What do you need to get done before you break ground? Look no further than this self-build checklist before you start on site.
In this article we cover:
- Self-build checklist for services
- Preliminary preparation: self-build checklist
- Getting quotes ready
- Getting the site ready
- Last-minute self-build checklist
Rushing to get to site will only run smoothly if you have planned for commencement of works phase, i.e. to have workers, equipment and supplies all on site when they are needed. This information should be included as a part of the overall construction programme, so it needs to be carefully prepared.
Services
You’ll need to work out a timeline of when new services are to be provided and connected or when you will be needing any existing services temporarily disconnected and reconnected. Notify the relevant service provider as early as possible of your intentions.
Sewage
If the wastewater is to be connected to a public mains sewer, ensure that you have submitted the necessary application for the connection together with the application fee, in good time. Elsewhere, for example on a rural site, you should already have obtained the necessary permission for discharge of domestic effluent. In NI, you can search existing domestic approvals on the Domestic Consent Public Register. In ROI, all domestic wastewater treatment systems, including septic tanks, must be registered with your local authority; and you can do this easily through the online ‘Protect Our Water’ registration system.
Water
Make the application and pay the fee for connection to the public water main supply. If your domestic water source is intended to come from a private water source which serves more than one household, it must be registered with the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) in NI. If using drinking water from a well serving just your own home, you should get the local Environmental Health Department to check the water quality for you. In ROI, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website offers clear guidance on the use and upkeep of household wells.
Roads
If you want to carry out work near, on, at the side, over or under a road you have to make an application for consent or a licence. This work could include activities such as excavations, drainage, work affecting public footpaths or verges, altering an entrance or forming a new one, putting up scaffolding or hoarding or setting out a builder’s skip, etc. Depending on the nature of the roadworks to be undertaken and their likely impact, the designer may need to submit a Method Statement which would usually include drawings showing the tasks, processes, scope and sequence of the works; plus a schedule of plant and equipment to be used, with supervision arrangements and contact details. In NI, the application should be made to the Department for Infrastructure (DFI) Roads office; and in ROI, the applications are handled by MapRoad Licensing.
Broadband
The building regulations in NI and ROI stipulate that all newly built or substantially renovated houses must be ‘broadband ready’ (i.e be equipped for high speed electronic communications) and be provided with associated infrastructure such as ducts and a ‘communications access point’ on an external wall which is connected through the wall to an internal ‘network termination point’.
These physical fittings must ensure that all broadband and communications providers have the freedom to make use of them. Sourcing an efficient and reliable broadband provider is very much down to what is available in your area. Some sites will be serviced by a fibre-optic broadband network, some may have a cable service, e.g. Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC), and some will just have the older and slower ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) copper wire supply.
It may well be worth your while to wait for any upgrade, so don’t forget to ask prospective providers whether any are being planned for your area. For remote areas, satellite, wireless or mobile broadband may be required. There are various websites which allow you to check the broadband availability for your area. For mobile broadband, these checkers can give unreliable results due to localised topography which may block a signal. It’s always a good idea to talk to the neighbours to see what solutions they use.
It’s also useful to check whether you can get fibre all the way into the broadband network hub in your house, as some providers only provide a wire connection between the nearest fibre-carrying pole and the communications access point on the wall. An underground supply is usually favourable compared to an overhead supply; so for example, underground ducts can be provided with a pull rope by the builder, so that the service providers can come along and pull their cables or wires through when required.
Getting quotes
There is more than one method of obtaining prices and ordering materials and products. One is to get a main contractor to sort it out and another is to go to a good builders’ merchant and ask them if they can take care of all supplies. Alternatively, you could hire a Project Manager to handle it in much the same way as a contractor would, or you could do it yourself by pricing around and ordering everything. It is more expedient for sub contractors such as plumbers and electricians to bring their own supplies, provided that they know what you want.
Using a main contractor or a project manager is the easiest, but you do have to pay for the convenience and you should still double check that you will getting everything you want and on time. The benefit of using a merchant is that you can set up an account and agree credit terms to suit your funding arrangements; and because merchants will usually get a bigger discount than an individual, they might be persuaded to pass on part of that discount to you. The DIY approach will require a list of materials for you to work from and will usually take longer, but could result in better prices or quality from suppliers that the merchant or contractor hasn’t included.
Cost and quality aside, the next most important thing is to find out what lead times are required for delivery of all of the different materials and products and then slot those times in to your construction
programme. If this step is ignored, you run the risk of suppliers trying to introduce last minute substitutes, perhaps resulting in you having to accept lower standards. Don’t forget to confirm with sub-contractors whether anyone will need plant or equipment (and qualified operators if necessary) to be hired for their time on site. Then make a list of all the suppliers so that you can attach their quotations, delivery dates and any other information required.
Getting the site ready
Don’t wait for the digger operator to accidentally discover the locations of underground services such as power cables, telecoms and any pipes for gas, oil, water, sewer, etc. If your site plan doesn’t show any, you will need to identify possible routes of services by firstly looking for clues, at features on or around the site such as poles, manholes, inspection chambers, equipment cabinets, and gullies, etc.
Service providers can also supply on request, maps showing the approximate routes of their services. Then a professional surveyor can use survey equipment to accurately detect underground features before you dig. If you are employing a PC, they should be able to do this for you. A site layout plan is a very useful tool to help you think about what needs to be provided on site, where and when. Work with your designer to draw it up, showing the positions of:
- All foundations and levels.
- Test holes to investigate soil conditions.
- Separate access points for vehicles and pedestrians.
- Access routes and hard standing for heavy machinery
- Vehicle parking.
- Emergency escape routes.
- Site security such as access control, fences, hoarding, cameras, signage and lighting, etc.
- Scaffolding.
- Plant and equipment such as mixers, cranes or generators.
- Materials delivery and storage.
- Workers’ facilities such as the site hut, office and toilet.
- Washing areas for vehicle wheels and other equipment, with a detention basin and silt trap for dirty water.
- Waste management.
- Protection of trees, waterways, existing structures and neighbouring property, etc.
- Routes for existing, proposed and temporary services.
- Temporary works such as propping, shoring or bracing, etc.
- Specific facilities for sub contractors, e.g. a shelter for cutting or fabricating materials, etc.
This layout plan may have to be altered for different phases of the work; for example you won’t need scaffolding during the early stages but when it comes on site it will require space for off-loading, erection and later dismantling.
Warning signs should be visible at night and protective fences or barriers may be required to protect underground and overhead services and to protect the health and safety of anyone on site. There is excellent guidance on this subject on the HSENI and HSA websites (see Resources).
Make a list of requirements for the site office. It will need lighting and heating, with at least basic methods of displaying paper copies of drawings. The drawings should be the most recent version and laminated so that you don’t have to keep replacing them.
A table or drawing board is handy for sketching or making notes on drawings, as is a place to sit with a laptop, along with power socket outlets. Check that the office position has a good mobile phone signal; and if any of the design or construction teams cannot manage without one, a broadband connection and/or a landline connection could be essential.
For welfare facilities, standard chemical toilets with a water supply tend to be the favoured choice, but there are other options including units which can be connected to a mains sewer, units with hot water and also disabled units.
Creating a new site access or altering an existing one will usually require hardcore fill and drainage pipes so these would need to be ready for delivery on site at an early stage. Soon after this, areas for the use of plant and equipment such as heavy lorries, cranes, mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs), cherry pickers, etc. should be made solid and level, so these areas will require mechanically compacted hardcore fill and possibly geotextile membranes, depending on the sub-soil conditions
Last-minute checks and steps
At suitable times before the start date:
– Ensure that everyone has digital and/or paper copies of the latest drawings and that they have discarded any previous versions. Insist that they read them before the pre-construction meeting.
– Set up the pre-construction meeting for key personnel and confirm that everyone fully understands the commencement phase of the construction programme, is committed to making it work and understands the chain of command and the preferred methods of communication.
– Double check that you at least have the basic services on site that workers will need first.
– Mark out the site for excavations for foundations, services trenches and access, including levels, etc., or get an experienced person to do it for you. Check the weather forecast for the start date and re schedule or plan for weather protection of trenches, fresh concrete, etc., if necessary.
– Phone the suppliers and confirm for sure that everything you need will be there on time.
– Notify Building Control and neighbours.
– Begin preparing for the next stage.
