Two Tips to Follow When Buying a Plot for Your New Home

Construction & Contractors Blog

Here are two tips to follow when you are buying a plot to construct a home on.

Don't make any definite plans for the building project before the land surveyor is finished their work

Because building a house is a long, complicated and expensive process, you will probably be eager to get started with planning it as soon as you can. However, it is important to wait until the land surveyor has fully evaluated your plot and provided you with their report before you make any concrete plans (such as instructing your building contractor to begin drawing up house plans, hiring subcontractors or purchasing construction materials).

The reason for this is that it's possible their report's contents might result in you having to readjust your initial plans. For example, their report will tell you the precise location of the plot's boundaries. If you were to start digging in preparation for the house's foundation before consulting the surveyor and you dig beyond these boundaries because you weren't aware of their exact location, the adjacent plot's owner could sue you. This could bring the house-building project to an end before it even began. Even if they didn't sue, all of the digging would be a waste of money and time, and you would have to replace any soil you removed. By exercising some patience and allowing the surveyor to complete their report before you make plans, you can ensure the project gets off to a smooth start.

Ensure the main contractor has access to the land surveyor's report

You should provide your contractor (as well as perhaps certain subcontractors they hire) with access to the surveyor's report, instead of simply relaying its most important points to them verbally. Giving them access to the report itself will mean there will be no possibility of problems arising due to miscommunications between you and them.  

For example, if the contractor will be hiring a subcontractor to clear your plot for you, ensuring that both they and the subcontractor have a copy of the surveyor's report will mean that the subcontractor won't, for instance, knock down trees or shrubs that straddle the property boundary. Similarly, if the plot is very large, having access to the surveyor's accurate and up-to-date map of it and its structures will help the contractor to quickly locate specific areas where you want them to demolish or build structures without getting lost or confused.

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29 October 2021

How I Constructed My New Home

Hello and welcome to my construction blog. My name is David and I would like to tell you about the process of designing and building a new home from the ground up. I had always dreamed of building my own home and last year, that dream became a reality. I had been saving money for many years so I could afford to buy the materials and employ the contractors needed to construct my home. I learnt so much during the process, I decided to start this blog. It was a wonderful day when the final piece of my home was put into place and I am now very happy.