Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Get Site Survey & Soil Test done early? 2May 09, 2020 5:41 pm Jason526 Hi experts on here, I'm still in the process of comparing and choosing a builder for my knockdown & rebuild in metro Victoria. It's likely to be a volume builder. My friend has suggested that I should get site survey and soil test done now on my own regardless who I'll choose to build. I guess my concern is that will the builder be happy with the reports I bring to them? What if it's not done the way they like or something is missing, will builder charge me extra to get it done anyway? Are there a standard set of tests I can get done now and which will be sufficient for any builders I choose? So there is no excuse for them to charge me again for it. Thanks for any advice! Hi Jason, Independent Geotech is usually preferable. Reason being a builder will usually do the minimum required to satisfy regs. That will basically be a brief report giving site class and a bit on footings. The best thing you can so is send off a few quote requests to local firms and ask them to provide site class, footing details etc but also to include a second adequate to control construction risk and any experience in the immediate area. No harm in speaking to Geotech companies on the phone to get a feel for the ground. You could also do some of your own investigation from home. It’s amazing what info is out there. With any luck someone will now the ground and your life is simpler. It is useful to have potential tricky areas noted before signing anything as it limits what cost you a liable for at the end e.g. it’s not so easy to claim for extra plant, work etc under latent condition clause if those conditions are pointed out in the report. Anticipated ground conditions and any DA requirements will determine the scope and should be spelt out in the fees schedule they will supply you with for the works. Re: Get Site Survey & Soil Test done early? 3May 09, 2020 5:55 pm Hi Jason, I expect a recent site survey would be accepted by a builder. However, they may be more cautious about using a soil report that you have provided. When undertaking a soil report the tester would generally look at the proposed building envelope to locate their bore samples. Being a KDR may also complicate the matter. In any case I would image that your site will be classified as a problem (P) site due to removal for footings, abnormal moisture conditions due to existing trees and whatever else they can think of. Re: Get Site Survey & Soil Test done early? 4May 09, 2020 6:04 pm worldofmud Jason526 Hi experts on here, I'm still in the process of comparing and choosing a builder for my knockdown & rebuild in metro Victoria. It's likely to be a volume builder. My friend has suggested that I should get site survey and soil test done now on my own regardless who I'll choose to build. I guess my concern is that will the builder be happy with the reports I bring to them? What if it's not done the way they like or something is missing, will builder charge me extra to get it done anyway? Are there a standard set of tests I can get done now and which will be sufficient for any builders I choose? So there is no excuse for them to charge me again for it. Thanks for any advice! Hi Jason, Independent Geotech is usually preferable. Reason being a builder will usually do the minimum required to satisfy regs. That will basically be a brief report giving site class and a bit on footings. The best thing you can so is send off a few quote requests to local firms and ask them to provide site class, footing details etc but also to include a second adequate to control construction risk and any experience in the immediate area. No harm in speaking to Geotech companies on the phone to get a feel for the ground. You could also do some of your own investigation from home. It’s amazing what info is out there. With any luck someone will now the ground and your life is simpler. It is useful to have potential tricky areas noted before signing anything as it limits what cost you a liable for at the end e.g. it’s not so easy to claim for extra plant, work etc under latent condition clause if those conditions are pointed out in the report. Anticipated ground conditions and any DA requirements will determine the scope and should be spelt out in the fees schedule they will supply you with for the works. Hi worldofmud, Thanks for the advice. I have made an inquiry to a local geotech guys. Hope they get back to me next week and I'll have a chat with the professionals. Re: Get Site Survey & Soil Test done early? 5May 09, 2020 6:15 pm theshack Hi Jason, I expect a recent site survey would be accepted by a builder. However, they may be more cautious about using a soil report that you have provided. When undertaking a soil report the tester would generally look at the proposed building envelope to locate their bore samples. Being a KDR may also complicate the matter. In any case I would image that your site will be classified as a problem (P) site due to removal for footings, abnormal moisture conditions due to existing trees and whatever else they can think of. Hi theshack, A few builders I approached have provided rough building envelope of their plans. One of the builders whose plan I really like couldn't provide me a precise building siting unless site survey is carried out. That's what prompted this topic post. Since I would own all the reports, I'm wondering if it's better to get them done myself anyway. These days most builders do KDR from start to finish. Do you think if it's a good idea to have survey, soil test and demolition done by myself and hand over a vacant land to the builder? I have resources to good surveyor, geotechnicians and demo people. Re: Get Site Survey & Soil Test done early? 6Mar 05, 2022 11:35 am Hi there I am thinking of doing the same to avoid price gouging when they finalise site costs. What was the outcome? I hope you builder accepted your soil tests and survey. Can you please share your surveyor, geotech and demo guys details. I will need them as well. Re: Get Site Survey & Soil Test done early? 7Mar 08, 2022 10:53 am Raghu Hi there I am thinking of doing the same to avoid price gouging when they finalise site costs. What was the outcome? I hope you builder accepted your soil tests and survey. Can you please share your surveyor, geotech and demo guys details. I will need them as well. Southern Geotech did my soil. Linear land surveying did site survey. Ayach demo did my demolition. Just keep in mind what type of builder you are using. If you are using a volume builder, the initial deposit may include all those services. Even if you BYO reports, you might still need to pay the same amount of deposit. Just double check with your preferred builder of what they accept. Custom builders, I imagine, would be more than happy to use your own reports to have engineering done and give you a more accurate quote. Like the reply I got on this post years ago, soil test bores may need to look at the house design to determine where they drill. I had to send them a draft house plan. I didn't end up going with volume builder. My builder wasn't going to make a margin on those things pre-construction. So I had to do everything myself under builder's direction. Re: Get Site Survey & Soil Test done early? 8Mar 08, 2022 12:34 pm Jason526 Raghu Hi there I am thinking of doing the same to avoid price gouging when they finalise site costs. What was the outcome? I hope you builder accepted your soil tests and survey. Can you please share your surveyor, geotech and demo guys details. I will need them as well. Southern Geotech did my soil. Linear land surveying did site survey. Ayach demo did my demolition. Just keep in mind what type of builder you are using. If you are using a volume builder, the initial deposit may include all those services. Even if you BYO reports, you might still need to pay the same amount of deposit. Just double check with your preferred builder of what they accept. Custom builders, I imagine, would be more than happy to use your own reports to have engineering done and give you a more accurate quote. Like the reply I got on this post years ago, soil test bores may need to look at the house design to determine where they drill. I had to send them a draft house plan. I didn't end up going with volume builder. My builder wasn't going to make a margin on those things pre-construction. So I had to do everything myself under builder's direction. Thanks Jason. Hope you are happy with your builder. Who did you end up building with? Re: Get Site Survey & Soil Test done early? 9Mar 08, 2022 1:05 pm Raghu Jason526 Raghu Hi there I am thinking of doing the same to avoid price gouging when they finalise site costs. What was the outcome? I hope you builder accepted your soil tests and survey. Can you please share your surveyor, geotech and demo guys details. I will need them as well. Southern Geotech did my soil. Linear land surveying did site survey. Ayach demo did my demolition. Just keep in mind what type of builder you are using. If you are using a volume builder, the initial deposit may include all those services. Even if you BYO reports, you might still need to pay the same amount of deposit. Just double check with your preferred builder of what they accept. Custom builders, I imagine, would be more than happy to use your own reports to have engineering done and give you a more accurate quote. Like the reply I got on this post years ago, soil test bores may need to look at the house design to determine where they drill. I had to send them a draft house plan. I didn't end up going with volume builder. My builder wasn't going to make a margin on those things pre-construction. So I had to do everything myself under builder's direction. Thanks Jason. Hope you are happy with your builder. Who did you end up building with? A friend of mine who is a private builder. 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 37157 A survey must’ve completed by a certified surveyor. This form part of every DA requirement 3 223632 Three options 1 Ask the liquidator 2 Find another PD customer and ask the source of their report 3 Pay for new report 3 12345 |