Pre Construction of a landed house - Considerations and Questions

[leechaorui 2]

Does anyone know how much it cost to do the pre construction soil test and topography survey fee to plot out the exact perimeter of the house?

Edited October 14 by leechaorui

[snoozee 97]

Go hire an architect and let them arrange for you. The soil investigation needs to have instructions from a PE on what to do and this is not what a layman can scope out.

topo survey needs to have cadastral map downloaded from SLA INLIS and additional plans purchased on INLIS as well so a QP will know what needs to be purchased and provided to the surveyor and the soil investigation team.

I did both together for about 5K+ some years ago. Yours would likely cost more due to inflation as well as maybe additional holes need to be bored for the soil investigation due to bigger plot of land. Anyway below are the companies I used back then.

soil investigation - ABV

topo survey - CAK & FG Survey

[flai 0]

We did our soil test early last year, was about $4k, and topo survey two years ago was about $2k. 

[leechaorui 2]

On 10/16/2024 at 7:40 AM, snoozee said:

Go hire an architect and let them arrange for you. The soil investigation needs to have instructions from a PE on what to do and this is not what a layman can scope out.

topo survey needs to have cadastral map downloaded from SLA INLIS and additional plans purchased on INLIS as well so a QP will know what needs to be purchased and provided to the surveyor and the soil investigation team.

I did both together for about 5K+ some years ago. Yours would likely cost more due to inflation as well as maybe additional holes need to be bored for the soil investigation due to bigger plot of land. Anyway below are the companies I used back then.

soil investigation - ABV

topo survey - CAK & FG Survey

Thank you snooze.  My land is rectangular in shape.  I thought that soil test is a standard test of boring 2 holes, front and back and this report is good enough for almost all kinds of design for landed house.

[leechaorui 2]

On 10/16/2024 at 10:01 AM, flai said:

We did our soil test early last year, was about $4k, and topo survey two years ago was about $2k. 

Thanks.  $6k to $7K for both works is about the market price.

[snoozee 97]

On 10/17/2024 at 3:41 PM, leechaorui said:

Thank you snooze.  My land is rectangular in shape.  I thought that soil test is a standard test of boring 2 holes, front and back and this report is good enough for almost all kinds of design for landed house.

how many holes depends on what the PE requires of which land size also plays a part. mine only did one bore hole

[leechaorui 2]

On 10/18/2024 at 4:25 PM, snoozee said:

how many holes depends on what the PE requires of which land size also plays a part. mine only did one bore hole

Thanks snooze.  Would like to check on the following questions:

1.  Is there a land betterment or development charge to build a detached house from a semi detached house?

2.  Is the balcony spaces created considered as part of GFA by BCA/URA?

3. Can the water tank and pump be placed on top of the home shelter? Can the home shelter be placed at the wet kitchen area?  The height for first floor is expected to be about 4.3m. 

[snoozee 97]

no development charge for private dwelling if convert from semi-d to detached. but you need to ensure your neighbour's plot of land can also qualify as a detached house before you can convert yours.

no GFA limit for private dwelling.

not sure what kind of water tank and pump you are referring to. if your house will be above the min height requirements for water tank, normally water tank will be placed on the roof top (gravity flow) and pump on the ground floor. it doesn't make sense to have the tank in the middle of the house since you may need an additional pump to push the water from the tank to the top floor.

There's specific requirements on where the HS can be located from the boundary as well as the size (height and internal volume) of the HS. height limit is between 2.4m and 3.9m based on your first floor height of 4.3m, your HS must be located more than 7m from the boundary line. your architect should know the regulations and advise you better on where the HS can be placed within the house. Don't try to push the regulations for HS as you will likely to be asked to do rectifications (whether inside or outside) to comply with the regulations as BCA will send an officer down to inspect the HS before you are even allowed to apply for TOP. Get your QP to submit the HS design for clearance at the start so you know you are safe and don't end up having to do rectification works after the inspection. The worst nightmare is you may be asked to hack down the entire HS and relocate it to another location in the house to comply with requirements.