Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Aug 25, 2012 2:05 am Hi, I'm new here and can't find an answer to this although I've been searching in here and on the web. I hope someone can please help. How many surveys/reports are needed before the house is ready to be built? I ask because: a builder has given us a 'fixed price' to build our home based on our 'preliminary engineers report' (soil analysis, survey/contours, footing & drainage recommendations) and floor/elevation plans. His quote includes grillage raft footings for our soil type BUT NOT "additional fill; double mesh & thickened slab; or concrete piers if required". He said a 'Construction Footing Report' or 'Builders Engineering report for Council' has to be done to determine if we'll need these things. Thanks Re: Engineering and survey reports - anyone know the process 2Aug 25, 2012 8:26 am TomCat Hi, I'm new here and can't find an answer to this although I've been searching in here and on the web. I hope someone can please help. How many surveys/reports are needed before the house is ready to be built? I ask because: a builder has given us a 'fixed price' to build our home based on our 'preliminary engineers report' (soil analysis, survey/contours, footing & drainage recommendations) and floor/elevation plans. His quote includes grillage raft footings for our soil type BUT NOT "additional fill; double mesh & thickened slab; or concrete piers if required". He said a 'Construction Footing Report' or 'Builders Engineering report for Council' has to be done to determine if we'll need these things. Thanks Hm, not sure I can answer your questions specifically, but those exclusions seem extensive. Concrete piers are usual, and our builder included 80Lm (so anything over we pay extra, although we didn't go over). The double mesh and thickened slab should also be established before build starts. What class of soil is yours? 'M' is the standard, which most builders include in their tenders. Ours ended up a 'P' so we needed double mesh, thickened slab etc... The only things that can't really be establish at contract stage is what is IN the ground (such as rocks, floaters etc.). I would go back to your builder. We didn't need a Construction Footing Report or a Builders Engineering report for Council. Do you trust your builder? SunshineT's Build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34585 Designs start: 4/12/09 DA: 5/7/11 Demo: 22/12/11 Slab: 24/2/12 Keys: 31/8/12 Re: Engineering and survey reports - anyone know the process 3Aug 25, 2012 8:42 am Basically the initial site investigation is based on three tiny boreholes and local knowledge. See this link http://www.anewhouse.com.au/?p=347. If.........
Each of the three boreholes gives different information, And/or there is a lack ok local knowledge of the ground conditions At the end of the day the only really knowledge of what the building will stand on is to excavate the entire foundation. At this stage an inspection of the ground can be made and the Construction Footing Report done. For 90% of the houses the initial soil tests were pretty right and the construction footing report is as initial site investigation 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: Engineering and survey reports - anyone know the process 4Aug 25, 2012 12:45 pm Thank you both The block is ED class soil (reactive clay) so those 'extras' may be necessary. BUT maybe not, it has a gentle slope 0.75cm that we want to level out - builder's included 600mm site cut. Oh well. I hear you Sunshine ... trust ... yes, you have to trust. But? Trust? How can you? (Rhetorical question ... who can answer that? Another rhetorical!) I can't believe we're expected to sign up to a rubbery figure. I don't like these 'not includeds' or 'allowances' with the 'quotes' we're getting. BTW anewhouse.com.au is brilliant! I'm checking it out thoroughly. I'm thinking hard about your comment about not knowing until excavation. I've enquired about getting the site leveled and prepared first by a reputable excavator that also understands/does footings. It's not expensive ~1-1,500k and should allow us to get the 100% fixed price from the builder that we're after ... ... But ... ... ??? I'm yet to find a balance between between trust and research. I've been nibbling with both six months and still dont' feel wise enough to sign a contract. Thanks for this advice though, does help! Re: Engineering and survey reports - anyone know the process 5Aug 25, 2012 6:15 pm the real issue here is how will the extra charges be calculated and how much per whatever. e.g. extra concrete used charged at so much per m3 over the allowance of x m3. this is not unusual. as long as the allowance is reasonable, you cannot end up paying all that much. by the way, almost all concretors want to charge that way. you ask for quote all up and the price goes up, and up, cheerio leighton at clark new homes Re: Engineering and survey reports - anyone know the process 6Aug 26, 2012 5:03 pm I'm in the mood to say this: Go overboard. "Over"engineer (and pay). The issue is that lots (most??) average builds will be engineered barely to the minimum law-required standard. That's fine - until you look at the physical implementation of those bare minimums! You will find that there are a few omissions and "underachievements" during the implementation (ie. the build) which either can't be properly fixed (eg. sometimes the work quickly proceeds to the next step so that the issue can't be properly fixed) or get brushed off and fogotten and the like. So, you sometimes end up with a build that is clearly below the minimum standard (even if it can't be seen any more). Sometimes there is an unlucky 'special mix' of tiny mishaps which all together can create a bigger worry - and all depending on the "mishap", its location, specific factors on site etc.... So, unless you are building to sell ... And yes, many people in the building & related industries will try to convince you that you are wasting your money ... My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Engineering and survey reports - anyone know the process 7Nov 17, 2012 9:30 am What is a floater exactly? Our soil report mentions possible floaters. Thanks! Re: Engineering and survey reports - anyone know the process 8Nov 17, 2012 10:05 am Usually it means floating boulders of rock under the ground. By floating it means they are here and there randomly, not part of a rock bed, so they may not be as stable. Hence the need for us to have P class slab. SunshineT's Build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34585 Designs start: 4/12/09 DA: 5/7/11 Demo: 22/12/11 Slab: 24/2/12 Keys: 31/8/12 The most definitive answer to your question James is this taken from the James Hardie Axon Cladding Installation Guide - i just happen to have it… 5 3673 It is true that a builder can ignore your independent inspection report as it is not part of the contractual arrangement but that is stupid because he cannot avoid fixing… 9 46854 4 6827 |