Module 4 — Building Site Preparation
This module is an administrative guide to the considerations in play at the start of a building project. Municipal zoning requirements, property characteristics, and your home-placement preferences all come together in the first step of preparing your building site.
The Site - Plan
Once zoning, property characteristics, and home placement are established, site preparation is guided by a site plan — a geographic blueprint showing where the home and driveway will be placed. Essentially an enhanced survey map, it should show the proposed home’s distance from the front, rear, and side property lines, and identify the driveway location and its distance from the boundary to its final position on the site. Once approved by the building and highway departments with jurisdiction, the site plan becomes the administrative platform for developing the home’s building envelope.
Reviewing With Your Contractor
Before construction begins, review the approved site plan with the contractor(s) preparing your site. Cover tree removal or retention, foundation depth and finished-grade preferences, and driveway grade relative to parking areas or garage-floor elevations. Your contractor should raise any site-preparation issues that may affect the plan or your stated preferences.
Erosion Control
Placing pre-construction erosion-control systems is an important step before excavation begins. Towns and neighboring owners do not want loose soil washing onto roads or adjacent properties during storms. These systems are designed to stop — or at least reduce — soil-erosion deposits on roads, adjacent properties, and protected areas of the site.
Mandatory Utility -Locate Notification
A state-mandated notification must be initiated before any digging or excavation, to alert companies that may have buried lines or infrastructure near the site. The process is initiated by contacting a utility-locate service — such as Dig Safe or Dig Safely — at least 72 hours before work begins. The utility company then dispatches a locator to mark any buried lines, and the service issues a ticket or reference number tied to the project address as proof the request was made.
Important: No digging or excavation should begin until every notified utility has signed off and marked the location of its lines or infrastructure.
Summary
Every site plan carries its own set of building-project requirements that must be addressed before and during construction. Plan early for the type of excavation equipment required, drainage or access-road preparation, and the insurance coverage that should be in place. Addressing these site-management considerations at the start keeps your project moving.