Making Sense of "Site Costs"

Site Costs can be one of the most frustrating aspects to building a home with a volume builder, as they can often appear to be a bucket in which you tip large sums of money for almost no visible result.  So I thought it would be a good idea to give an overview of what goes in to site costs, so that you can at least understand why this bucket is so large.


By the way, if you are reading this hoping to find a way to reduce your site costs, sorry, they tend to be hard to avoid.

 

In order to understand why site costs can be so high, it is important to understand where they come from.  Here are some of the most common things that make up what builders call 'site costs'.

 

Temporary Fencing - This will typically run across the front of your block to stop people from getting in.

 

Crossover Protection - This is protection of the bit of your driveway that crosses from the footpath to the street.  Your local council will require your to pay for its replacement if it is damaged.

 

Site Levelling - Builders expect your block to be flat and if it is not flat, they need to make it so.  They usually only allow for a slope of 300mm across the site, from front to back and side to side - realistically, very few blocks are this flat.

 

Construction of Retaining Walls - If your block needs to be flattened in order to accommodate the concrete slab, this may require the creation of retaining walls.

 

Traffic Management Plans - A traffic management plan may be required if there is public transport near your house (there is a bus stop right outside our site) or if there are schools nearby with children coming and going.  A traffic management plan will also be required if you live on a busy street.

 

Cranes - In some cases, materials will need to be lifted on to your site by way of a crane.  This is not uncommon where there are power lines on your side of the street or where access is limited.

 

Double-handling - If a truck delivering materials cannot get access onto the site and unload directly to where they will be stored or installed, then double-handling occurs.  The truck needs to be unloaded and people need to carry things around.  This extra labour attracts a cost.

 

Piering for your Slab - Most volume builders quote on providing a 'M' Class slab, which assumes that your land is flat and relatively stable (see here for more information on this).  If you require piering,  then this will be part of your site costs.

 

These are some of the key things that will be considered when your site costs are quoted.  They are a function of the site that you have and there is relatively little you can do about these costs.

 

And Now for a bit of a Rant...

Another cost that is sometimes on quotes is a premium, based on the suburb in which the house is being built.  Builders justify this on the basis that tradies need to travel further in order to build your house.  I am highly sceptical of this argument for several reasons:

• I've lived all over Melbourne and in several other cities around the world and I have found a relatively even distribution of good trades people.
• (for the builder that I have looked at this closely) the map of which suburbs pay these premiums is not based on average distance from any particular point or location.
• Not all builders apply this sort of charge.

In reality, the maps I have seen more closely resemble a  map showing zones of (perceived) suburban affluence.  Therefore I have reached the conclusion that these charges are a "we think you can afford to pay more, so we will charge you more" premium applied by the builders, without even the courtesy of hiding it away in other costs and charges.