Sewer Diagram

[kodok]

Hi Guys,

I'm interested in a villa however the villa was build recently over sewer line. In the contract, a letter from Sydney water was attached and indicates "no record of Build over sewer approval was given, however in this circumstances, Sydney water will not object to the structure remaining in the present state but will not accept responsibilty for claims of damage arising out of the presence of property of the sewer..."

My solicitor told me that this wouldn't stop him from buying the property.
However, I'm not so sure anymore.

Attached is the sewer diagram and the villa is at the very top of the diagram touching the sewer line.

Any ideas/comments? Thanks in advance

 

[handyandy]

Unless the foundation were done correctly the soil over the sewer line will be less compacted then the rest of the soil under the building and as such you could end up with uneven settlement over time.

Your solicitor is not a builder or engineer and really has no clue.

Unless this property has some redeeming qualities I would give it a big pass.

Cheers

 

[kodok]

Thanks Andy. One thing that confused me is how can the developer built the property over the sewer without Sydney Water approval?

 

[handyandy]

Thanks Andy. One thing that confused me is how can the developer built the property over the sewer without Sydney Water approval?

A mistake and was only picked up on a new survey.

Cheers

 

[HotRod]

Looks like an old plan too.

Maybe Sydney Water need to dig a bit deeper?

 

[Macca]

There are troubles enough when we do our best to "get things right" there is no way I would be buying this one

 

[jjallsite]

It has been a little while but I thought the rule was, you had to allow for a 1:1 excavation of the sewer line. So if it was 1m deep you would have to build a min of 1m away from it. Or get it concrete encased so it theoretically, never needs digging up. This was one of the only ways you could be permitted to build over sewer pipes.
This pipe is 6 feet deep (1.8m) & does not appear to be concrete encased.