Development Site Survey in Harristown
A contour and detail survey, underground service locating and high resolution drone imagery across a 25 unit community housing site, ahead of its redevelopment into new low rise units.
- Site6,500 m²
- Turnaround20 days
- Cost$14,900
The Brief
The client was planning to demolish the existing 25 units on a community housing site and redevelop it with new low rise units. Before the design team could start, they needed a complete picture of the site as it stands today.
On a development like this, the survey is the starting point for the architect, civil engineer and hydraulic consultant. They needed:
- Accurate ground levels across the whole site, for the new building, driveways and drainage design
- Every existing unit, path and structure, with floor and ridge levels
- Neighbouring window locations and heights, so the new units can be positioned to protect privacy and meet planning requirements
- The location and depth of underground services, so new connections can be planned and clashes avoided
- Stormwater infrastructure, including pits, pipes and the detention chamber
- A high resolution aerial image of the site, so the design team can see everything in context
On development sites, finding out about an underground service halfway through construction is expensive. Locating services before design means the engineers can plan around them from day one.
The Site
The site is around 6,500 m², roughly 60 m wide and 108 m long, with 25 occupied units spread across it, along with shared driveways, paths, carparking and courtyards.
The tricky part wasn't the ground, it was the people. With 25 different residents living on site, a lot of organising and planning went into the job before we arrived, so everyone knew when we'd be there and what we needed access to.
What We Surveyed
This job combined three types of work into one set of design information: a contour and detail survey, underground service locating and high resolution drone imagery.
- ✓Digital terrain model (DTM): ground levels, slopes and changes of grade across the whole site, used to create the contours.
- ✓Buildings: all 25 units, with floor levels, ridge lines, eaves, gutter heights and downpipes.
- ✓Neighbouring properties: the location and height of neighbouring houses and their windows facing the site, needed for planning and positioning the new development.
- ✓Roads and driveways: internal driveways, carparking, paths and the frontage out to the kerb.
- ✓Structures: slabs, stairs, retaining walls, clotheslines, water tanks and similar.
- ✓Fences: boundary and courtyard fences, walls and gates.
- ✓Vegetation: significant trees with their trunk size and canopy spread.
- ✓Above ground services: pits, inspection openings, meters, valves and the stormwater detention chamber.
- ✓Full underground service locating across the site, including stormwater, sewer, water, power and communications.
- ✓Quality Level B and C services, in line with Australian Standard AS 5488. Quality Level B services are traced on the ground and shown within about 300 mm horizontally, while Quality Level C services are located from visible surface features and shown within about 300 mm horizontally.
- ✓Pipe sizes and invert levels on stormwater and sewer, so the engineers know exactly what they're connecting to.
- ✓High resolution aerial imagery of the whole site, overlaid onto the survey plan.
- ✓Photogrammetry used to help capture levels across the courtyards, without needing to disturb residents or their pets.
- ✓Boundaries compiled from existing plans and overlaid onto the survey. This isn't a boundary survey and doesn't re-peg the boundaries, but it's essential for design, giving the design team what they need to work out setbacks before construction.
Photos From the Job
What the Client Received
Everything was delivered digitally in one package, ready for the whole design team.
Why It Cost $14,900
This job came in at $14,900. It's a bigger investment than a standard residential survey, because it covered three types of work on a busy, occupied site:
- 25 units on one site: every building, floor level and roofline had to be picked up.
- Neighbouring properties: window locations and heights on the surrounding houses, picked up for planning and positioning the new units.
- Organising 25 residents: a lot of planning and coordination went in before and during the job so everyone knew what was happening.
- Full underground service locating: tracing and recording every service to Quality Level B and C.
- Drone imagery and photogrammetry: flying the site, then processing the high resolution aerial image and levels.
- A large site: around 6,500 m² of driveways, paths, courtyards and buildings.
Development sites vary a lot, so the best way to know what yours will cost is to get a quote.
Turnaround: 20 Days
From accepting the quote to the final files landing in the client's inbox took 20 days.
On a job like this, a big part of the timeframe is organising access with residents and lining up the service locating and drone work. Picking up the windows and heights of the neighbouring properties also added time on site. With three types of data to combine into one set of plans, there's also more processing at the end. Even so, the full package was delivered in under three weeks.
- 1Quote AcceptedResidents notified, access planned
- 2Site WorkSurvey, service locating and drone
- 3ProcessingData combined, drawn and checked
- 4DeliveredFiles sent, day 20
What the Client Said
Josiah B. · Harristown project · Google Review"Kieran was a huge help on our project, going the extra mile to make sure we had everything we needed. Will definitely use Surveyors Brisbane again."
Development Site Survey FAQs
What survey do I need before a new development?
Most development sites need a contour and detail survey to show the existing levels and features, plus underground service locating so the engineers know where existing services are. On larger sites, drone imagery is a useful extra, giving the design team a high resolution view of the whole site.
What do service Quality Levels B and C mean?
Quality levels come from Australian Standard AS 5488 and show how reliable a service location is. Quality Level B services are traced on the ground with locating equipment, while Quality Level C services are located from visible surface features like pits and covers. Both are shown on the plan so your engineers know how much to rely on each one.
Why use a drone on a site survey?
A drone captures a high resolution aerial image of the whole site, which is overlaid onto the survey plan so the design team can see everything in context. Photogrammetry from the drone can also help capture levels across large or busy areas quickly.
Planning a development?
Send us the site details and we'll put together a quote for your survey, service locating and drone imagery. Get a Quote