Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jan 13, 2011 8:21 pm I arrived home today to find a letter in the mail from my builder urging me to sign and return a post contract variation. There is no explanation why a variation is necessary on the cover page, just a note stating if we don't sign we are delaying construction of our property. Looking at the variation page, we've been slugged an extra 1K for "sewer peg out -water board approval requirement". The details state the builder has been advised by the Sewer Authority that there is a sewer in the line of influence and we need to get an engineer to inspect. there's also a note that additional piering/structural requirements can only be priced on receipt of the sewer plan or at the commencement of slab works. Do you reckon this is a balls-up by the builder or does this sort of stuff happen all the time? We're building in a new estate, with a builder that has built a stack of houses in this estate (including one about to go up next door). So we can't work out why this has come up now. Also, does anyone understand anything about sewer peg out and potential piering/structural requirements that we may need? Am worried we'll get stung badly at slab stage and have to find money in a hurry. Land at Chermside At tender stage Re: Post contract variations - has anyone else been hitwith 2Jan 13, 2011 8:47 pm I don't think i'd be paying and i'd be demanding a "please explain" Wouldn't something regarding this be on your land contract? Section 32? Have you had your house citing done? My building thread : viewtopic.php?f=31&t=36059 Paid initial deposit 24/7/10 Tender appointment 20/8/2010 Flooring and tile appointment 25/9/10 Colour and Electrical appointment 13/9/10 December site start delayed Site start (YAY!) 17/1/11 Slab pour 1/2/2011 Re: Post contract variations - has anyone else been hitwith 4Jan 13, 2011 9:03 pm zozo Our soil/site tests were done over 2 months ago. I'm scratching my head as to why they work this out now. I find that very strange, why didn't the builder ring you instead of sending a letter demanding money? Ring them and ask the question, very weird. My building thread : viewtopic.php?f=31&t=36059 Paid initial deposit 24/7/10 Tender appointment 20/8/2010 Flooring and tile appointment 25/9/10 Colour and Electrical appointment 13/9/10 December site start delayed Site start (YAY!) 17/1/11 Slab pour 1/2/2011 Re: Post contract variations - has anyone else been hitwith 5Jan 13, 2011 9:06 pm Delay the construction? not put it on stop... sounds like you don't HAVE to sign it then Built with New Generation (Summit Homes) We own land!... with a slab on it! Plus a shell of a house with stuff inside ! Re: Post contract variations - has anyone else been hitwith 6Jan 13, 2011 9:12 pm Hi I can't give you an opinion on whether the $1,000 is justified because it depends on what information was available to the builder at the time of contract. But as a sewerage engineer i will try and give you some background to that aspect. Basically each block on an estate can be different as regards to the effects of a sewer on the property. Usually the sewers are fairly shallow and as long as you don't build closer than the typical 2m sewer easement there are no problems. If the sewer is deeper problems start because the foundation cannot put load on the sewer. To avoid loading the sewer the foundation need to go below a line which starts at the bottom of the pipe and goes upwards at an angle of 45 degrees. For example if the sewer is 4m deep and the building in 2m away from the sewer the foundations need to be 2m deep, If the building is 3m away the foundations need to be 1m deep. When this sort of thing is considered to be a problem the line of the sewer needs to be accurately located (pegged). A decision can then be made to either move the building or deepen the foundations. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Post contract variations - has anyone else been hitwith 7Jan 13, 2011 9:16 pm When we biult our last house, we had a similar problem RE the finding the sewer, they could not find it , but instead of asking us for more money, the man from the sewer auth came out knocked on the neighbours door and asked if he could put a camera down his loo so he could see it, then use something ontop of the ground to find where it was (the neighbour said no, but that is just hime, so he went 4 doors up, to the house that has the sewer coverthing in the backyard and they let him put it in there, although it delayed us 2 week, we were not charged! Re: Post contract variations - has anyone else been hitwith 9Jan 13, 2011 9:29 pm It would be very unusual for the water authority to peg out a sewer. The normal thing they do is provide a plan with a big stamp saying they have no responsibilty for the accuracy. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Post contract variations - has anyone else been hitwith 10Jan 13, 2011 9:44 pm ^ Anyway, we got hit with the same thing (but a bit cheaper) even though we are very far from the pipes (even according to rules). The "engineers" they sent carried sophisticated equipment consisting of fairly straight and somewhat sharp long stick with which they tested the area where SW plans were showing a possible location of sewage pipes. The testing consisted of randomly poking the stick into the ground until they hit the hard thing - which obviously could "only" be the pipe . Not sure if they ever found it, or if they just signed off on the original sewage plan for the area (since it was sooooo far from the house anyway) ... My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Post contract variations - has anyone else been hitwith 11Jan 14, 2011 7:03 am Lex The "engineers" they sent carried sophisticated equipment consisting of fairly straight and somewhat sharp long stick with which they tested the area where SW plans were showing a possible location of sewage pipes. The testing consisted of randomly poking the stick into the ground until they hit the hard thing - which obviously could "only" be the pipe Never argue with an idiot they drag you down to their level & then beat you with experience - Dilbert View Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=19733 Contract signed 14Sept Slab 30Sept Bricks laid 1Dec Lock up 26Feb Keys 10Jun Re: Post contract variations - has anyone else been hitwith 12Jan 14, 2011 7:32 am We had exactly the same request although at a cost of about $1,300 and it came through as a PCV as well. They wanted the sewer pegout to confirm exactly how close to an easement we were and depending on how close we were whether piering would be required. I spose what i learnt from it is although they call it an 'asset' they actually have no idea/measurements for where it is Anyway I contacted our land developer and got my hands on what is called a Works-As-Constructed (WAC) plan which details the works that were carried out on our block of land by the developer & actually details the location & depth of the pipes. I sent this off to our builder who sent it off to the water service co-ordinator who used it to confirm that our build would not be in the 'zone of influence' and that we didn't need piering or encasement. My thoughts were that hey this land has just been subdivided, this would have had to have been documented already so why should I pay money to have something redrawn that really should already exist for the developer to have gotten approval!! Not sure what state you are in (we are in NSW) and whether this process is any different?? but try and get in contact with your land developer & get your hands on the WAC! Hope this helps April Building the Saville27 in Kellyville Ridge Floor tiles done Port-A-loo Gone Site Fence Gone Electrical Done House Cleaned Driveway Done WE'RE IN! http://ebsaville.blogspot.com Re: Post contract variations - has anyone else been hitwith 13Jan 14, 2011 10:21 am Perhaps ring and discuss this issue with your builder? There might be a very simple explanation for the PCV. We received one in the mail where our builder decided to change our appliances, even after lengthy discussions regarding our appliances. PCV's turned up in the mail unannounced isn't nice. Re: Post contract variations - has anyone else been hitwith 14Jan 14, 2011 1:37 pm I know how you feel. We received letters for variations for $4879.00 although prior to this letter we did receive a phone call. Then we have just received a letter - with no phone call this time, for a variation of $580.00 We have had no choice but to authorise the variations so that the build can be completed, but its a worry when all this extra money which we had not budgetted for now has to be paid. Good luck with yours, Toby. Re: Post contract variations - has anyone else been hitwith 15Jan 14, 2011 6:36 pm We have an easement on our block, but we were informed of the sewer lines before even signing for the block, were you not informed there is an easement on your block?? Ours is a brand spanking new estate too.. It is still possible to build your dream home on a block like this, as we have found out. The builders will find out exactly how far they can build into the easement and it is likely they will have to charge you extra for structual beams (piers) we were also charged for the builder having to cut back the sewer. All up cost thousands, I can pm you the final costs if you are curious as to what you might be looking at. It does sound legit to me, just unprofessional a covering letter or phone call wasn't made to you before sending out the new charges!! I'd be careful signing and waiting until the slab goes down to find out exactly what you might be looking at. If I can help in anyway just pm me. Cheers Re: Post contract variations - has anyone else been hitwith 16Jan 23, 2011 8:00 pm Thanks for your comments everyone. They've been a big help. Looking at the contour map we received before purchase, the sewer runs along the back fenceline. So by keeping within the estate's guidelines of not building within 4 metres of the back fence, I assumed this would be a non-issue. When I questioned the builder about it, they said that for the depth the pipes are at, the building must be double that distance away (thanks to bashworth for educating me prior to contacting the builder) and as we are still close to that figure we need pegging. So we haven't been able to obtain actual numbers from the builder. Is a bit like Chinese whispers in that place so I assume the answer I was given is third-hand. Thanks also for the tip to going straight to the developer. They've been pretty good so far so I think I'll get onto them tomorrow. No-one explained to us about the easement when we purchased the land. I didn't think there would be an issue with it running along the back fence. Perhaps it should've been something I questioned at the time. thanks again everyone. Land at Chermside At tender stage It seems very clear to me that your contract states that a security account does NOT need to be established so the answer to the builder is NO. 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