Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jul 01, 2010 10:08 pm We have retaining walls on our plans which, according to DA approval, are to be constructed with masonry by us after handover. The retaining walls are to run along the two side boundaries towards the front, so perhaps 6 metres on the left boundary, and maybe 10 metres on the right boundary. I thought this was quite strange as our block is quite flat. We've had a scrape and I honestly cannot see how retaining walls could even be required... the neighbours will obviously have to do the same with their land (i.e. cut and fill - which is only very minor to begin with) so it would render the section completely flat. At the moment, as neither neighbour has been scraped, there is only perhaps a 20cm drop.... hardly something requiring a retaining wall! My question is, do you think I could contest council as to the necessity of a retaining wall? I would really rather not spend the money on something that is unnecessary. Would I still be able to get my OC without one? Thanks in advance. Re: Retaining wall question 2Jul 02, 2010 7:50 am Bek, I had a look at your block on Wednesday when we were out there, and I agree, the cut on your site doesn't even reach halfway to my knee, and when your neighbour's cut as well, they should be on a similar level. Maybe just give the council a call and ask them, that's what I did about the landscape plans, they were very helpful. Re: Retaining wall question 3Jul 02, 2010 10:53 am Thanks Paul - my lovely neighbour! Jo was saying the same thing to me yesterday - she also can't understand why a retaining wall is required. I have rang council, just waiting for them to call me back. Fingers crossed! Re: Retaining wall question 4Jul 06, 2010 4:28 pm I spoke to council (finally) today and basically i was told that sometimes they put retaining walls on the plans even though they haven't been to site to see if they're in fact needed. He said the likelihood of us actually NEEDING a retaining wall (after what i've told him) is slim and we probably won't have to do it, especially once the neighbours start excavating, so the surveyors will be able to tell us closer to completion. When I said the drop in land was less than 30cm he said "nah, you won't need to do them, don't worry".... So that's a little reassuring!!!! All this could've been prevented if they just put "if required" after "the retaining wall to be constructed by owner after handover" on the plans!!! Thank you again Simeon.. I will call my certifier for that. Have a good day 4 1333 Thanks for the insights, that makes perfect sense, and yeah, I will be leaning on the experience of the excavator operator entirely. 6 11078 Hi All, I engaged a tradie to install concrete retaining wall 600-800mm high over 32 meters in Victoria. Sleepers are 200*75*2000 mm installed over 17 steel posts. I… 0 3737 |