Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Feb 07, 2011 3:20 pm Hi All We paid our deposit to the builder in early November for soil testing and preparation of plans. Things have been moving slowly to say the least. We had colours a month ago and still waiting for tender. Today I got a phone call - the soil is not M class as they had initially said (we had assumed, having not heard for so long, this was the case). Apparently soils tests have only just come back now and they show H class. It will be at least an extra $6k (engineer is working on it today but that was a starting price), on top of $50k site costs already. I initially spoke to another builder before we even purchased the land, who we discounted because Builder B had a great inclusions deal going. But the delays, and now this surprise at a stage that seems to be so late in the game...I went back to the old builders emails to see what he'd said about the land. To my shock he had quoted about $25k site works and said the soil is M class. Now granted he didn't do formal soil testing, but the 50% discount on earth works in itself is really concerning me. There is about a 1.5m fall on the land. I know site costs can vary significantly. But am I being fleeced here? Is it realistic that costings could vary so much for similar homes on the same land? Thanks in advance for any assistance Re: Surprise ! We have bad soil 3Feb 08, 2011 1:55 pm You won't get a firm site cost evaluation without: 1 A soil test 2 A feature/Contour survey 3 A floor plan including which type of base you want (slab or stumps) Once you have these you need each builder to quote base on the details of he surveys and the house design. Remember that things like retaining walls, extra clean fill, tree root barriers, rock removal, piering all cost money and are part of the "site costs" It sounds like you may have already been paying for some concrete piers in that quote No one can give you a meaningful answer without looking at your building contract, what happened on site and who designed your house You should get experienced building… 1 10215 You might be able to apply to divert the sewer at your expense. In NSW you would contact a Water services co-ordinator and they would give you advice as to whether or not… 1 16151 do not pay until you are satisfied with workmanship windows require flashing over the head archithrave and up under weatherboards 3 28297 |