Browse Forums Building A New House 1 May 29, 2014 4:44 pm Hi, I received my site-works quotation a couple of days back and its $24,000 . A bit shocked seeing the figure since the provisional sum that was put down by the builder when the initial quote was given was $11,000. The engineers site report that was given to me after the survey stated that the site classification was A and that no structural sand pad is required. Footing detail (which I don't have any clue about) is A85. Now, coming back to what I've been quoted, 1. The Earthworks (which says includes removal of excess sand) has jumped from $2000(in the provisional quote) to $8000. What exactly is Earthworks ? 2. For soak-wells I am being charged $4000. 3. There is retaining wall needed, 6 metres in one section and 5 metres along another section of the boundary. The slope over here is not visible to the naked eye but I've been told that that part of my property slides slightly into the neighbours property and hence a retaining wall is needed in those areas. I've been quoted $4500 for that. (I've seen many companies advertising about retaining boundary walls and plan to speak to a couple of them to get a quote to get this done by myself). 4. Single phase power run has jumped from $500 to $2100. Just wanted to know if anyone could shed some light into what Earthworks is. Does removal of sand cost such huge amount ? Power run.. what exactly is this..How can this increase by $1600 ? Alex Re: Site cost blowup 2May 29, 2014 5:27 pm Not sure why single phase should change if house hasn't - ie increase by 400%. Are you building on sand - you mention removal of sand. Retaining wall sound big too - surely they would have seen this in the quote - but is the block on a good slope ? This can mean costs do go up. Re: Site cost blowup 3May 29, 2014 6:05 pm The normal mains lead in allowance is 6m, so unless thats gone to 24m id certainly be questioning that. 11m of retaining wall even at a metre high = $450 / sqm which seems a lot. How much fall is there across the block? whatever is cut from the high side is used on the low side, I'm usually the first one to jump in and defend the builders, it's hard to make an accurate judgement with out all the info but it seems like a bit of a cash grab to me. Re: Site cost blowup 4May 29, 2014 6:32 pm Hi alex_123_in Have you signed building contract? Are you in Vic? If you are in Vic there is protection against escalation of PS items but you will need professional help Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Site cost blowup 5May 29, 2014 6:36 pm The size of the house has changed from 280 sq metres (at which point we were quoted the provisional sum) to 295 sq metres. The location hasn't changed. 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 37150 Thanks for the insight! My plot is a new development so hopefully I won't have too much problem during build as everyone should be roughly building together. I also… 2 3373 Approvals are covered in the cost we are paying to the pool company. The only thing stated in our home build contract for the additional cost is engineering support. … 3 7121 |