Building on Builders Rubble

bmm

I'm looking at purchasing a site that during the celtic tiger was used by a builder as a tip for all the rubble from the various estates the builder was working on. I am just wondering whether it is possible to put a block built bungalow on top of this rubble or will the rubble need to be fully removed before any foundation works can begin.

gman2k

You need an engineer to advise you based on the actual site conditions.
(You can build on anything, but cost effectiveness is another issue)

con1982

The rubble may contain anything.

You could employ a site investiagtion company to dig some trial pits and take samples of the material for lab testing. You will probably need to employ someone to interpret the results, and design the foundation. Unless the rubble is fully removed, there will always be some degree of uncertainty and risk.

Depending on the size of the site, you may find that removing the material is not as expensive as you think. A cubic metre of inert soil costs about €50 to dispose of (excluding contractor prelims, etc)

declan52

having worked in site investigation i would most def get some trial pits done first. You would be surprised what has got buried in fields here everything from medical waste to rubbish and all gets covered in builders rubble to hide it. Only cost a days hire of a digger 3-5 tonne dig a few pits until you hit original soil and inspect what comes up. Might be ok but for the sake a few quid better safe than sorry.

bmm

con1982 wrote: »

A cubic metre of inert soil costs about €50 to dispose of (excluding contractor prelims, etc)

Any idea who would do this kind of work?

con1982

Any local builder should be able to take care of it.

Why don't you just make it part of the main build? It will be cheaper this way, as you need to excavate for foundations and floor slab anyway. Site demolition and clearance is common as a prelim to a build.

gman2k

bmm wrote: »

Any idea who would do this kind of work?

To repeat, you need to engage an engineer to oversee this aspect of the work also. I was involved in a project a few moons ago where we had to do trial pits due to dodgy infill from a nearby construction project.
You engineer can specify the size and frequency of the holes, and will have contacts for a groundswork contractor to do the actual digging.
This aspect of the project will need to be done before your engineer designs the foundations, so won't form part of the main build like the previous poster suggested.

con1982

gman2k wrote: »

This aspect of the project will need to be done before your engineer designs the foundations, so won't form part of the main build like the previous poster suggested.

Just to clarify.

I'd envisaged an engineer overseeing site investigation works and designing the foundations. So the engineer should clarify in their specs/drawings that X-depth of rubble to be removed, if he/she deems necessary.