Key things you need to know

Now that you’ve narrowed down the ideal home to put on your existing block, we’ll take you through some key things you need to know and outline what areas fall under your responsibility.

Porter Davis has people with extensive experience in Knockdown and Rebuild and we are here to help with both the general and technical aspects of your journey.

Should you have any questions at all please don’t hesitate to contact your Sales Consultant.

Site Assessment

Porter Davis will come to your block of land to conduct an extensive site assessment to cover off the following:

• Site accessibility. This covers the access for construction on all four boundary sides.

• Fall across block.

• Overhead power lines will need to be assessed for site access.

• Neighbouring properties and proposed new dwelling orientation.

• Requirements for traffic management.

• Location of trees.

• Establish any OH&S onsite requirements.

• Possible driveway locations.

• Council compliance review.

Temporary Fencing

Your demolition contractor will organise temporary fencing during your demolition phase. This temporary fencing will be required to be removed prior to Porter Davis commencing construction.

Porter Davis will provide temporary fencing during your new home construction.

Established Fencing

Existing side and back fencing will need to be assessed and may need to be removed for access reasons, please consult with your neighbours. Front fences will be demolished with the house, including the footings. Information regarding the specifics of your fencing will be provided to you at your tender appointment.

Please note that it will be your responsibility to remove existing fencing if required by Porter Davis.

Demolition Asset Protection Permit

You will be required to obtain an Asset Protection Permit through Council prior to the commencement of your demolition. An application fee along with a bond will be required to be paid which covers any damage to existing council infrastructure, such as footpaths, nature strips and driveway crossovers.

Demolition Permit

Your demolition contractor will need to apply for a Demolition Permit from your Council. Once an application is made, this can take up to 28 days to issue.

Should your existing dwelling or the overall site contain asbestos, your demolition contractor will be required to remove this and provide you with a proof of removal of asbestos certificate.

You will need to provide Porter Davis with a copy of your demolition permit prior to the commencement of construction.

Tree Removal

Is there a vegetation overlay? Permits may be required to remove any trees that are in the area. At your tender appointment Porter Davis will provide you with a demolition plan nominating which existing structures need to be removed, including any trees.

If a permit is required to remove any trees, you will need to arrange an application with Council for their removal. In some cases, Council may require an Arborist Report, which they can arrange on your behalf or alternatively you can arrange for your own arborist and supply their report with your application. Generally speaking, if you have a Vegetation Protection Overlay, a permit will be required to remove a tree that is over and above 10 metres with a diameter of 0.5 metres at a nominated distance of 1.5 metres from ground level.

Note: Check with council if there is a local law in place protecting any trees. This may be the case even though no overlay is identified on your block.

Water Meter

These can easily be damaged during the demolition period and they are expensive to replace. We highly recommend you talk to your demolition contractor and ask them to take steps to guarantee the protection of your meter during demolition.

Disconnection of Services

Before any demolition can commence, you need to ensure all existing services are disconnected.

• Contact your utility supplier to have the gas disconnected and capped.

• Contact your utility supplier to have the electricity disconnected and removed back to the feeder pole. Note: Power disconnection can be a lengthy process. To avoid delays, consider organising this early on.

• Contact a registered plumber to remove the sewer back to the tie locations and cap. Note: Some demolition contractors will include this in their scope of works.

• Contact a registered plumber to remove all storm water drains back to the legal point of discharge, or to the title boundary, if they are outside the property.

• As a general note, make sure you cut back and cap all services to as close to the boundary as possible - this avoids additional builder charges to dig up any remaining services surrounding the original house location.

• Ensure your trades install location markers for those services that have been capped off, to avoid the need for a location survey by the builder.

Don’t demolish yet!

Demolition should only commence once Porter Davis has applied for your building permit. This will be applied for the day you sign your contract. It will then take approximately 3 to 5 days after the signing of your contract to receive a checklist with the items required to be completed/provided prior to obtaining your building permit. Your Building Coordinator will contact you once this is received and assessed, to confirm demolition can commence.