Soakwell sitework cost WA

C

chibs

Hello,

Can anyone comment on the cost of installing soakwells in WA ?
In our pre contract, builder has a provisional sum of $6500. Now I've just received the building contract, but the price is now $11500(no longer listed as provisional). This is for 4 1800x1200.

We're doing a rearhouse development, we still have to install 3 for the front house and it's not included in this sum.

Under HIA contract, is builder allowed to change the sum between pre contract and actual contract ?
This work is not yet carried out, am I allowed to call an external contractor to do the soakwell installation? Got a couple of quotes, it seems like we can do it cheaper without going through builder. What are the implications if we choose to do it this way (and if the builder allows) ?
 
chibs said:
Hello,

Can anyone comment on the cost of installing soakwells in WA ?
In our pre contract, builder has a provisional sum of $6500. Now I've just received the building contract, but the price is now $11500(no longer listed as provisional). This is for 4 1800x1200.

We're doing a rearhouse development, we still have to install 3 for the front house and it's not included in this sum.

Under HIA contract, is builder allowed to change the sum between pre contract and actual contract ?
This work is not yet carried out, am I allowed to call an external contractor to do the soakwell installation? Got a couple of quotes, it seems like we can do it cheaper without going through builder. What are the implications if we choose to do it this way (and if the builder allows) ?
Click to expand...

Have you signed the contract yet?

Worst case, you will be charged a variation fee to delete it, somewhere around $300 - $500. This will still work out cheaper to pay the fee and then get the works done yourself, as that price is ridiculous.

No real implications, just pass on your contractors details to your supervisor and he will organise.

Just be wary that if a rockbreaker is required to get the tanks in, it will cost a considerable amount extra and wont be included in any quotes.
 
No, I haven't signed the contract, but I did sign the pre contract. I was going through the contract when I realised the siteworks sum have changed from the pre contract. Most of the siteworks items have been adjusted, but they're still within +/- 10% margin, except for this soakwells/stormwater disposal item, which has almost doubled.

I would have thought provisional sum in pre contract means that it's the maximum sum we will have to pay for the item.

Builder seems reluctant to let us do the soakwells ourselves... The pre contract did say we'll let the builder do the soakwells, but at the time the provisional sum was $6500, which I thought was reasonable.

Not sure what I'm missing :confused:
 
What suburb? Is it actually soakwells? Or is it drainage pits with an outflow connection? What other quotes have you got for the same work?
 
Thornlie. It says stormwater disposal to soakwells. So they are soakwells.
There is a separate provision for shire stormwater connection fee .
 
chibs said:
Thornlie.
Click to expand...
City of Gosnells? They're pretty painful when it comes to drainage.

chibs said:
It says stormwater disposal to soakwells.
Click to expand...
How a builder describes it in his quotation may not reflect the actual work required. Can you get your hands on the engineer's design for the system?

chibs said:
There is a separate provision for shire stormwater connection fee .
Click to expand...
This is just the fee you'll be paying to council. What I was getting at, was that at outflow system would require more work and accuracy than a simple soakwell system, and that this would cost more in labour etc.

If you can get your hands on the engineer's design, shop it around to a couple of contractors for a quote to see how reasonable your builder's price is, and whether it is worth arguing the price or not.
 
Thanks to those who replied. Thanks Ace for letting me know your cost , it's good to compare against.

Yes, City of Gosnells has strict stormwater requirement. We heard about this, but didn't think the soakwell cost will blow up this much.

Anyway, we asked the builder for design as well as the breakdown of the cost. The soakwells cost itself is pretty much double Ace's cost because we're putting in 4 in bigger diameters. On top of this, there is stormwater piping cost (probably outflow system Jake is getting at). And yet on top of it, there is GST and builder's profit margin, and therefore it comes to that price.

And the council requires us to put 3 more for the front home. My pocket is going to hurt. On a more positive note, the council has not been fussed about anything else.

So, with that, we're going to move on from this issue and let the builder do the stormwater. If we ever built again though, we'll probably look into arranging the soakwells ourselves.
 
Hi Chibs,

Hire a mini excavator for a weekend and dig the holes & trenches yourself and use it to lift in he concrete tanks. Otherwise, do what I did and buy a 2nd hand excavator off Gumtree to dig the holes yourself. Whole bunch of fun to drive & dig holes and then on sell after you have finished what you have to do. I am yet to sell mine as I still have some jobs left to do and having fun with it...!

Also put in a water tank to catch some of your rain water.

Cheers.
 
Southern WA, sandy area.
$4780
3 1200D/1200H wells supplied amd installed with trafficable lids
4 1500D/1200H wells supplied and installed with trafficable lids

2 weekends for connecting them up to downpipes, hand digging most due to limited room.
Roughly $400 for pipes and fittings.
 
Some councils will not allow owners to install them, themselves.

You really need to get ahold of the actual plans (most likely Structerre ones) which show the work and get it quoted on.

However I have noted that some builders are jacking up their soakwell prices after that policy came into effect as you can't get just anyone to do it. Sucks!!
 
westminster said:
Some councils will not allow owners to install them, themselves.

You really need to get ahold of the actual plans (most likely Structerre ones) which show the work and get it quoted on.

However I have noted that some builders are jacking up their soakwell prices after that policy came into effect as you can't get just anyone to do it. Sucks!!
Click to expand...

Usual local government bureaucratic tripe. I had to get a Structerre drawing for a pitched rock wall at the side of my place, to submit to council. It showed rocks randomly, stacked on top of each other at a 45deg angle. I was told the drawing usually costs $80.00, but got it for free as I was a previous customer.

Digging a hole in the ground for soakwells and stacking rocks on top of each other isn't rocket science needing a tertiary degree, but it is hard physical labour. You can see why housing is so expensive, in short supply and approvals take forever when we have jump through these sorts of hoops for a hole in the ground!!!

My rant over. :)
 
We did manage to get quotes on the actual plan. We can save about 30-35% of builder's quoted price if we get external contractors to do it. There is apparently quite a large price gap between 1800D ones and 1500D ones, but engineers design says we need 1800D to meet council requirement.

We did try to argue with the builder, but they wouldn't let us off. I don't want to delay the constructions either, so we let it slide this time. Builders' profit is normally a percentage of the cost price, so the bigger the job, the higher their $ profit.

It sets us back a few grands, but I suppose we learnt our lesson.

Playing with excavator does sound fun, might try it for the front house :D.
 
Lazy 25-35% on it for profit for the builder.

I can tell you we build large homes ($1m +) and the largest quote I have seen to date is $10k.

That said we don't have projects dealing with the same shire so who knows what their wacky rules are.

Just thank your lucky stars that City of Stirling and a verge tree aren't involved...

chibs said:
We did manage to get quotes on the actual plan. We can save about 30-35% of builder's quoted price if we get external contractors to do it. There is apparently quite a large price gap between 1800D ones and 1500D ones, but engineers design says we need 1800D to meet council requirement.

We did try to argue with the builder, but they wouldn't let us off. I don't want to delay the constructions either, so we let it slide this time. Builders' profit is normally a percentage of the cost price, so the bigger the job, the higher their $ profit.

It sets us back a few grands, but I suppose we learnt our lesson.

Playing with excavator does sound fun, might try it for the front house :D.
Click to expand...
 
Hi Jake, we basically asked the builder if we can do it ourselves (because we can get it done cheaper outside), but the builder says no. We argued that the price doubled from their initial quote, it's not what we signed on and they should let us call our contractors.

I don't think we can argue about the size because it's designed to meet council requirement. I've heard you may be able to argue (about the size) with council if you plan to install rainwater tank.

The houses on the suburb are old, they're probably built before stormwater management practice is adopted. The property has been getting recurring flood and the toilet often overflows every year during winter. The soakwells will hopefully help manage these issues.

boeman, yes the quote we got was about $10k for all 7 (back n front house). Might be able to get a better price if we shop around more.
 
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