Excavation
Every dig from a pier hole to a full basement
Six excavation services across residential and commercial sites: basements, bulk digs, detailed work for footings and services, rock, pools and site cuts. Machines sized to what can physically get onto the block, with the spoil carted on the same contract.
- Plant
- Mini through to large excavators, zero tail swing for tight blocks
- Attachments
- Rock hammers, rippers, grapples and buckets
- Carting
- Truck and dog, bogie and 10 wheeler tippers
What we cover
6 services under Excavation
Each one has its own page. If you are not sure which applies, call and describe what you are looking at.
Volume
Bulk Excavation Childcare centres, unit developments, commercial Large volume, where the cartage rate matters as much as the dig rate. Basement Excavation Residential and commercial basements Bulk and detailed in one dig, usually against a boundary and usually in rock.Scoping
What decides an excavation price
Volume is only one of six, and it is rarely the one that moves the number most:
- What the ground is. Clay rips, sandstone needs a hammer, and shale sits between the two. A geotechnical report narrows this a long way; without one the rock is priced on rates rather than a fixed figure.
- What machine can get in. A block that only takes a mini excavator takes longer and costs more per cubic metre than the same volume on an open site.
- Where the spoil goes. Clean fill, VENM, mixed material and contaminated soil have different destinations and different rates. The classification is the price, not the volume.
- What the truck can do at the kerb. If a truck and dog cannot turn or cannot legally stand, the work goes out in bogie tippers, which is more loads for the same volume.
- What is next door. Excavating against a boundary, a neighbouring footing or a retaining structure changes the method before it changes the price.
- Water. Groundwater, or a block that holds water after rain, changes both the method and the classification of what comes out.
All six are visible at a site visit, which is why we do one before pricing anything substantial.
What we need to price it properly
- The address
- So we can look at access and what is around it
- What is there now
- A photograph from the street and one from the rear
- Any reports you hold
- Hazardous materials, geotechnical, survey or levels
- Your dates
- What has to be finished by when, and what is waiting on it
We attend the site before quoting anything substantial. A number sent without a visit is a range with a contingency inside it, and you pay for that either way.
How it runs
How a dig is actually run
The order matters more on a confined block than on an open one.
Site visit and set out
Access, levels, what is next door, and where the trucks will stand. The set out comes from your surveyor or engineer, not from us.
Services and protection
Underground services located before anything goes in the ground. Sediment control, and protection of the adjoining property where the dig comes near it.
Strip and stockpile
Topsoil and overburden off first, stockpiled where there is room and carted straight out where there is not.
Bulk dig
The volume, with the method reassessed as the ground changes. On a confined block the trucks line up with the machine rather than the other way round.
Detailed work and trim
Footings, pads, pier holes and trenches to the set out, then the base trimmed to level.
Compaction and handover
Compacted where that is in scope, left at the level nominated, with the dockets handed over.
Detail
What comes out, and where it goes
The classification of the spoil is usually a bigger line on an excavation quote than the digging is.
| Material | Where it comes from | Pathway |
|---|---|---|
| Topsoil | The strip | Reused on site where it is clean, or carted as clean fill |
| VENM | Natural ground, uncontaminated | Reused or placed elsewhere as clean fill |
| Sandstone and shale | Rock excavation | Recovered where it is clean, often as a useful material |
| Clay | Shale country, most of Western Sydney | Carted. Heavier and wetter than sand, so more loads |
| Fill of unknown origin | Older blocks, previously filled ground | Classified before it moves |
| Contaminated soil | Industrial history, buried waste, fuel | Licensed facility for that classification only |
| Asbestos contaminated soil | Where fibro was broken, burnt or buried | Handled under the asbestos pathway |
Who we work for
Three different briefs, one contractor
Builders and developers on programme, and homeowners cutting a block for a new build or a pool.
What usually comes next
Before you book
What people ask about excavation
How do you price rock when nobody knows how much is there?
Do you locate the services?
Can you excavate right up to the boundary?
What about the water table?
Do you do the compaction as well?
Can the demolition and the dig be the same contract?
Get a quote
Send the levels and a photograph of the frontage
A site plan or an engineer’s levels, plus a picture of the driveway and the street, decides most of an excavation price. A geotechnical report, if one exists, narrows the rock a long way.
- Rock priced by the cubic metre at a rate agreed before we start
- Machine sized to what can physically get onto the block
- Cartage on the same contract, so the dig is not waiting on trucks
Special demolition offer
Get your free demolition quote
Demolition and removal services from $15,999*. Tell us about your project and we'll help you understand the costs.
*Starting price applies to eligible demolition and removal projects only. Final pricing depends on structure size, materials, site access, location, waste disposal requirements, hazardous materials and any necessary approvals. A final quote will be provided following project assessment.