Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Foundations on a flat block more expensive? 3Apr 12, 2014 10:03 am buildingnew We're in the negotiation phase of a building contract. The first tender supplied by the builder has indicated that the cost of foundations and site works will be significantly higher than normal, depite the fact that the block is dead flat and 'S' grade soil. When I queried the builder on this, he told me that a dead flat block made site costs expensive because when building on a sloped block, the cut could be used to fill the lower areas, but on a flat block it was necessary to remove the top 30cm (to ensure that all vegetation was removed), then import fill to replace it, compact it and then the foundations would need to be deeper to account for the unstable new fill. This seems strange to me for two reasons; 1) I've always been told that a flat block with S grade soil was the absolute cheapest for construction 2) Surely an amount of soil has to be removed anyway, as the slab sits partially below the ground doesn't it? Is anyone able to clarify this for me? That doesn't sound right to me, get a hold of the soil report and foundation design I assume you have paid for them so they are yours. Cutting and filling is almost always more expensive for the earthworks and deeper foundations. For most slabs a site scrap to remove vegetation is required. our situation was a bit of a guinea pig in that structural work by the previous builder was defective and the house was almost completed, and our structural engineer… 1 4788 I would suggest you simply go and talk to council about your proposal, most councils are getting onboard with ancillary dwellings. There is no benefit in keeping it… 1 2806 I think I know the answer but just checking to see if anyone has had experience with it. I want to build a small 20 square metre retreat in my backyard, it will have a… 0 8682 |