Completing your self-build on time and on budget is all about creating a realistic programme for the build and then working hard to stick to it. Work to investigate and prepare your plot for development is key to this and ideally starts before you have even purchased it. The cost of site works can influence the viability of your whole project, so the earlier you know what you are dealing with, the better, in terms of preparing your budget and cashflow, and avoiding delays.
A lawyer experienced in dealing with development sites will have made numerous checks during the site acquisition phase to ensure you have highway access, any rights required to bring utility services over adjoining land and more, but you quickly need to move on to your own site preparation work. Instructing a topographic survey to ‘map’ the site’s boundaries and key features is usually essential for a self-build project. This information will be required by your architectural designer.
A site investigation survey will reveal information about the ground conditions, the water table, and potential hazards such as contamination, helping to predict the type of foundation best suited to the site and check for signs of contamination. This information will be required well ahead of construction and will be used in the design phase and to discharge pre-commencement planning conditions on drainage strategy, and risk of contamination. In areas where
