Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Feb 28, 2016 12:48 pm I am a novice when it comes to site preparation and building. I own a vacant block in northwest Sydney and we are considering building a double storey house. When we purchased the land, from developer we received site classification and slope details as M class and aprx. 1 mtr respectively. We have signed up with a project builder and we have just received contour survey and site specification reports from them . The site classification is H and the land has a slope of aprx 2 mtr diagonally left to right with a sudden drop at the front. As a result builder is going to charge extra for H class slab, 429mm (5 brick courses) dropped edge beam, steps / split in the house and excess soil removal. Now the items that bother me the most are: 1. Approx. 175 Tonne of excess spoil from bulk excavation and excavation of footings will need to be removed - I will be charged aprx $10500 for this and each extra ton will be charged @ $60. The charges and volume seem excessive I cannot understand how the builder arrived at this. According to Contour sketch, cut and fill calculations are cut volume 107 m3 and fill volume 29 m3. I have no idea how to validate this and how to ensure the builder is not charging me excessive amount. What options do I have in this case? 2. Provide a 686mm (eight brick courses) step up to house - this will cost me $11700 Am I being charged too much? As a result of these my site costs have risen by 10500 and statutory requirements by 5000 and additional 11700 for the steps. Re: Site cost - split with steps and excess soil removal cha 3Feb 29, 2016 7:12 am Not sure about the fill question, but maybe consider a builder who is used to dealing with slopes for a comparison quote. That does sound expensive for some steps. However, if it is an unusual change they may just be charging through the nose. My tradie friend will quote really high for jobs he doesn't really want ( but will do if at a certain price) - and is always surprised when people accept those quotes. Re: Site cost - split with steps and excess soil removal cha 4Feb 29, 2016 8:15 am Hi HSW You need to provide more info. Why There are many variables that can effect designs on difficult sites ->engineering..and at this point we are only guessing at what the issues are? As a Structural Engineer I see this quite often (Search here: $ticker $hock) Your options are now 1. Analyse your current contour, site report, and floor plan to determine the anomalies 2. Apply reasonable expectations & rates to the extra over upgrade charges 3. Sit down and try to reason with the builder not the Salesman..(good luck with that) In hind site you should have started with 3 above before you committed a deposit, make them sharpen the pencil 4. Start again with someone else this, try optimizing the design, copyright costs may be a bigger issue for you now? If 4 above is your option I will try to assist you in optimising the design/engineering & getting more bang for your bucks.. The secret is to have all the correct Info/Data in order to make informed decisions (Engineering 101) goodluck Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: Site cost - split with steps and excess soil removal cha 5Feb 29, 2016 1:25 pm HomeTweetHome 1. Approx. 175 Tonne of excess spoil from bulk excavation and excavation of footings will need to be removed - I will be charged aprx $10500 for this and each extra ton will be charged @ $60. The charges and volume seem excessive I cannot understand how the builder arrived at this. According to Contour sketch, cut and fill calculations are cut volume 107 m3 and fill volume 29 m3. I have no idea how to validate this and how to ensure the builder is not charging me excessive amount. What options do I have in this case? If the volumes are correct (which they probably are given they're mostly CAD'd up) then 175 Tonnes comes from: 107m3 cut - 29m3 fill = 78m^3 to get rid of. Soil is roughtly 2.2T per m3 - so 78*2.2 = 171.6 (rounded up to 175 because we're builders). $60 per tonne for disposal seems pricey though unless you've got access issues. Re: Site cost - split with steps and excess soil removal cha 6Mar 01, 2016 4:19 pm stik79 HomeTweetHome 1. Approx. 175 Tonne of excess spoil from bulk excavation and excavation of footings will need to be removed - I will be charged aprx $10500 for this and each extra ton will be charged @ $60. The charges and volume seem excessive I cannot understand how the builder arrived at this. According to Contour sketch, cut and fill calculations are cut volume 107 m3 and fill volume 29 m3. I have no idea how to validate this and how to ensure the builder is not charging me excessive amount. What options do I have in this case? If the volumes are correct (which they probably are given they're mostly CAD'd up) then 175 Tonnes comes from: 107m3 cut - 29m3 fill = 78m^3 to get rid of. Soil is roughtly 2.2T per m3 - so 78*2.2 = 171.6 (rounded up to 175 because we're builders). $60 per tonne for disposal seems pricey though unless you've got access issues. Thanks for explaining the formula. Regarding access, we have a house under construction to the right and at the back, permanent fencing to the left. Would that make it difficult to access? I am getting quotes as low as $35 per tonne from gumtree but not sure if builder will agree. Also if I arrange removal myself, how can I find out the actual volume to make sure I don't get overcharged. Re: Site cost - split with steps and excess soil removal cha 8Apr 03, 2016 8:48 pm HomeTweetHome stik79 HomeTweetHome 1. Approx. 175 Tonne of excess spoil from bulk excavation and excavation of footings will need to be removed - I will be charged aprx $10500 for this and each extra ton will be charged @ $60. The charges and volume seem excessive I cannot understand how the builder arrived at this. According to Contour sketch, cut and fill calculations are cut volume 107 m3 and fill volume 29 m3. I have no idea how to validate this and how to ensure the builder is not charging me excessive amount. What options do I have in this case? If the volumes are correct (which they probably are given they're mostly CAD'd up) then 175 Tonnes comes from: 107m3 cut - 29m3 fill = 78m^3 to get rid of. Soil is roughtly 2.2T per m3 - so 78*2.2 = 171.6 (rounded up to 175 because we're builders). $60 per tonne for disposal seems pricey though unless you've got access issues. Thanks for explaining the formula. Regarding access, we have a house under construction to the right and at the back, permanent fencing to the left. Would that make it difficult to access? I am getting quotes as low as $35 per tonne from gumtree but not sure if builder will agree. Also if I arrange removal myself, how can I find out the actual volume to make sure I don't get overcharged. Hi HTH, We are being asked to remove excess soil (approx.100 tonnes) from our land after our builder did the excavations for the slab. We too have slope of arnd 2m from back to front and had to pay extra $15K for a .5m step up in the house and .3m stepdown for garage. Re the soil removal, we have been quoted $600 for each 30-tonne load (add $100 if not 'clean soil). Plus $90/hr for machine..will probably take 8 hrs to do the job so total of $720. And $200 for transport of machine ($920 total). So if we do 4 loads (120 tonnes) will be around $3.3K (plus GST). That will work out $27.50 per tonne. I'm building around NW Sydney and let me know if you need contacts to remove your soil. Re: Site cost - split with steps and excess soil removal cha 9Apr 04, 2016 7:42 am Thanks Sprokly. Please can you send the contacts via pm. My builder is reluctant to let go of soil removal responsibility. According to them many of their clients have caused delays by not removing soil on time. So we have agreed to keep the item as provision rather than fixed. We may be able to to negotiate with site manager to have the soil removed by our contacts. How will you verify that it was certainly 100 tons they removed? Re: Site cost - split with steps and excess soil removal cha 10Apr 04, 2016 9:24 am They don't want to let go of the responsibility of soil removal 'coz they will make more money if they have someone do it for you. Try and book the soil removal as per builder's request and see how you go. In any case, I will take day off from work or take half-day to see how they do on the first load. Then I can assess around how many loads left to do. But he said he'll send photos each time he fills up a load. Will pm you his details. Re: Site cost - split with steps and excess soil removal cha 12Apr 04, 2016 9:15 pm Spronkly Re the soil removal, we have been quoted $600 for each 30-tonne load (add $100 if not 'clean soil). That sounds like tipping fees..Where is the soil being delivered too..the tip, landfill or another free fill site? How about truck Hire? Spronkly Plus $90/hr for machine..will probably take 8 hrs to do the job so total of $720. And $200 for transport of machine ($920 total). Bobcat rates vary $70-90/p/hr? + truck hire?+ Builders margin? Spronkly So if we do 4 loads (120 tonnes) will be around $3.3K (plus GST). That will work out $27.50 per tonne. What size truck? Rubble fill? Roots? Bulking...your calcs are a bit simplistic they should also reference m3 ->Contour Heights, Balance point cut/fill and Finished floor level,retaining, etc,etc this ties all the data together. Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: Site cost - split with steps and excess soil removal cha 13Apr 05, 2016 10:04 am StructuralBIMGuy Spronkly Re the soil removal, we have been quoted $600 for each 30-tonne load (add $100 if not 'clean soil). That sounds like tipping fees..Where is the soil being delivered too..the tip, landfill or another free fill site? How about truck Hire? Spronkly Plus $90/hr for machine..will probably take 8 hrs to do the job so total of $720. And $200 for transport of machine ($920 total). Bobcat rates vary $70-90/p/hr? + truck hire?+ Builders margin? Spronkly So if we do 4 loads (120 tonnes) will be around $3.3K (plus GST). That will work out $27.50 per tonne. What size truck? Rubble fill? Roots? Bulking...your calcs are a bit simplistic they should also reference m3 ->Contour Heights, Balance point cut/fill and Finished floor level,retaining, etc,etc this ties all the data together. Hi SBIMGuy. Thanks for your insight. All the amounts I have mentioned are included in a quote. The job is just to collect excess soil from my site and no cut or fill as the builder has done that. For soil that is 'not clean', he has quoted me addt'l $100 for each 30 tonne load. Sounds simple, but all is in writing. Re: Site cost - split with steps and excess soil removal cha 14Apr 05, 2016 11:04 am It seems to me that none of this is handled well My assumption would be that at the time of quoting builder had all relevant information to arrive at his price. This would include site works. Why should you care about soil removal, isn't that what builder is for? If you are in Vic builder cannot charge you more once building contract is signed unless it is PS item in which case he must account for the expense. Am I missing something? 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 PM me your email. I have a build excavation calculator you can use based on your plans to double check what your builder is telling you. Cheers Simeon 1 10207 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 37085 Unless there were unforeseeable issues with the site, I dont think you should have to pay for contractors errors or poor planning. I'd probably try and be reasonable and… 5 4513 |