Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Jun 01, 2010 5:18 pm Hi all, our house is almost at completion and now the builder has informed us that the water meter has been located in the middle of the driveway, thus it will need to be shifted. The builder actually wants us to pay for this relocation, thus my query is whose responsibility is this? since we have not been involved in the placement at the first place. Thnx, Sajana Re: Water Meter to be shifted 2Jun 01, 2010 7:50 pm Does it really need to be moved? Can't they bury it in an enclosure, like they do with the water meters in Brisbane? I've never really understood the predilection for having water meters above ground, where they just get in the way. Re: Water Meter to be shifted 3Jun 01, 2010 9:04 pm digamma Does it really need to be moved? Can't they bury it in an enclosure, like they do with the water meters in Brisbane? I've never really understood the predilection for having water meters above ground, where they just get in the way. I think it's a default situation. In our area water meters are always installed above ground, exactly half way across the front of the block, and about a metre in from the footpath. They probably think they are safe, but down here we have the luxury of rollover kerbs and freedom to put the crossover and driveway where we like, so the water meters often get in the way. Ours is now in an enclosure in the ground abutting the driveway (until the house was built we couldn't quite tell whether it was going to be in the driveway or not) and didn't cost any extra, but only because we specified in the contract where we wanted it, and the water board didn't comply. It has actually turned out better for us, and looks very neat. We also got an extra tap on the side of the house to compensate for the one we lost if we had stuck with an above-ground water meter. You should be able to get it dropped below ground level in an enclosure instead of getting it relocated. Here's a pic of how ours turned out, you can see the lid in the garden next to the driveway: Geoff - Decophile. Re: Water Meter to be shifted 4Jun 01, 2010 9:19 pm sajana.shah Hi all, our house is almost at completion and now the builder has informed us that the water meter has been located in the middle of the driveway, thus it will need to be shifted. The builder actually wants us to pay for this relocation, thus my query is whose responsibility is this? since we have not been involved in the placement at the first place. Thnx, Sajana I think the builder needs to fix it at their cost. They knew where the driveway was going. If they get difficult I would go to the Dept of Fair trading (or the equivalent in your state). Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Water Meter to be shifted 5Jun 01, 2010 10:10 pm If you're in Victoria - it is your responsibility if you want to move the water meter. I'm going through this myself at the moment - they've put mine pretty much directly in front of the front door. If it's 18 inches to the left or right or higher or lower it can be moved by just a plumber. Any more than this requires both your water company and your own plumber to be in attendance. According to the guy at Yarra Valley water I spoke to - it's generally a lack of planning on the part of your developer who are the people that install the main water pipes into your street. There are capped points within this pipe that they advise the developers to place on boundaries but developers rarely pay attention and as such these points often end up in undesirable locations. The water company then takes a direct straight line from the pipe to the inside of the property and thats where the meter ends up. Re: Water Meter to be shifted 6Jun 01, 2010 10:13 pm To me, whoever put the water meter in is responsible for correctly locating it. They should pay if it needs to be moved, unless there has been a change in plans. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Water Meter to be shifted 7Jun 01, 2010 10:23 pm I am only speaking on behalf of how it work in my region (in vic) It is the builders fault. Plain and simple. On application of the water tap the builder the builder provided the water authority a site plan. Using the site plan they elimminate putting the meter in front of the driveway or porch. Mine come right to the side of my proposed entrance to the porch. Hence they used a site layout to determine this. I would be interested to know what they where provided. Re: Water Meter to be shifted 8Jun 01, 2010 10:40 pm This happened to us, we are in Melb and the meter was installed by south east water. The location was pre determined on the plans for a new estate, we chose to flip our house and it would have been bang smack in the middle of our driveway. We had to pay $500 to have it moved, we had no say in it and had to pay. You haven't said where you are located, but I would start by contacting your local water authority. Blog: http://bluemistkids.blogspot.com "Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, and professionals built the Titanic." Re: Water Meter to be shifted 9Jun 05, 2010 9:12 pm If it is in a newly developed estate 98% of the time you will have a what is called a "dry tapping" and you do not have the option of choosing where it goes, it is already pre determined by the developer and it is basically bad luck if you want to put a path where it goes. You do however have the option of moving it anywhere up to a metre left of right of its current location and any plumber can do this. If however you need the meter say at the opposite end of the block or more than one meter you would have to apply to your relevant water authority to get a "plugging" done and then re-book either a "wet tapping", "short side tapping" or "long side tapping" and tell them at that point of time where you want the meter put (usually by having a distinguishable stake or marker in the ground. Re: Water Meter to be shifted 10Jun 05, 2010 11:03 pm Thanks guys, i finally worked out with the builder and changed the driveway path slightly, thereby progressing with the house. Re: Water Meter to be shifted 11Aug 23, 2014 6:01 pm We have a similar situation. Its not in the middle of the driveway but close too. Make it near impossible to use the double car garage. Not sure weather we will have it moved completely out of the way or just conceal and concrete around it.. Our water supplier is yarra valley water. Hopefully it's not to hard to get it fixed. Definitely would be a big negative when trying to sell our house down the track. Re: Water Meter to be shifted 12Oct 10, 2014 11:07 am Generally, this should have been picked up prior to construction as the water meter would have been clearly shown on the siteworks and drainage plan as supplied by the engineer. The other item to consider is that many of the new developments show the location of the driveway on their plans simply because all of the underground infrastructure is predetermined. This sounds great in theory, but more often the developer gets greedy and starts moving boundaries which causes this issue to happen. My advice to you would be to read through your contract and I believe under the HIA or MBA contract, there is a clause that relates to this situation and unfortunately, you will may have to pay for it. This certainly doesn't look good. I would be engaging with an independent inspector to have a look at this. As for the unscheduled site visits, most builders are quite… 1 28449 thanks Chippy, i hope they have applied sealer but i am doubt to be honest, so i am gonna do this job after handover. 8 16418 |