Browse Forums Building A New House Re: P class soil 8Aug 05, 2018 3:17 pm With the level 1 compaction certificate, you shouldn't need piering but if you do, it will only be to depth of adequate bearing capacity, or for pools, trees or sewer etc. Without level 1, your builder will have to pier down to natural soil with adequate bearing capacity. Effectively you will have a suspended slab on screw or concrete piers, much more costly. Sometimes the builder has a cosy relationship with the land developer and they may already have a level 1 certificate and a ** trick is to give you a really bad soil test result (eg "p") then a shockingly high quote for footings and slab. Then, voila they produce the level 1 certificate and reduce the footings and slab cost but still make plenty off you because they have played on your emotions. I had 3 soil tests done before I engaged a builder and I had level 1 certificate. I got 3 different soil test results . Then I shopped the worst soil result to builders until I found one prepared to fix my site costs. It's a hell of process but better to know what you have got before getting a builder who just wants to screw you over. Never go with the builders soil test, get at least 2 done by independents. Cheers I am not sure whether Perth has its own way of doing things in regards to this. Most of Perth has class A (sandy soil), except for some areas near rivers or hills. 2 13098 I don’t think so as the floor area over 300 square meters then it is class 3…. 12 17936 The Soil classification has little to do with piers. The purpose of the classing of the soil is to identify the clay content and the "average expected range of movement… 2 9855 |