Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jan 29, 2009 5:03 pm Guys,
I have council approved plans in my hands. Fully approved. The builder I am with is trying to get the construction certificate so they can commence work. I have received the following message: "We are still having trouble with the Council in relation to the level of the easement on your property. They are now suggesting we have it properly surveyed to confirm the level of the easement underground. I want to gather more information to a possible alternate as this could be a costly venture. I will send over more information once I have this." Does anyone know why this would be a problem? The easement to the right of the property running down the side parallel is council property. Why would this be my issue? Why would we need to survey it? Shouldn't the council know everything about their easement? How much would it cost to survey it? To what end? What would the purpose of surveying it be? This has been the most painful process I have ever lived through. If I can't get this sorted I am going to sell the block of land and simply move elsewhere. Thanks for your help Franco easement 2Jan 29, 2009 5:29 pm Franco, oh dear, you sound so frustrated and I don't blame you. I don't have any answers to your questions but I think the best way to deal with Councils is to actually GO there and speak to someone about the issue face to face. Hopefully you will get all your answers and get it figured once and for all. We have a different stormwater/easement issue but found that to go to the Council helped a lot.
I wish you all the best. Don't give up yet. themax building with the big C. Re: Easement on side of property - help/advice needed 3Jan 29, 2009 6:03 pm thanks themax.
Does anyone know what it costs to perform a easement survey? The length of the property is 42 meters and the easement runs straight down the side. Anyone? Thanks Re: Easement on side of property - help/advice needed 4Jan 29, 2009 6:07 pm Franco are you trying to build over the easement? We have an easement running down the length of our block as well - pretty close to the length of yours and it hasn't caused any issues with our council - but again we are not building any where near it. Our local council said that we could build up to a metre from it without causing any problems.
We also had another easement through the centre of our block but we were successful in getting it removed prior to the plans going through council ( as it was only a proposed easement for stormwater that was never utilised). Some things are worth waiting for. Re: Easement on side of property - help/advice needed 5Jan 29, 2009 6:15 pm Hi Kyton
Thanks for your reply. We are not building over the easement. The wall of the home will be 1235mm away from the Easement. Do you think I am being taken for a ride? Thanks for your help Franco Re: Easement on side of property - help/advice needed 7Jan 29, 2009 6:22 pm I think that I would be phoning the Council officer in charge of your DA and asking why the issue is stopping everything.
The guy that handled our DA was only to helpful to clear up any issues - and we have had many - either via phone or email. I just got the DA number from our builder and the officer's name and phoned him directly. That is going to be the only way you will actually know what the issue is - the builder may not be passing on all the actual info. Some things are worth waiting for. Re: Easement on side of property - help/advice needed 8Jan 29, 2009 8:21 pm I'm feeling hard done by.
Hornsby Shire has a 3 metre (No Build) policy in regard to easements. Good luck with your enquiries to your local council. Re: Easement on side of property - help/advice needed 9Jan 30, 2009 5:14 am Hi Franco,
I too have an easement running down the left of my block which is approx 50 mtrs long. I contacted Dial before you dig and got free plans of all the pipes etc.. Also contacted the water company I am with and they charged me approx. $15 to have the exact depth and size of the pipe in the easement as it is a sewerage pipe, then took this all to the builder. I am having to build 3metres (including an extra 1 metre as my easement is 2 metres) from my side fence as well has having concrete piers to due the angle of repose I believe it is called. This will ensure that if at ever they are required to work on the sewerage pipe my house should not crumble... I hope this has helped and does not sound too confusing for your Franco, good luck Re: Easement on side of property - help/advice needed 10Jan 30, 2009 8:07 am franco Guys, "We are still having trouble with the Council in relation to the level of the easement on your property. They are now suggesting we have it properly surveyed to confirm the level of the easement underground. I want to gather more information to a possible alternate as this could be a costly venture. I will send over more information once I have this." If you read through the following https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.p ... gle+repose you'll see why an easement adjacent to your property may be an issue. They'll want to determine the exact position of the pre-existing trench, the depth of the trench and then whether the "angle of repose" (see the link) may interact with you foundation. The "costly venture" may be screw piling or dropping a curtain wall on the easement side of the foundation to protect you house if they ever need to access the easement. This piccy may explain it better....hope it helps... http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff2/mikeb1968/Angleofrepose.jpg mmm....donuts Homer Simpson 1956- Links: Site Costs Ready Reckoner | H1 Addiction Medical Advice | Château TDL: The Backyard Re: Easement on side of property - help/advice needed 11Jan 30, 2009 8:46 am What kind of easement is it?
Just like to_do_list's example, we had to have some extra foundation work done because of proximity to an easement. Ours was nothing to do with the council though, it's a sewer easement. The water authority had to provide drawings showing the exact location of the sewer in the easement, the depth and size of the pipes etc, so our builder could have their engineers design appropriate footings. Our house is actually within 125mm of the easement at one corner, and all that was required was some concrete piering at the back of the slab. I'm not sure why the council wouldn't know all the details of what's in their easement. Seems odd. Re: Easement on side of property - help/advice needed 12Jan 30, 2009 10:50 am Thanks for the replies. Due to the slope of the land, the slab will be raised by at least 600mm at the front and 2 metres at the rear respective to the ground, with drop edge beams (bricks) all the way down and around. Would this still apply?
Does it make sense that the council approved everything with no special notes if this was an issue? Thanks Re: Easement on side of property - help/advice needed 13Jan 30, 2009 11:13 am It sounds like the builder is trying to determine the depth of the edge beams in which case he needs to know the depth of the pipe. The previous sketch is how it's worked out but the boundary is irelevant and the pipe may not be central to the easement. The Structural engineer should have already sorted it out before the permit was issued. Re: Easement on side of property - help/advice needed 16Jan 30, 2009 11:33 am mudmap The previous sketch is how it's worked out but the boundary is irelevant and the pipe may not be central to the easement. The Structural engineer should have already sorted it out before the permit was issued. Yes...the boundary at the end of the day is irrelevant...was trying to illustrate their particular situation. We had the same issue except the easement was on our side of the fence, we also needed a curtain wall/deep edge beam. Similarly our next door neighbours garage was affected by the easement on our side. mmm....donuts Homer Simpson 1956- Links: Site Costs Ready Reckoner | H1 Addiction Medical Advice | Château TDL: The Backyard Re: Easement on side of property - help/advice needed 17Jan 30, 2009 12:57 pm Check what the easement is for. On your DP or Certificate of Title there should be a description of what the easement is for. There quite a few different easements: access, drainage, undeground powerlines etc.
Sewer lines do not easements. It sounds like it could be an easement for drainage (interallotment) or stormwater. To confirm how this would affect your house you will need to find the 'invert level' of the pipe. This is the level of the pipe relative to the surface level. The deeper the invert the greater the zone of influence (relative to the angle of repose). This is where the builder may be concerned. There are engineering solutions to solve this as already described (you can even concrete encase the pipe but $$$). But as far as finding these levels, contact Sydney Water and do a search for the stormwater lines, but make sure they have the invert levels of the nearest inspection pits. So it depends on what the easement is for and what is in it. Good luck and i hope it works out for you. Re: Easement on side of property - help/advice needed 18Jan 30, 2009 1:07 pm BTW,
there are specialist Service Locators (as in a professional) that locate underground services. Surveyors employ Service Locators to do this work for them when it is unknown what ****** beneath. Although this depends on the type of pipe. Obviously a metal pipe will be easier to locate than PVC. This will affect the accuracy of the depth. Re: Easement on side of property - help/advice needed 19Jan 30, 2009 1:16 pm sg Sewer lines do not easements. Ours was a sewer easement....different in Melbourne? mmm....donuts Homer Simpson 1956- Links: Site Costs Ready Reckoner | H1 Addiction Medical Advice | Château TDL: The Backyard Re: Easement on side of property - help/advice needed 20Jan 30, 2009 1:41 pm You can build over (driveways, sheds etc) over sewer lines in NSW, however if any maintainence or emergency service is required, then whoever carries out the works are not obliged to return the property to its existing condition. just fill up the hole and make safe. You might be able to apply to divert the sewer at your expense. In NSW you would contact a Water services co-ordinator and they would give you advice as to whether or not… 1 16150 You should be able to encase the sewer but you will need it designed and approved and access to lot 580 to do the work 2 17168 Thanks - yea sounds like I need to submit build over easement application....ugh guess I better start finding someone who can do the engineering drawings 3 3387 |