Questions / Straight answers
Asked and answered.
The questions builders, developers and owners ask us most, in one place — grouped by the service they belong to. Each answer is the same one its service page gives, so you can trust it and follow it back to the scope it describes.
4 services / 20 straight answers
Do you certify finished levels?
Yes — final levels are checked against the design and we provide documentation your certifier and slab contractor can rely on.
What happens if you hit rock?
We stop, price the change with you in writing, and only proceed on approval. Rock is priced as a variation with evidence, never absorbed into a mystery invoice.
Can you work tight-access blocks?
Yes — tight-access excavation is core work: courtyard digs, rear extensions and battle-axe blocks with machines sized to the gate.
What soils do you cut through across Adelaide?
Adelaide's ground moves from sand over limestone to high-plasticity clays inside a single council area, so machine selection, batter angles and compaction all follow what is actually under the surface — which is why we walk the site before pricing it.
Is spoil removal included?
Spoil removal and cartage to licensed facilities is part of the scope. It is priced per load with tip fees stated up front, so nothing is discovered at invoice time.
Do you provide compaction testing?
Yes — pads are compacted in lifts with testing arranged to the level your engineer specifies, and results are supplied with the completion documentation.
Can you handle detention requirements?
Yes — detention and dispersion systems are built to the approved stormwater plan, including tanks, basins and soakage where mains connection isn't available.
Do you work with our engineer?
Preferably. Send the civil drawings with your pricing request and the scope comes back priced against them line by line.
Why does cut-fill balance matter on a sloped site?
On sloped sites the cut-fill balance decides the budget: cart-off you did not need, or fill you did not have. We model the balance before the first bucket, so the earthworks bill is a plan rather than a surprise.
What if mains stormwater isn't available?
Soakage and dispersion systems are built where a mains connection isn't available, designed to the approved stormwater plan rather than approximating it.
Do your walls come with engineering?
Walls over height thresholds or supporting loads are built to engineering documentation — either yours or arranged through our engineers — with inspections at the hold points the design requires.
Sleeper, block or rock — which is right?
Load, height, access and budget decide. Sleeper systems are the workhorse; block suits rendered finishes and curves; rock suits amenity walls. The pricing response sets out the options against your drawings.
Do you handle council and certification?
We build to approved documentation and coordinate the inspections; development approval itself sits with the project's certifier, and we supply everything they need from the construction side.
Why is drainage behind the wall so important?
The commonest failure in this state is not structure — it is water trapped behind a wall that was never drained. Ag-pipe, free-draining backfill and a clear path for water to leave are non-negotiable in every wall we build.
Do you work on new developments?
Yes. Inter-allotment retaining on new developments is sequencing work as much as construction: walls land before services and after bulk earthworks, so the civil programme isn't fighting either.
Do you do fencing on top of retaining walls?
Yes — that interface is exactly where we work: sleeved posts, plinth details and drainage all coordinated because the wall and fence come from one contractor.
Minimum job size?
We are set up for development-scale and rural runs. Single residential panels are better served by our AOI Maintenance arm — we will point you the right way rather than overcharge you.
Temporary site fencing too?
Yes — hoarding and temporary fencing supplied and installed for the construction period, then replaced with the permanent line at completion.
How do you keep a long fence line straight?
Post depths are matched to our wind zones and soils, concreted and strung before a single panel hangs. A fence reads as one line, and one leaning post breaks it — so the setting out happens before anything is fixed.
Do you handle boundary cost sharing?
On boundary work we are straight about the Fences Act: notices, shared costs and honest scoping before work starts, so the arrangement is clear between neighbours from the beginning.
Still not answered — issue the scope.
Send drawings or a scope and a priced civil package returns — machine, operator, cartage and certification. Anything not on the list gets answered on the pricing request.