Surveys to suit
Home Owner's Projects

Before starting a major renovation or extension it makes sense to order a Site Plan for renovation.

Any project that requires a DA will require a Site Plan, such as raising, moving or extending your house.

If you are making extensive changes to the layout of an existing home a Floor Plan for Renovation is especially useful and will likely save you money. Read more about that here

If your project not a major one, such as building a deck  or just adding a small room a Partial Site Plan may be all you need.

Before starting to design your new home you would be wise to invest in a Site Plan, though a Site Plan tailored to suit a new home will differ in some important aspects to one suited for a renovation or addition. 

Your Architect / Building Designer, Builder and Engineer will need one at some point so it makes sense to order it early in the piece, preferably before design.

Prior to commencement of construction your builder will need a Building 'set-out' survey. And, depending on your design there may also be a need for a boundary id survey and certifications. 

We explain it all in our Surveys for New Builds page.

It should go without saying that for any work on or near to any property boundary it is critical to establish the exact boundary location first. Surprisingly many don't, often in the misguided assumption that an existing fence is on the boundary, frequently living to regret their actions later, usually accompanied by substantial expenses that could have been avoided. You'll require a Boundary Identification Survey, also often referred to as a Boundary ID Survey.

If just building a retaining wall on part of one boundary a partial site plan may assist for planning and quoting purposes prior to getting the boundary ID and starting. If it's a problem with a retaining wall or boundary fence you have go here

There's potentially a lot more to building a new carport than most people realise. That's primarily because, in an attempt to maximize usable space within their land, rather than use it for driveways etc., people tend to prefer to build close to the front boundary or side boundary or both. This is exacerbated these days with smaller lots being more popular.

Bear in mind that most town plans include statutory 'set backs' from front and side boundaries without a relaxation, so it's still highly likely you will need a Boundary Identification Survey to accurately determine that set-back.  We explain in more detail here.

There are other important considerations that you should consider before you start building a carport if you want to avoid making avoidable mistakes. We've identified 10 of them which we've outlined in our free Ebook - please help yourself to a copy with our compliments by clicking on the picture to the left here.

For these types of project it's likely that a Partial Site Plan will suffice.

However, there's potentially a lot more to building a new Granny Flat that is detached from the house than most people realise. With the increasing popularity of Granny Flats there are a number of issues that are starting to be recognised, many of which had previously been given little thought to. We've identified 11 of them which we've outlined in our free Ebook - please help yourself to a copy with our compliments by clicking the picture to the right here.

On completion many projects require certification, Certification is a usually a requirement for completing construction, particularly when homes are being raised and especially if boundary clearance relaxations have been applied for.

A building location certificate - Form 12, is a Government form that refers to a building's location, or its height or both. It informs the building certifier that the construction has been built in accordance with the approved plans. For that reason the appropriate time to check the construction is before the builder prepares the footings. We explain more fully here.

If there has been no survey at this stage the location of the proposed construction is being determined by guesswork. To avoid this it's essential that a Building Set Out Survey be undertaken prior to construction commencing to avoid mistakes and future issues.