Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jul 02, 2012 7:14 pm Last year, in preparation for a custom build, we had a land survey conducted... Re-establishment of boundaries and levels. Since then we have signed a prelim contract with Mcon and they are insisting that we have their guys do it again. I understand a second soil test being warranted, there's more riding on that, but not the site survey. We live on an acre - it will therefore not be cheap, and we are building no closer than 7m from the boundary. Why on earth will they not use our existing survey??? I will call our sales consultant tomorrow for an explanation, but in the meantime I'm flabbergasted. WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF VOLUME BUILDING. God help me. Re: Mcon insisting on second site survey 2Jul 02, 2012 9:06 pm They will be doing it as part of their "fewest changes are the smoothest/fastest/cheapest way to build" thing. One way I can think of which might possibly get them to accept the existing survey is to find out what file format their drafties are using, and find out whether the people who did the original survey can save their file in that format. But you may also find they just won't do it, due in part to a lack of trust in something done by an unnamed third-party and in part to a cheap volume deal they've done with a surveyor (or surveyors) which says they'll only work with the drawings from that surveyor. Mcon insisting on second site survey 3Jul 02, 2012 10:12 pm Forg They will be doing it as part of their "fewest changes are the smoothest/fastest/cheapest way to build" thing. One way I can think of which might possibly get them to accept the existing survey is to find out what file format their drafties are using, and find out whether the people who did the original survey can save their file in that format. But you may also find they just won't do it, due in part to a lack of trust in something done by an unnamed third-party and in part to a cheap volume deal they've done with a surveyor (or surveyors) which says they'll only work with the drawings from that surveyor. Thanks Forg, that confirms what the surveyor said to me on the phone. He mentioned that they have a system and they don't like to stray from it. He also mentioned that as we are on an acre, it could cost/save us (depending on how you look at it) $2-3K. That's a handful of upgrades right there and considering we've already paid for it once, well, enough said. I have a .dwg file (and a .pdf), so I'll give that a go. Many thanks. Re: Mcon insisting on second site survey 4Jul 03, 2012 12:22 pm That's odd, as our builder was happy to use our independent site survey. As you said, they did insist on their own soil test. But our builder is very flexible, not sure about M'con ... My Hamptons build (completed): viewtopic.php?f=31&t=63370 Moved in Wednesday 11th Dec 2013 Front landscaping completed June 2016 Re: Mcon insisting on second site survey 5Jul 03, 2012 12:53 pm cinder That's odd, as our builder was happy to use our independent site survey. As you said, they did insist on their own soil test. But our builder is very flexible, not sure about M'con ... Thanks cinder, yes, I have read similar stories here previously. However, in the mean time, some sanity has prevailed. We can now use our survey for the re-establishment of boundaries, but they still want to do their own features and levels. I'm a bit disappointed, however, I do understand that there is a lot riding on this for them. I have relented . Re: Mcon insisting on second site survey 6Aug 28, 2012 8:06 am a check survey for boundary peg marking is done by a licensed surveyor and should always be accepted by any builder. a feature survey, or contour survey may be done by someone without qualifications as a surveyor and could be suspect if you are paranoid. one only needs the area in which you are building not the whole block of a few acres. leighton at clark new homes Mcon insisting on second site survey 7Aug 28, 2012 1:02 pm Thanks Leighton. They ended up accepting the boundary survey but insisted on doing their own levels. It was different at a few spots, up to 200mm. I thought that was a bit extreme, but what would I know? A survey must’ve completed by a certified surveyor. This form part of every DA requirement 3 223604 We were lucky in that our old house was so small (86 square metres) compared to the new house, they were able to take enough readings around the old backyard house before… 8 37139 ask the surveyor for clarification would be the logical approach 1 20132 |