqm, so not small, but huge either. It's also not 2 storey. I haven't had a chance to speak to the footings guy yet, but the admin girl handling my file said if we get a "Controlled Fill Statement" from where we're buying the land from, this will bring the costs down. We haven't settled on land yet - any day now apparently and as soon as that happens, we will get it, but what does that mean and how can a certificate reduce the price? I honestly don't know if we can afford this anymore! Re: Footings Variation 2Jan 22, 2009 10:07 am Hey Dudley,
DONT settle on the land then until your developer can provide with such a certificate. They are after a compaction certificate to prove that the fill is controlled. If you CANT get the certificate then thats a major problem. Depending on how much fill there is for you to compact it yourself means excavating the whole block and removing the fill. Then laying 200mm of fill and compacting it then redoing this process until you are at a level you are happy with. Then they can give you a certificate. Although I think this method is far more expensive then just getting footings I had exactly the same problem but the developer insisted that I dont have fill on my block and I asked for the soil test to be redone and the block came back an S-Class and suddenly my site costs are practically nothing (compared to $20k!). Ask for a copy of the soil report and insist that they redo it. Find out what your neighbours have done/are doing and see if they had the same problem. I found out my neighbours all got positive results so I couldn't possibly have been as bad as I was. Good luck! Re: Footings Variation 5Jan 22, 2009 10:17 am The situation your builder is in at the moment is this:
- DudleyDog wants to build on a block - Happy Hammer Builders Pty Ltd looks at site survey and knows there is fill on site - HHB has no information as to whether that fill has been placed in a "controlled" manner, according to the relevant Australian Standard (AS2870) - must according to the standard assume the worst case of cr*p fill However a controlled fill certificate...of which there are a couple of samples here... http://www.therise.com.au/Uploads/Downl ... action.pdf http://www.warnerlakes.com.au/Uploads/D ... tioncert(1).pdf (cut and paste this link into your browser to view) ...states somewhere with words to the effect that a third party has tested/inspected/observed the fill placement and "when classifying the site in accordance with the procedures presented in Section 2 of AS 2870 – Residential Slabs and Footings – Construction (1996), are of the view that the bulk fill materials that were placed on this Lot by Squishy Soil Constructors Pty Ltd can be deemed ‘controlled fill’ in accordance with the requirements of Clause 6.4.2 (a) of AS 2870". HHB can now design the slab for a "controlled fill" knowing he's got someone to sue if the foundation report is incorrect. mmm....donuts Homer Simpson 1956- Links: Site Costs Ready Reckoner | H1 Addiction Medical Advice | Château TDL: The Backyard Re: Footings Variation 6Jan 22, 2009 10:22 am Dudley, speak to your salesperson as they are your best bet. Get THEM to contact the neighbours. If not ask the salesperson for an estate earthworks plan which will have marked where controlled fill was meant to go and definately ask for a "PLEASE EXPLAIN" about the soil.
The developer doesn't want it to be public that if you buy their blocks you are up for $40k of site costs!! Definately get the developer involved as that is just ridiculous. They cant develop a new estate and expect the customers to pay $40k extra! Also contact someone at council and find out IF it is a requirement for new sub divisions to compact any fill that they use. In Brisbane this is the case so even if my block did end up having non-compacted fill I would have complained to council and they would have forced the developer to pay the costs to either redo the fill with compaction or pay the additional site costs. Definately hit up your salesperson ASAP! This is our estate's documents. Luckilly they put it up all online after we complained so other people can see it. Have a look at the Bulk Earthworks plan and your's should look similar if it has fill. It also has compaction certificates as well. http://www.mitchellgrove.com.au/stage-releases-titles.asp Re: Footings Variation 7Jan 22, 2009 11:53 am DudleyDog Hi All We received some bad news last night that our footings variations is $30550 over budget. I just can't believe they got it so wrong. Our block is flat and our soil type is M, but $42000 worth of footings seems incredibably high to me. Out house is 268.21sqm, so not small, but huge either. It's also not 2 storey. I haven't had a chance to speak to the footings guy yet, but the admin girl handling my file said if we get a "Controlled Fill Statement" from where we're buying the land from, this will bring the costs down. We haven't settled on land yet - any day now apparently and as soon as that happens, we will get it, but what does that mean and how can a certificate reduce the price? I honestly don't know if we can afford this anymore! So that means they only estimate about $12k in your contract. I never see any one that have final footing cost that low. Always prepare to pay around $30k. I'm afraid that how the builders work. They give you a low footing cost so the total price will be reasonably low (within your budget) and they put the allowance to some of the item (including footings). Once you sign the contract then they charge you with ridiculous footing variation cost and you don't have any choice but to accept it. If you delay, then they charge you with 1% delay fee. If you want to have other option and then you have to pay for second engineering report. And if you want to terminate, you will loose your deposit and any additional cost so far. I'm building my first home too and am learning by doing it. This practice is really annoying and it seems that no one can do anything about it. Re: Footings Variation 8Jan 22, 2009 2:07 pm [quote="timscales
So that means they only estimate about $12k in your contract. I never see any one that have final footing cost that low. Always prepare to pay around $30k. [/quote] Well you dont know if you need footings beforehand until you get the soil test so how can you possibly know when you pick a builder? I had the same problem but in the end my site costs were $0 as it came back a S-Class slab with no footings/pierings required. Mind you I still have a few other fees relating to site costs but not totalling more then $1k. Re: Footings Variation 10Jan 22, 2009 2:12 pm Also, I spoke to the sales rep again and there is a compaction report, but because they might be doing more work, he doesn't want to give it to me yet incase it changes. Needless to say, I won't be signing any footings reports and accepting the charges until I get this report and the soil test is done again (I hope) Re: Footings Variation 11Jan 22, 2009 2:15 pm Dudley that is awesome!! That's really good news as it will save you heaps. ($30k by the sounds of it!) Depending on what your soil type is you can rest easy now Yay!
You should get a copy of the compaction certificate anyways and give it to your builder ASAP. They will re-order the soil test and give the testing company a copy of the certificate so they will take it into account when rating your block. In my case I didn't have fill but had something that at a glance is very similar to fill and unless the soil company is there specifically looking for fill and what type it is, they dont really know straight away. This is why they came back and said I have 2m deep of it BUT according to the retest I only had 10cm in the end lol. You should definately try and get the compaction report to the builder before Feb 4 so they can reorder your soil test in the meantime! Re: Footings Variation 13Jan 22, 2009 4:16 pm Wow DudleyDog that's a huge hit, i hope it all gets sorted in the end and you save the extra $$$$.
Hey guys, this seems to be a recurrent event, the fact that blocks have had lots of fill and then you need extra piering etc. unless you have the controlled fill certificate. Is this that common? does this happen mainly in new estates or can it happen in smaller developments like a block subdivision? We are about to start building (well, have to sign final contract and go through DA approval first) on a block/lot that was huge and got subdivided into 5 lots (one of which is our block), we do know that there's some fill on our block but shouldn't be heaps and Council obviously approved the subdivision. We seem to have rock and have been hit for extra site and excavation costs for that. The soil report has already been done and all that, could we still be hit for something like this? Re: Footings Variation 15Mar 12, 2009 4:17 pm Well we finally got our footings and site costs back. Our variation was $7124 for footings and $924 for site costs. We are quite happy with this. Our footings still came in under $20k. We're nearly ready for construction to start YEH Re: Footings Variation 16Mar 12, 2009 5:31 pm DudleyDog Well we finally got our footings and site costs back. Our variation was $7124 for footings and $924 for site costs. We are quite happy with this. Our footings still came in under $20k. We're nearly ready for construction to start YEH Good news DudleyDog, much better than the original quote! Happy building! Re: Footings Variation 17Jul 07, 2011 12:21 am sorry to drag up an old thread, but we have just hit the same stage. we are on a block of 9000sq. never been filled im guessing. its not a sub development and the transportable on it (that we live in) has been here since the early 80s so do i need a compaction certificate still??? we will need a small cut n fill done but nothing major at all wouldnt think itd be over .3 do i actually need one?? Re: Footings Variation 18Jul 07, 2011 4:09 pm Depends what the engineers say whe they do the survey. Homestead Homes SA: The Lamont Bayswood Estate; Aldinga Beach Preliminary Signing: April 2010 Floorplans: 13 June 2010 Building Contract: 19 June 2010 Selections: 28 Sept 2010 Scraped; Trenching: 21 Jan 2011 Slab Poured: 28 Jan 2011 Framing: 17 Feb 2011 | Completed 24 Feb 2011 Roof & Gutters: 02 Mar 2011 Bricks: 03 Mar 2011 Wire-up: 12 Mar 2011 Re: Footings Variation 19Jul 07, 2011 5:40 pm It's a real bugbear when developers try to sneak one past customers and builders on developments in which the regional geology/topography is essentially a flood plain and the soil is mostly alluvial silt which may require a large degree of more stable fill. I've heard a story or three from people I know in such developments that their builders are extremely angry at the underhanded tactics and lack of transparency employed by the developer re: the amount and quality of fill along with its compaction. All I can say is thank god I'm building on a hill - yes rock is a pain in the bottom but if I had to choose between the two (potentially low grade fill jobs on previously flood prone land or having to dig out a bit of rock on a hill) I know which one I'd rather have in the longer term. Some people apparently have nothing better to do than comment on other people's sigs. I work with owner, he/she is my man on the ground and I instruct them when to visit the site and take photos and I have other tools in the bag. 4 15284 Looking for advice on whether this variation in tile colour is acceptable. The large tile on the left was used in my main bathroom renovation 1 year ago. My ensuite… 0 8494 yes it does, you've just not understood it. theres a difference. 4 5341 |