Site Cuts on the Central Coast

What site cuts on the Central Coast actually involves

A development application is assessed against Council's own controls instead, which generally allow a cut 1 metre deep within 1 metre of a boundary and 3 metres elsewhere, and cap fill for a house at 1 metre. A retaining wall more than 600 millimetres above or below the ground within a metre of a boundary, or more than a metre anywhere else, has to be designed by a professional engineer, and its height counts the part below ground.

The land next door, and the slope

NSW law gives land a right of support from the land beside it: a person has a duty of care not to do anything that removes or reduces the support their land gives a neighbour's. SafeWork's excavation code says digging must not start until steps are taken to stop a nearby building or structure collapsing, and a cut below the level of a footing, a retaining wall's included, should be assessed by a competent person.

Where a Council sewer main crosses the block, Council's procedure sets its own limits. A cut must not reduce the earth cover over the main below Council's minimums without specific approval, ground regraded just downslope of a main should be no steeper than 3 horizontal to 1 vertical unless it is certified, and adding more than a metre of fill over a main, or taking it deeper than 3.5 metres, needs Council's approval. Find out where the sewer runs before the cut is designed.

Site Cuts on the Central Coast — common questions

Can the cut be left as a sloping bank instead of a wall?

Sometimes. Under Council's controls an unretained bank can be no steeper than the Building Code allows for the soil type, should generally not run more than 3 metres out from the house, and its toe can't be within 1 metre of a side or rear boundary.

Can the soil from the cut be spread over the rest of the block?

Not freely. Earthworks must not send surface water onto a neighbour's land, and on land in Council's flood planning area, filling is restricted and needs Council's approval.

Does a site cut come under a home building contract?

Over $5,000 it is residential building work, so the contract rules apply: a written contract and a deposit of no more than 10%, and above $20,000 a five-day cooling-off period and home building compensation cover, with the certificate given before any payment is taken.