First Small Time Lesson

Small lot? Get it surveyed early.

A few weeks ago we had the plans for the house properly drafted and positioned on a site plan, but there were issues with it fitting on the lot as we planned and now the draftsperson wants a proper survey so they can be sure everything is hunky dory. 

We were initially going to get our surveyor in to establish site boundaries, features and levels for the services etc, but were told by our building company that it wouldn't be necessary at this stage as they could do a basic measure and do the preliminary Plan of Subdivision. However due to our small site and tight fit for the house there are now problems with fitting the house on the site with the required setbacks. Also, as happens with many lots, the fences don't line up with the boundaries.

This isn't a huge issue and will be sorted out with a few tweaks of the layout (bringing in the carport a fraction or making a room slightly smaller) however just to make sure we are now getting the survey done. This has put our schedule out by two weeks so far and will probably be another week at least before we get the surveyors plans. It might throw our schedule out by about three weeks to a month and can get our planning permit lodged.

Fortunately this doesn't have a financial impact on us. But if we were in a different situation and were having to make loan repayments, such as having just purchased a vacant lot or maybe having a similar time delay later in the construction phase, it would not be so nice.

A nice little lesson for a larger project later.