Tender Signing!

We are really on our way now! We had a 4 hour sit down with our Tender Presenter, who took us through all of the costs (Site Costs, Connection Costs, our Color Selection Costs and Variation Costs) and we now have an idea of what the complete project will not only look like, but how much we'll be owing the bank! Below is the breakdown of our site costs, without going into the color selections and variation costs...

New connection to stormwater drains: $1,268 (Our connection is either old or in poor condition and the new house and works will need sufficient drainage to the stormwater. This cost is high because of additional considerations, such as; breaking open the footpath, disturbance of the nature strip & reinstatement, additional council road opening permit fee & supply of crushed rock to protect drains & ensure public safety).

Additional single phase underground power connection: $72 (Up to 12 meters is included and based on our lot, the sitting of the new house an the positon of the power, they have estimated a couple extra meters being needed to reach the meter box).

Temporary fencing for duration of works: $332

Additional drainer allowance for sewer point trenches between 1500mm & 3100mm in depth as required by OH&S: $645

Concrete slab type "M" to suit foundation material class "P" as per Soil Report: Included (Note, 'M' Class slab to be confirmed on Engineer's slab design. We are obviously hoping/praying it remains an 'M' slab after demolition. We have been told it's highly likely it will).

Total cost of Earthworks for building platform: $1,322

Agricultural drains to base of cut greater than 300mm deep: $390

Riser pipe to front of garage: $35 (This is for necessary drainage)

Silt pit to be connected from agricultural drains to stormwater: $103

Timber sleeper walls retaining walls as required by council and per site plan: $2,654 (They admittedly charge an extensive amount for retaining walls. Our tender presenter kindly hinted that the flatter the land is at the time they are ready to do 2nd soil test and start work, the more likely it would be that we could avoid retaining wall costs, so we are going to try to level it as best as possible before they begin).

Brick retaining wall (opposite side of house), waterproofing & agricultural drains as required by council: $1,557

Garage located 1.0 meters away from inspection shaft to sewer line, cost for surveyor to site inspection shaft etc: $130

Reticulated termite treatment system: $825

Rock removal provisional allowance - services & foundations (charged @ $192 per cubic meter): $3,840 (This is provisional, as stated and will be refunded if they do not dig up any rock. We should be OK here because the initial soil test did not hit any rock and given some recen works in the area, we know neighbors etc. have not hit rock. If they do hit rock, they have to show us the rock they have discovered as well as a report detailing the size, amount, etc).

25% builders margin on provisional allowance for rock removal: $960 (Henley charges 25% on top of the removal charge and they are up front about it, also provisional, so again if we don't hit rock and we are not charged, this cost naturally drops away as well).

Material handling charge due to limited site access: $688 (This is a charge we and our tender presenter find a bit rediculous. Despite paying a $7,500 zone charge for Henley to build in our area, there is an additional charge for having to hand carry materials from the front to the back. They are trying to get this removed for us).

Re-establishment Survey: $905

Asset protection fee: $115

Second soil test, post demolition: $350

Guardrail to single storey section of house due to OH&S: $286 (We may get some of this back as well if they don't need to use a guardrail on one part of our house. They need to have 6 meters of clear ground below in order to forfeit the need for the guardrail).

Stormwater pollution prevention required to comply with council: $1,028 (These are a number of little provisions built into this cost so that we have a 'clean' site as required by most council's. Apparently ours aren't too bad as some can be rediculously strict).

So there you have our costs for Connections, Foundations & Footings. All of that should come to $16,680 if I have added it up correctly, which is much higher than we had originally anticipated. HOWEVER, if you take into the account that we hopefully should be reimbursed for the rock provision, can get our land level enough prior to start so as not to warrant the need for retaining walls (one or both), as well as the silly material handling cost, the total will then be $6,981! That would be about what we were told originally, so we'll keep you posted as we move closer to 2nd soil test and the construction moves through. Once we are done, we'll know what we ended up being in for!