Notes on the construction drawings - Is Builder responsbile?

Hi,

We are building with PD and have just reached "fixing" stage. One of our construction drwaing has general notes about structural details etc.

In this drawing there is an "important note" mentioning -
An immature tree was observed towards the front of the property on the nature-strip. This tree will cause building movement in the future. The provision of a root barrier will be required to minimize the movement. The root barrier is to be excavated to 2000mm below the ground level, surrounding the building area. Provide an approved tree root barrier and install to manufacturer's design and specifications. Alternatively, footings can be deepened or piped in to the natural "rock" or 2500mm min. below the ground level.

Has anyone been through this situation?

Is it the responsbility of the Builder to provide the root barrier? Or this is just a general note since the tree is not yet mature builder is not responsible.

Should I ask my builder about this?

In general, do you have similar experiences with your builder?

Thanks,
sd

If it hasnt been included in your tender/contract then PD wont be doing it - is it listed anywhere else? or just as a note on the drawings?

Pull the tree out. Or just let one of the subbies run over it.

And if it's at the nature strip, how can it's roots reach the house? One would assume the house is set back from the front or is it right against the front of the block?

The notes are not inlcuded in the contract or the tender. It is just mentioned on the drawings.

The house is having the standard set-back as per the requirements which is 5mts. The tree is appx. 8 mts from the house.

sd

so they wont be doing it then... Just a case of covering their bum in case the tree causes you problems down the track when it get big I would say...

8m+ roots (plus be strong enough to damage a slab) means it must be going be a BIG tree - either that or they are just being over-cautious.
I wouldn't worry about it.

Ray.

We went through something similar with our first go with PD.

In the end, it caused us to walk away from the project.

There's more detail on the blog, however the root barriers in our case were going to cost around $10k, and they were missed at tender appointment time.

Just before the contract appointment the news was broken to us, and naturally we spat the dummy.

Interestingly, PD didn't want to build without the barriers as they were worried about problems down the track - these trees were mature.

One question - how tall is the tree? If the tree is small and far enough away, it shouldn't be a cause for concern at the moment. It sounds like they are covering themselves for the future growth of the tree.

Perhaps wording like "Barriers may not be needed now (so they are not in the quote) but should be installed before the tree gets too big, otherwise the house may be affected." should have been used.

Cheers
perry

If it is an immature tree a bottle of poison will be cheaper. Do not get caught removing it or poisoning it. Council hate people removing trees from nature strips.