Water Connection to a 405 Lot

[WilliamB]

Hi all,

Thanks in advance for providing such a great forum, it contains a wealth of knowledge and is basically the first source for any property related info I need.

I have recently split an 809 block (Brisbane) with 2 lots 1 title into 2 405 blocks, and am now going through the process of connecting water & sewer to the the second lot.

I have received a quote from QUU for water connection that I think is a complete p*sstake.

From what I understand, the water "mains" are in the footpath on my side of the road (there is no actual concrete path however), so it should be as simple as connecting to it, with no earthmoving, concreting etc for access.

They have come back with a quote for $3,046! This includes:

Audit & Compliance fee - $410
Admin Fee - $185
Water Design Fee - $440
Actual work (same side)-$2421

This seems like an absolute rip off to me.

Even if I choose to have the work done by my own plumber, they still want to charge the first three components above. Design fee? For water?

Can anyone lend any advice or feedback here? At this point, I am dreading to get the sewer connection quote (Even though it runs parallel along the rear of the block)

Hope this makes sense. Apologies in advance for anything that appears ignorant. This is my first attempt at a simple subdivision project and everything has gone very well up to this point (touch wood).

Thanks in advance.

Ben

 

[WilliamB]

OK that was obviously too detailed

Just got the quote for the sewer connection as well.

Can anyone tell me from their experience in Brisbane if it is cheaper to use their own plumber to do the construction work instead of using Queensland Urban Utilities?

My guess is "Yes, but..."

Thanks in advance,

 

[Hodge]

Hi William,

I'm going through the same process in Victoria and got quoted roughly the same for water connection. How much has your sewer connection come too? I'm yet to get a quote but the plumber said allow around $10K.

From what my plumber has told me you will have to use one of their plumbers and not yours to make the connection.

 

[pinkboy]

Welcome to property development!

pinkboy

 

[Hodge]

Welcome to property development!

pinkboy

You can say that again!! Bloody expensive

 

[WilliamB]

Thank for the responses guys!

We had budgeted a little more for both, so it's good they came in cheaper, but I want to extract every dollar I can out of the deal if it is in fact reasonably simple!

Hi Hodge,

Water mains are on our side in the pathway (no footpath though), and sewer is what I understand to be quite a simple job, where they can use the existing connection to create the second, as the land backs onto council land, and red tape issues etc would be preferable to avoid. The sewer main runs about 1.5m parallel behind the block on said council land.

QUU cost is 3,700 in total for the sewer. While that seems reasonable, I still feel its a rip-off.

Cheers,

 

[Hodge]

They know you have no choice so they charge what they like. Believe me i'm finding that out real quick!

 

[WilliamB]

Hodge in QLD you can choose to use your own contractors to do some, or all of the work.

I believe it will be cheaper to do, but I am not certain it will be easier. I guess I'm trying to get a gauge of how much cheaper it will be. If it can save me 2-3k off the price of connection, then it's certainly something we are keen to pursue!

Cheers,

 

[mattnz]

Not in all of QLD.

Hows this for rich ... my hydraulic engineer is charging $2,500 (ok, fine) to create the hydraulic plans for a 6 townhouse development . The council are charging:
- $7,893 to check the plans (3 times the cost to create them)!! PLUS
- $11,759 to change the water to a larger pipe

Thats all in addition to $120k in council contributions.

 

[WilliamB]

Ouch!

I'll assume that was factored into your CF calcs from the deal and expected to a degree.

If not, OUCH!!

 

[RPI]

Hi William

It is often cheaper for you to use your own plumber, but QUU still slug you the inspection fee.

 

[anson_he]

Hi William,

Could you please share some information about your subdivision? What kind of zoning is your property? Is it a corner block? Did you get approval based on the current plan or the new Brisbane city plan? What is the minimum lot size for your application?

 

[WilliamB]

Hi Anson,

This one was simple - low density, 809sqm already on two lots. A simple paper exercise costing around 300 bucks is all it took to create the second title.

We have a few IPs, but this is our first "project" so we wanted to keep it as simple as possible.

Using conservative figures based on recent sales, our financial modelling indicates the profits from this sort of undertaking, if structured correctly, can be significant!

Needless to say this has been a great learning process!!

Cheers,