Slab Defects !

Given concerns about the curing the slab in the hot conditions, we thought it was worthwhile having an inspector take a look at the completed slab. He found the following defects :

“At the west end of the entry, the slab is approximately 12 millimetres out of level over 2 metres.”

“At east side of laundry/west side of Bedroom 2, the concrete slab is approximately 10 millimetres out of level over 2 metres.”

The Building Commission’s Guide to Standards and Tolerances, Section 2.08 Levelness of timber and concrete floors states; “Except where documented otherwise, new floors are defective if within the first 24 months they differ in level by more than 10 mm in any room or area, or more than 4 mm in any 2 metre length. The overall deviation of floor level to entire building footprint shall not exceed 20 millimetres.”

I sent a copy of Inspector’s report on to Orbit. They indicated that they would pass the report on to the concreter so that they can rectify the slab as required. They mentioned a levelling compound would more than likely be used to rectify but it will be up to the concreter to check and arrange rectification as per industry standard.

Other issues identified by the Inspector were :

“The edge of slab on the south side has broken away in places and may require structural grout to be installed. Not of a structural concern and no exposed reo found.”

“Minor shrinkage cracks noted to several areas. Not of structural concern but to be monitored.”

Completed Slab

The slab was poured at the beginning of a heatwave here in Melbourne. The temperature got to 37 on the day of the pour. The maximum temperatures on the following days were 35, 41, and 38 degrees C. This is not ideal weather for curing of the slab. If concrete is to gain potential strength and durability it must have sufficient water for the hydration of the cement, and a temperature conducive to maintain this chemical reaction at a rapid, continuous rate.  is taking place. I am told that the company supplying the concrete will have adjusted the mix to take account of the weather forecast. Also a curing chemical was applied which created an impermeable membrane on the surface of the slab to prevent loss of moisture.

View from the South East Corner

                                                      View from the North East Corner - Alfresco in Foreground

                                                                  View along length of Slab from West - back 2/3rds

                                                     View along length of Slab from South West - ensuite in foreground

Pour in Progress

The following photos were taken this morning as the slab pour was in progress :

All in Readiness for the Pour

You can see from the picture below, taken this afternoon, all is readiness for the slab pour, scheduled for tomorrow. The waffle pods are in place, along with the re-inforcing steel. The 2 layers of edge formwork for the concrete are also complete. The maximum temperature forecast for tomorrow is 33 degrees. It will be important to ensure that the concrete does not lose too much moisture before it is properly cured.

Good Progress

Dropped by the block on my way to Cranbourne this morning.  Good progress has been made in the last few days with the meter box installed, the set out complete and the drains in place. I think there’s only 1 week of construction work to go before the building industry take their month long Christmas break.

With the exception of possible showers on Tuesday the forecast for the rest of next week is for fine weather. However, there is quite a lot of work required to complete the slab by Friday. The pile of dirt must be removed, the concrete formwork must be set-up and the waffle pods put in place. Although there was no sign of any waffle pods at the site this morning, I remain optimistic. If the slab was completed by Friday the concrete would have a full month to cure before work on the frame commences. On the down-side the first progress payment of 10% would be due.

Building Law Changes to Create Stronger Protections

A new bill introduced in Victoria’s Parliament will provide stronger domestic building protections to avoid costly disputes. A "one-stop shop" will make it mandatory for builders and consumers to work together to resolve building and renovation disputes.

The domestic building dispute resolution service will be run by Consumer Affairs Victoria, and both homeowners and builders will be required to attend hearings when a complaint is made.

Key points:

•           Mandatory conciliation for builders and homeowners

•           Independent advice sought to resolve disputes

•           Builders not allowed to employ their own surveyors

•           Warranty insurance changes expected in 2016

A report from the auditor-general in May found 28 per cent of Victorians had problems with building and renovations, and the current system did not "adequately protect consumers".

That was a massive problem in an industry worth $28 billion a year, Planning Minister Richard Wynne said. "When you hit a snag it's often a big one and when you think that your home is often your most precious asset and indeed most expensive asset, we wanted to ensure we got the system right".

Site Start !

Site start was booked in for Thursday December 3. Sure enough, when I checked this morning, there had been developments. The temporary fence in in place, a dumpster has been positioned on the nature strip, a site scrape has been performed and a portable toilet has appeared. I wonder if the brand name of the portable is designed to instruct its users.

Solsbury Field is now abuzz with building activity happening on many blocks on the eastern side of the estate.

The Site Plan

Here is a copy of our site plan. As you can see, the outer wall of the garage is located on the northern boundary. This leaves about 3m between the northern wall of the house and the boundary. The distance between the southern wall of the house and the south boundary of our property is approximately 1.2m. There are 6m between the back wall of the house and the rear boundary of the block.

The paving for the outdoor area,,porch and garage has been included in the main slab. To facilitate use of a wheelchair, ramping to floor level will be provided at the front and back entrances and the door sills will be recessed into the slab. There is an additional 31sqm of paving for the driveway and path. 

A Two Storey Next Door !

It was always on the cards but we were hoping against hope that it wouldn’t happen. Unfortunately, our fears were confirmed today when it became evident that the neighbours to the north are building a two storey house. Indeed, a quick look at the Porter Davis site indicates that they are building the Granada 23 or 24 This will obviously impact on the amount of sun we receive. However, my rough calculations below indicate that the impact won’t be that bad. Also the Grenada only has a total length of 16M so the family room, outdoor living and rear garden won’t be shielded from the sun at all.

The southern side of the neighbour’s house will have an approximate height of 5m. This wall appears to be approx. 3.5M from our boundary. The northern wall of our property is approximately 3M from this boundary. The horizontal distance between our northern wall and the neighbour’s southern wall is therefore 6.5M. For the sun to reach the base of our northern wall it must be at an angle A where : sine A = 5/8.2 = 0.61. So A = 37 degrees. (8.2M is the hypotenuse of the triangle with sides of 5M and 6.5M.) The following site advises that for Melbourne the maximum daily angle of the sun varies from 28 degrees in winter to 76 degrees in summer. http://solarelectricityhandbook.com/solar-angle-calculator.html

Assuming an even variation in the angle of the sun across the year then it will not reach the base of our northern wall for approximately 9 weeks in mid-Winter. I think we can live with that.

Waiting for Site Start

It had been four weeks since my last contact with Orbit, so I sent an email on Thursday asking for an update. They advised that the ordering process was not yet complete but should be finished mid next week. All going well, site start should be some time during the week commencing November 30. So it looks like it will be a full six weeks from the day building permit was issued and the day the build actually commences.

The build time to the Christmas break will be 2.5 to 3 weeks. Hopefully this is sufficient time to complete the slab.

Home Loan Interest Rates

Take a look at the mortgage comparison sites and it’s clear that the most competitive home loan offers in the market are all from the smaller lenders. Indeed, my land and construction loan is through one of these smaller lenders, the Heritage Bank -a former Building Society based in Toowoomba, Queensland.

Last week I read with some concern that the smaller lenders had decided to follow their larger counterparts and increase interest rates. “These smaller lenders, who write around 20 per cent of mortgages, have opted to improve profit instead of market share by following the majors' rate hikes in varying degrees, citing capital imposts still well above the big banks.”

However, when I checked the Heritage Bank website I was pleasantly surprised to find that their base home loan rates had not increased. Indeed they had introduced a special offer of 3.98 % for new customers, a discount of 0.56% on their base rate. They had a similar offer this time last year when I applied for my land and construction loan.

Our Plan

In this current hiatus while the building materials are ordered and a site start is set, I thought take look at our house plan, The plan for our house as documented in the building contract is shown below below:

It really is the standard Balwyn 196 design with a few minor tweaks.

These are :

• The ensuite has been extended 300mm into Bedroom 1 to accommodate a wider shower and provide extra room to manoeuvre a wheelchair.
  
• A wider shower in the en suite with a curtain rather than a door – to make entry and transfer from a wheelchair easier.
  
• A door between the family/kitchen area and the entranceway and a sliding door between the family/kitchen area and the rear passageway. This is to allow us create a closed off area of suitable size for the air-conditioner in the family room to cool.
  
• Wider doors to Bed1, the Garage, the Laundry, and the two new doorways to the family/kitchen area and the toilet.
  
• Toilet door opening outward.

Building Permit Approved

Our Building Permit was approved today. Orbit Homes use Checkpoint Building Surveyors. Looks like we avoided the need to get flood dispensation which was a requirement for a number of people in the nearby Sarah Lands development.

The next stage is the ordering of materials for the house. Apparently this process takes about 3 to 4 weeks. Once this is process is complete Orbit will book in site commencement.

The Building Supervisor

This morning I went out to Solsbury Field to meet the Orbit Building Supervisor and to inspect the site. The building supervisor turned out to be a very personable fellow who has been with Orbit for the last 18 years. Apparently there are about 9 Building Supervisors working for Orbit in Victoria.  As you would expect our supervisor looks after the South East of Melbourne with the majority of his builds being in the Cranbourne and Clyde. He usually has between 10 and 15 builds taking place at any one time. We are not given the contact details of the Building Supervisor, however. Orbit believes that the owner should deal with a single person during the build. Namely, the customer service officer. The only problem I can see with this is if you want discuss an on-site issue it might take longer going via the issue. Still, to date the Customer Service Officer has been responsive and pro-active.

There has already been about six site starts in Solsbury Field as of today. The one pictured above is the most progressed with slab, frame and roof complete. This is quite an achievement given settlement on the land was less than a month ago. The site of this build is a located behind the property of our Southern neighbour. We are hoping that our Building permit will be issued this week. 

Building Permit Application

Orbit Homes applied for the building permit for our house last Thursday. I am most grateful to them for submitting the application before I supplied them with all the “essential information” required under the contract. It has taken longer than I had anticipated for the bank to process my original request for a build loan as an advance on the land loan. Under the contract the signed documentation for the build loan is one of the items of essential information required prior to the building permit application. 

However, today I received advice that the land loan advance has been approved and I will be receiving the documentation to sign in the next couple of days.

I understand that the usual timeframe for building permit approval is 2 weeks.

Our Loan to the State Government

One thing I noticed when calculating costs associated with land settlement was there was a discrepancy between the land transfer duty calculated by the mortgage broker and that calculated by the conveyancer. Indeed the difference amounted to several thousand dollars. In an attempt to work out who was right I went online and used several of the stamp duty calculators available. The result in each case agreed with the lower figure provided by the mortgage broker.

I eventually worked out that the difference was related to the Principle Place of Residence Concession. What the online calculators don’t tell you is that if you purchase vacant land you cannot  claim this concession until an occupancy certificate is issued for the house that is constructed on your land. In the interim you are effectively providing an interest free loan for thousands of dollars to the state government.

Settlement

Settlement took place on Tuesday September 29 as planned. We now officially own a very small part of this wide brown land. So now our focus naturally turns to the house build itself

According to the contract the Building Period is 150 working days excluding weekends, Public holidays and Christmas closure.. Of course, the building period  doesn’t start until site commencement. It’ll be interesting to see how long it will take Orbit homes to start the build. However, site commencement can’t happen until the building permit has been issued. Under the contract, the builder is not required to apply for the building permit until we provide them with “essential information” including satisfactory evidence of our title to the land and satisfactory evidence of our capacity to pay the contract price. As the build loan is a further advance on the land loan it couldn’t be processed until after settlement. We are now waiting on the bank to undertake this processing.

Titles At Last

I received word from the Agent today that the Solsbury Field subdivision plan has finally been registered by Land Victoria. This was confirmed by the Conveyancer who advised that settlement is set down for Tuesday, 29 September. Although its taken a long time to get to this point, it does feel good to finally be here.

Water

I was surprised to learn that the water supply had already been connected to a couple of the blocks in the estate. How is this possible when settlement is still some weeks away and Land Victoria is yet to register the plan of subdivision ?  Imagine my surprise when I learned that one of these blocks was ours. In the picture below you you can see the two water meters and and front external taps for the standard and recycled water supplies.

The logical explanation is that Orbit Homes arranged for this. 

Solsbury Field Estate – Fully Accessible

It’s been about six weeks since I’ve been down to Keysborough to check on the development. Last time I was there road access was fenced off.  I got word from Thai over the weekend that this was no longer the case (Thanks Thai).

So I drove down to Solsbury to check things out for myself. I can confirm that the estate is fully accessible from both Church Road and Red Brush Drive ends. Stanley Rd between Westwood Bvd and Church Rd is also complete and accessible.

Still Waiting

Land Victoria are certainly taking their time registering the plan of subdivision for Solsbury Field. It was lodged on Wednesday, August 19. It is now September 11. Three and a half weeks have passed and we are still waiting! It appears the estimate of 2 to 3 weeks was a little optimistic. I will refrain from making any remarks about the productivity of the state bureaucracy.

New Abode Offer from Orbit Homes

The Balwyn 196 is part of the Abode range from Orbit Homes. When we first looked at the Balwyn, Orbit were promoting their “Summer Sale”. This was $10K off the 4 most popular house designs from the Abode range. This included the Balwyn 196. On top of that they were offering 1 free lifestyle pack which they valued at $3,500.

Now, in Victoria at least, the new “Head Over Heels” Promotion offers $14,000 in upgrades. However this promotion applies to the whole Abode range rather than just the 4 most popular designs. Theoretically at least the new promotion delivers $500 extra value over the previous. However, what is not clear from the promotional material is whether there are limitations on how the $14,000 can be spent. I doubt that they could be used to cover site costs.

Interestingly, the previous promotional offer still applies in Queensland.

The Livingston is No More

The first house that we seriously looked at when assessing house designs is no more. Porter Davis have retired the Livingston and have introduced the Lamont in its place. The Lamont is remarkably similar to the Livingston. It is approximately the same size and has an almost identical layout with a few tweaks :

• The size of the family area has been increased.
• The robe from Bed 2 no longer encroaches into the lounge
• The Linen Cupboard has been replaced by the Bed 2 robe
• The number of bulkheads has dropped from 5 to 1.
• The portico in the Lamont is much smaller
• The width of the master bedroom has been reduced slightly
• The bench space in the kitchen has been reduced to accommodate re-siting of the refrigerator.
• The linen cupboard has been moved to the laundry to occupy the space where the refrigerator was.

Overall, I think these design changes are an improvement. The best news for Porter Davis customers is that the base price has been reduced. We watched with interest as the base price of the Livingston increased from $161,900 in December 2014 to $164,900 in July 2015. The current base price of the Lamont is currently $154,900.

It must have been a pain to have to modify the display homes. But that appears to be what they have done.

Building Contract Signed

We have now signed a ‘fixed price’ building contract with Orbit Homes for the construction of the Balwyn 196 on our block on Red Brush Drive, Keysborough. However, as anyone familiar with contracts for residential construction in Australia will tell you, there really is no such thing as a fixed price contract if the term is taken literally. First of all there are variations. I am hoping there will be no need for us to request any variations. Hopefully we have thought through what we need the builder to provide and what we will arrange to installed after the build is complete. Orbit Homes charge a $1,000 penalty for each variation now the contract is signed. That is quite an incentive to keep variations initiated by us to minimum.

However, the building surveyor or builder may require a variation and the builder is permitted to charge for this variation and this charge may include  a 20% markup. Standard clauses in the contract allow for price increases under the following circumstances :

• Increase in taxes
• Provisional Items
• Prime Cost Items
• Interest on Overdue Payments
• The need for a Boundary Survey

In our case there are no provisional or prime cost items in the contract. We believe the other items in the list are unlikely to apply. There are also liquidated damages payable for delays. If building completion takes longer than is allowed for in the contract then the owner is entitled to liquidated damages as specified in the contract.

The Slab Design

Unfortunately, the ‘P’ class site classification means that the standard ‘M’ Class slab will not be sufficient to meet the foundation requirements of our house. So what are the issues that need to be addressed in the slab design ?. As noted in the Soil Test report the slab must account for a differential settlement of the fill. Uniform settlement, typically does not result in damage to the supported structure.  However it is a problem if a part of the foundation settles while another part does not, which is what is meant by the term, “differential settlement”.  A foundation that has settled unevenly across the area of soil which supports it, has settled differentially.  This can result in bending and deflection of the house and much unhappiness.

In our case, two slab design decisions have been taken to address the risk of differential settlement. Firstly the slab has been upgraded from an ‘M’ class to an ‘H1’ class. Additionally, the Porch and Alfresco have been incorporated into the slab. Another issue for the engineer designing the slab was the drainage easement located on the north boundary of our property. In our site plan, the outer wall of our garage is located on this boundary. To ensure there is no load applied to the assets within the easement the engineer has provided for three piers which will pass through the 2.2m of fill to the clay based soil beneath.

Council Certifies Compliance

Yesterday, we received a letter from the conveyancer. It states : “We have been advised by the Vendor’s Solicitor today that the Certificate of Compliance was issued by the council yesterday and they expect to lodge all documents at the Land Titles Office by 20 August, 2015. We shall advise you immediately we receive advice that the Plan of Subdivision has been approved.”

I understand that the titles office takes about 15 working days to register the titles. The expected date for titles is therefore September 10 with settlement to follow on September 24.

The Dreaded "P" Site Classification

We have just received the contract from the builder, which includes a copy of the Soil Test report (Geotechnical Site Investigation). Our site has been classified as ‘P’ due to the depth of fill. From the three bore holes they drilled fill was encountered to a depth of 2000mm, 2200mm and 2100mm respectively.

The report states that “If certification is provided to confirm that the filling is compacted as per AS 3798 specifications to “controlled fill” standard as per AS 2870, then an engineer designed waffle footing system suitable for this site’s reactivity may be appropriate for an articulated brick veneer dwelling.

The waffle footing system may bear directly onto the compacted filling and shall be designed to account for a differential settlement of the fill by an Engineer experienced with the design of ‘rigid’ waffle footings.”

A couple of weeks after this Soil Test report was prepared, I supplied the builder with a copy of the document from the developer certifying that the fill was controlled in accordance with the standards.

Elsewhere in the soil report it is stated that “For the encountered soil profile and normal seasonable moisture conditions, we estimate that the characteristic surface movements to be less than 20mm”.  My interpretation of this is that the fill is classified as “S” (slightly reactive).

50th Post !!

I started this blog on the 26th of April this year and after three and a half months have now reached the 50 post milestone. I must admit I thought we’d be further progressed in our building journey than has been the case. We paid a holding deposit on the land on December 3, 2014 with the hope that Solsbury Field would be the exception and the optimistic prediction of the agent of titles in March/April would be realised. Alas it is now the 9th of August and we are still waiting to find out when settlement will be on our little block.

We paid our preliminary deposit with Orbit Homes on the 31st of January. That has given us a great deal of time to undertake research and think through our requirements and priorities. We breezed through colour selection but came to a dead halt because we were unable to finalise the building contract. It is not prudent to sign a building contract until you have a fixed total cost. This is not possible until the site costs, including the foundation costs are known. These can’t be determined until the contour survey and the Soil Test results are in. Usually this is at the conclusion of the development civil works. Those works now appear to be complete and I hoping that over the next 50 posts there will be substantive progress.

Fenced off and Finished ?

I arrived at Solsbury today to find access was fenced off. It seemed to me that the development work was either compete or close to completion. However, I was unable to scrutinise things closely due to the lack of access. I could see that the roads were sealed and the street signs were in place.

A couple of weeks ago, we received a letter from the real estate agent that listed each subdivided lot and the corresponding street number assigned to it. The letter also stated that the developer had advised that settlement was now expected in mid to late August.

Around the same time we supplied a copy of the developer’s compaction report to Orbit to assist with the determination of the foundation requirements for our house. We’ve now been informed that the engineering analysis has been undertaken and slab design is complete. We are expecting to receive a building contract with fixed site costs this week.

The Sarah Lands Saga

Sarah Lands is similar to Solsbury Field in that it is another relatively small independent development in the Keysborough South area. It is located at the corner of Perry Rd and Westwood Boulevard. Land sales started in July 2014 and the civil works commenced in September of that year. Purchasers were told that titles were expected in March/April 2015 (sounds familiar). 

It would seem that most of the development work was indeed completed with roads, kerbs, footpaths, crossovers and streetlights in place by the end of March. It has therefore been a source of frustration for the buyers that although the civil works are completed that the predicted date for titles was continually put back.

Unfortunately, some land buyers had assumed the original title dates were a reliable guide and entered into contracts with builders. They are now paying penalties to builders as a consequence of the ongoing delays.

It has emerged that these delays are due to a dispute between the developer, Galileo and the Greater Dandenong Council over an area set aside as public space in the estate. The council was seeking a formal undertaking from Galileo that it would fund the open space works.

Perhaps unfairly, the buyers attempted to apply pressure on the council to resolve the matter. A number of them attended a Council meeting on the 13^th of July enquiring about the cause of the ongoing delays. Representatives from the council indicated that they were waiting on the developer to submit the required paperwork. Once this was received the council would be able to certify compliance in approximately one week.

It is understood that there was a meeting between the council and the developer on the 10^th of July where they reached an agreement on a way forward. The developer submitted the paperwork on the July 14 and the council certified compliance on the July 23. Who says the squeaky wheel doesn’t get the grease!

Large Building on Stanley Road

So, what is the large building under construction on the left hand side of the photograph ? It's located just behind the Solsbury Field development at 85 Stanley Road After a little research I have found that it will be an Arcare Aged Care Residential facility. According to the brochure :

Arcare Keysborough’s lush tropical gardens, resort style design and relaxed atmosphere make it an oasis for all to enjoy. Beyond the luxurious surroundings, your loved one will be supported by our innovative relationship-focused approach to celebrating and supporting old age."

"Arcare Keysborough will have 90 suites and offer permanent and sensitive care. It features large private suites with:

Ensuite with shower, Telephone connection, Flat screen television, Foxtel available, Individual heating & cooling, Balcony & courtyard access, Wireless internet available, Alfresco café, Hairdressing salon, Gift shop, Large community hall, Movie theatre / worship room, Intimate dining & lounge rooms, Manicured courtyards & gardens, Delicious meals prepared fresh on site, Private dining room, Bus for excursions.”

Development Compliance

As you can see from the photo, things look very similar to the way they did 2 weeks ago. The fence is still there. The roads are still not sealed and all the earthmoving equipment is still on site. Most of the activity over the last fortnight appears to have been on the Church Road end of the development. The majority of the concrete roadside parking bays are now complete. It seems plausible to me that the civil works should be finished in approximately two weeks.

Once the development is complete the developer must submit the appropriate paper work to the Greater Dandenong Council. They will then conduct an inspection and if the meets the requirements as specified in the Planning Permit are complete they will certify the development as compliant. This process is estimated to take 1 to 2 weeks.

New Home Builder Comparison Website

Was channel surfing last night and saw an ad for a new house/builder comparison website. The URL for the site is:

http://www.ibuildnew.com.au

So I decided to take a look. It has the information that you would normally find on a number of individual builder websites but across a number of builders. This means you can search for the house attributes you are interested in and get results across a number builders (in your area) instead of just one.

It also has base price information which only seems to be available on about 50% of the individual builder websites. Of course, you need to be careful with direct base price comparisons as each builder has different inclusions. eg. Porter Davis include brick in-fills but don't provide floor coverings.

Many of the larger project builders are featured including Porter Davis, Carlisle, Metricon, Dennis Family, Burbank and J G King. However, there are some notable omissions including Simonds and Fairhaven.

What Lies Beneath

I’m now fairly certain the contour survey and soil tests for our land now have been completed. I believe this to be the case because, on Friday, I received a request from Orbit Homes for a copy of the developer’s Compaction report. (A request which I duly have passed on to the agent.) I was told that the compaction report is required because there is up to 2 metres of fill on the block. 

The original engineering drawings for the development indicated that going clockwise from the northwest corner, the levels of fill were to be : 0.68m, 1.30m, 1.48m and 0.95m. Given the quoted 2m figure it seems these levels may have increased in practice. Soil compaction occurs when force is applied to soil such that it increases the soil density due to the displacement of air. This is in contrast to soil consolidation which is due to the displacement of water.

Fill should be placed and compacted in thin layers. This provides for consistent compaction at all levels. Under these circumstances the total depth of the fill is no longer a significant factor. AS2870 provides guidance on the specification, execution and control testing of earth works and associated site preparation works for residential developments. It specifies inspection and testing protocols which provide a greater level of assurance that the compaction has been undertaken in a satisfactory manner.

For a block such as ours, with a significant degree of fill, the compaction report is an important document because it has a direct impact the house foundation design requirements. Fill that has been placed and compacted in Layers with Level 1 certification is commonly regarded as suitable for supporting single or double storey houses.

The Fence Mystery

To my un-informed eye this is a mystery. Why erect a fence on one side of Red Brush road across the middle of the development ? What does it achieve ? They seem to have installed a gateway across Lot 30 forcing all all the heavy machinery to take this path. I’m not sure what to think about this. I guess it doesn’t really matter as long as they fill in the depression that has been created at the edge of the crossover.

According to the documentation the development was divided into four stages which were to be delivered in two phases. Stages 1, 2 and 3 were to be titled March/April 2015. Stage 4 titles were set down for late July 2015. Stage 4 was comprised of Lots 8 – 16. These lots are located along the church Rd end of Stanley Road. This appears to be where the civil work is currently being undertaken. Perhaps all four stages will be titled at the same time.

The Contour Survey

We expect the contour survey and soil tests to be performed within the next fortnight. I’ve described the purpose of the soil tests in an earlier post.

The contour survey is conducted to provide a detailed plan describing the layout of the land including the property boundary dimensions, service connection points, visible man made improvements, spot heights, and changes of grade. It shows how even the ground is and where and what the slope is across the site. This information (combined with the soil tests) is required to work out the cut and fill work required to provide a suitable surface for the slab to rest on.