Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Sep 16, 2009 5:49 pm Hi guys, I'm new to this site and new to building a home, our builder is telling us we can't put the garage at the front of the house, because the gradient of the driveway would be too steep. However the house next door has the garage at exactly the same position that we want and their driveway has the same steep gradient that we would have. Now my question is can I argue the case that because my neighbour has the driveway at that gradient with the garage at the same position as I want, I should be allowed if they have been allowed. I am building in Sydney metropolitan in a suburb called Beaumont Hills which falls under the Baulkham hills shire council. Re: Garage Driveway Gradient 3Sep 17, 2009 3:47 pm Councils have strict regulations on gradients for driveways.. I know you may think your gradient is going to be the same as your neighbours but seriously how do you know this? Ask your neighbour to check his building plans so that you can see the driveway gradient and compare them to what the builder has put in yours.. If they are exactly the same then ring the council and ask them if they will relax this allowance given that your neighbours gradient is the same. Re: Garage Driveway Gradient 4Sep 17, 2009 3:58 pm What you CAN do, which I have only just found out about because my clever neighbour is doing it, is cut the garage down an extra 30-40cm so the gradient isn't too steep on the driveway. Only difference it will make to your home is that when you step from your garage, through your internal access door into the house, you will have to step onto a step- then into the house. Voila`! Does that make sense? Ask them if they can drop your garage.... Re: Garage Driveway Gradient 5Sep 17, 2009 5:06 pm Quote: Councils have strict regulations on gradients for driveways.. Softwood says his builder cant build this house, not the council wont approve it. Maybe the builder has doubts about their workmanship! Re: Garage Driveway Gradient 6Sep 17, 2009 5:56 pm softwood our builder is telling us we can't put the garage at the front of the house, because the gradient of the driveway would be too steep. Yes, I was going to ask exactly what that means? Is the builder quoting a regulation of some sort, or a guideline, or does he not do it because he knows from previous experience that people end up not being happy with it, or what? Re: Garage Driveway Gradient 9Sep 17, 2009 7:03 pm Australian standards are 10% for the first and last 2 metres of your driveway then 20% for the middle or close to that. No point using that anyway so only use as a guide cause Baulkham hills will have there own driveway gradient profiles. Check on their website or ring them and speak to a planner or usually someone in there traffic control section. Re: Garage Driveway Gradient 10Sep 17, 2009 7:10 pm These guidelines might be a pain in the a^^^ but they are there for a pretty good reason too. You know that painful scraping sound your car can make??? Imagine getting that every morning when you back out of your driveway and coming home to it every night. Terrible!!! You could also (if you have room) push your setback a little further back...? Because the longer the driveway, the lesser the overall gradient (ahhhh Year 12 mathematics- thanks Mrs Alexander! you were right when you said I would need it one day ) Re: Garage Driveway Gradient 11Sep 17, 2009 11:22 pm Felistopher These guidelines might be a pain in the a^^^ but they are there for a pretty good reason too. You know that painful scraping sound your car can make??? Imagine getting that every morning when you back out of your driveway and coming home to it every night. Terrible!!! Buy a Hilux then. Re: Garage Driveway Gradient 12Sep 17, 2009 11:28 pm My dads house is pretty high up on the block, he told his paving guy if the car bottomed out, he would not pay. The paving guy did a great job and got paid. It's all mathematics. Since your neighbour is in the same boat, I think your builder is worried. Has an engineer looked at the plan? Re: Garage Driveway Gradient 13Oct 14, 2009 11:03 pm Hello softwood, you're not alone as we are on the same boat. good luck to us. i might contact the council to enquire and will keep you posted. that way, we won't have to assume or better yet, ask them what will be the good options. hopefully, i'll find someone who's kindhearted enough to help people like us. keep your fingers crossed. It looks like Blacktown council allows up to a 6.0m wide driveway so just ask your builder to change the plans. 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