Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Feb 08, 2009 2:33 pm hi, we've been planning to build a new home in Canberra (with R.ws.n) and have (finally) been told the site costs (including $18,700 for earthworks, $16700 for plumbing 2 house, &6500 for verge protection and cleaning). From what I've seen here, this is far above normal. Are we being had?
Any and all advice appreciated. thanks Re: site costs $66,000! 2Feb 08, 2009 2:35 pm Peter - that sounds quite high - but it would depend on your block. Care to give us some more info:
slope? L to R or front to back soil class? M, H or worse waffle pod slab or more traditional raft slab? After 4 years - we're in! Re: site costs $66,000! 3Feb 08, 2009 2:43 pm mild slope right rear down to right front. soil class is as yet unknown, but an allowance of $3200 has been given for piers if we need them (from neighbours, we reckon the soil is probably M, and the slab is waffle pod.
The cut is 1000mm max. thanks for helping! Re: site costs $66,000! 4Feb 08, 2009 2:57 pm Hmmm.... from that limited information it does seem quite high.
To give you an idea, my block has just over 2m slope across the block, for the two houses we've had quoted, there was approx 1m of cut. Our block is P because of trees, but the slab (and soil) is actually M class. Our costs have been around the 20k for single storeys. But we didn't need retaining walls because our block was big enough to batten it back. So yeah, seems full on. but I'm in Melbourne and apparently Canberra prices are . I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: site costs $66,000! 5Feb 08, 2009 3:13 pm The site doesn't sound too bad - $66k seems a bit much.
Perhaps time to tender through someone else for a comparison? (A good $600 spent I reckon) After 4 years - we're in! Re: site costs $66,000! 7Feb 08, 2009 5:59 pm Hi
Our site costs, for flat land (less than 0.5 fall), with a waffle slab, H Class soil will be around @$3,000-$5,000. This is in a new development in North Canberra.. So yes, does sound high!!! However, I'm not sure what your builder means by Quote: $18,700 for earthworks, $16700 for plumbing 2 house, &6500 for verge protection and cleaning I would definitely check with another builder, if only to get a rough estimate (not necessarily full quote/tender)...If you are building in a new development, a chat to the guys in the display villages will probably be helpful...If you are building in an older suburb..you might need a builder to visit you... Re: site costs $66,000! 8Feb 08, 2009 6:09 pm thanks - our place is in the inner north and is a project home (knockdown-rebuild). I'm not sure how much they will move on these costs, but obviously evidence that their costs are outside the norm (if that, as it seems, is the case) won't hurt. Is it best for me to get another builder to quote just on these "site costs" and present this to our (proposed) builder? These probably sound like naive questions, but I've no knowledge or experience of the way these project builders operate. Re: site costs $66,000! 9Feb 08, 2009 6:09 pm Quote: site costs $66,000! Building Thread viewtopic.php?f=31&t=13002 Site start: 8th July 2009 Handover: 11/12/2009! 5 months total build time. 40 sqs of luxuary...Bliss! Re: site costs $66,000! 12Feb 08, 2009 8:00 pm Hi Peter
Im here in Canberra as well and about to start owner-building a house in Inner South... Those costs definitely seem a bit steep. We've got about a 2m fall, front to back...and will have a fair bit of cut and fill to do, along with stone retaining walls...and we're looking at somewhere around the $15k-$20k mark (hopefully less ) That doesnt include plumbing, but i wouldn't expect it to get up anywhere near $66k!! Just to give you a comparison, there is a VERY BIG house being built down the road and they took away something like 60 truck loads of soil, along with a fair bit of other site work...and it cost them around $45k - and their overall budget for the build is something like $1.5MILL!! So...long story short, i'd definitely be getting a few other quotes...and possibly even finding out if u can get the site prep. done urself, before bringing in the project builder!! Cheers Adam Re: site costs $66,000! 13Feb 08, 2009 8:46 pm Thanks Mark, I really appreciate your advice - if we're unable to negotiate a reasonable price with Raws*ns, we'll investigate having the site done prep by a contractor. This particular design (from this company) suits us better than any other we have seen (orientation, size, etc.) so we'd like to stick with it, but we may have to look at alternatives.
cheers peter Re: site costs $66,000! 14Feb 09, 2009 7:45 am Peter2084 Stonecutter, what do you mean by a tender? get a quote from another builder? Yep - get another quote - in NSW most project builders charge you $600 for the soil test, contour report and quote. After 4 years - we're in! Re: site costs $66,000! 15Feb 09, 2009 10:21 am Get them to break it down into the various components and put a $ value to them.
I would also ask them to justify the decisions they have made and to provide options/alternatives. I would never build with a Canberra builder as they are thieving so and so's. While the price gouging is obvious it is made even more unpalatable as there are several Canberra builders who branched out to build in Sydney and for the 'same' house in Canberra all of these builders charged between $80,000 and $130,000 extra and when asked why the ones who did not just shrug their shoulders could not justify the difference. Cheers, Teddy Bär Re: site costs $66,000! 16Feb 10, 2009 11:53 am thanks Teddy, I agree with you about Canberra builders, but this is where we live, so...
We've got a peice breakdown and are looking at options Stonecutter, thanks again, we're going to take our time over this (or maybe walk away) pete Re: site costs $66,000! 17Feb 10, 2009 11:58 am Peter2084 Stonecutter, thanks again, we're going to take our time over this (or maybe walk away) Never feel bullied into signing anything! Though it's tricky with homes - you put so much emotion into them it's difficult to walk away After 4 years - we're in! That sucks! Hope it all works out. Good to move away from steel anyway for all your reasons, but it's also thermally poor. 16 17774 As is per usual for many of the past failed RWH regulations, it is probably traceable to a bureaucrat who's ego overrode the need to seek the appropriate expert… 1 893 I am not sure whether Perth has its own way of doing things in regards to this. Most of Perth has class A (sandy soil), except for some areas near rivers or hills. 2 13063 |