New Builds – Site Issues
Whilst new build sites, especially those with several houses under development, can be a great source of potential work for a landscape company, especially those who offer Design & Build, as a One-Stop-Shop, able to offer home-owners a full package of works, they are also minefields of potential problems for the unwary.
Dependent of the number of properties under development, there may be some who have been built for Social Housing rental, where the builders are obliged to lay a simple panel of paving as a patio, 600mm wide grey concrete slab paths and put down some turf to comply with their obligations to the Planners.
The sites with the best opportunities for contractors are those who are likely to attract ‘Down- Sizers’ – those home-owners who have sold an expensive large house and garden, and are now looking to have a new ‘instant’ garden, filled with trees and shrubs, decent size patios, raised planters for ease of maintenance, all within a short time frame of moving in. Cash rich from selling their previous house, they are usually discerning and not too concerned with looking for the cheapest quote.
Due to the nature of New-Builds, with their freshly topsoiled gardens, supplied and spread by the builders, almost everything about the site will be unknown. Unless you have seen a soil heap on site, you will not know where the soil has come from. It may be decent quality, but without an analysis, you can never count on it as being of the required pH value of the rest of the indigenous site. Ideally, at least 150mm of topsoil should have been spread over the site, although on some, you may find only 15mm.
If the site is on clay ground, and you hope for more than one contract from other owners, it is worthwhile investing in a hydrological site survey (see Hydrological Site Surveys) as this will show you (and your clients) the likely movement of water across the whole site, not simply the one you will be working on. This is an extremely important part of your project proposals, as drainage may be a major issue, and you will need to cope with ensuring the garden is not going to become a water-logged quagmire.
Check with the site agent or other official from the developers and have sight of any drainage plans showing pipework and services across the plot. These will have been excavated and backfilled, with plenty of opportunity to settle and sink within weeks of completion. Should any of these drain runs cross any pathways, or are under a proposed patio area or raised beds, it will be essential to increase the depth and width of foundations to prevent movement and potential collapse.
Never assume that all lines will be accurate. A garage or other extension to the main house may not have been built parallel with the building, so ensure you work from your own ‘dominant lines’ and don’t trust those set out by the developer. The same comment may be made regarding fencing. Although fences may appear to have been installed square on with the house, they are frequently set at a slight angle and not at right angles.
Many houses will have soakaway installed to cope with water from the roof areas. In theory, these should be large enough to cope with the likely amount of water, and be properly formed
using crates, (see Soakaways) but are more often nothing more than a hole in the ground filled with rubble. If you think you may need additional soakaway capacity, add that to your costings sheet when tendering.
Be aware that not all things are as they seem. Downpipes leading into the ground may not be connected to anything. Commonly, the drainpipe will not meet up with the drain, where the groundworkers may have placed them only approximately, and the roof installer will not bother trying to connect the two.
Finally, protect yourself, by taking plenty of photographs of the site before you start work, recording any defects, chips in paintwork, scratches on windows (especially bi-fold doors) and submit these (time dated) images to the customer before commencement as your insurance against any claims in the future. At the end of the contract, take another set, showing the condition you left the site in. (The main developer will usually have to return to make good any snagging items, and cause damage to the house – or your work – and the blame placed on your company.
