Before you dig on a rural property: the checks that save you thousands

Most expensive mistakes on rural earthworks happen in the first ten minutes, before anyone notices anything is wrong. A short checklist before the machine arrives avoids nearly all of them.

Underground services

Get a Before You Dig Australia plan for the site. It's free, it comes back quickly, and it shows where power, water, gas and telecommunications assets are recorded. Hitting a service is dangerous and the repair bill lands on whoever dug the hole.

Plans show recorded assets only. Old private runs, farm water lines, unregistered power to a shed and irrigation are usually on nobody's map, so mark up anything you know about before we start. If you're not sure, we hand dig or pothole to prove the line.

Boundaries

Fences aren't always on the boundary, especially on older rural titles. If the work is close to a boundary and the line matters, check the title plan or get it pegged. Clearing or digging on a neighbour's side is a conversation nobody wants to have twice.

Native vegetation

Victoria has native vegetation removal controls, and they apply on private land too. Some clearing is exempt, including certain fire protection works and maintenance of existing tracks and fence lines, but exemptions have conditions. Large scale clearing, and anything involving remnant vegetation or a planning overlay, needs a check with your council before it starts.

Spoil and water

Decide where spoil goes before the first bucketful comes out. Stockpiled in the wrong spot it properties drainage, kills pasture and has to be moved twice.

Think about where water runs afterwards too. A pad that sheds water into a shed, a track or a neighbour's paddock creates a problem that outlasts the job.

Access

Machinery needs a gate wide enough, a route in that won't bog, and clearance under low limbs and powerlines. We sort all of this at the site visit, which is a big part of why we don't quote over the phone.

Got a job in mind? Send your address and we'll come out, have a look, and put a written quote together. No obligation.