Building Case

THE SITE:

Before commencement of any construction work on the site, the following points must be taken into account and managed

1. Site boundary: The actual location of the site boundaries as well as double checking if the boundary pegs are being placed in the right location.

2. Setbacks and Easements: The setbacks and easements allowable by the building laws of the particular area must be noted.

3. Topography: The contours present in the site must be carefully surveyed.

4. Sun Exposure and Wind Direction: The sun angles during summer and winter and the Wind direction in relation to the particular site must be investigated.

5. Trees to be retained: Location of major or important trees and vegetation must be recorded to be retained so that the building design may be proposed around the tree or vegetation.

6. Position of Services: The position of services such as water and sewer lines must be planned in advance.

7. Relation to area or neighborhood: This includes the relation of the house in terms of the appearance and location.

8. Connection to Utility Services: Distances of services like telephone lines, electricity lines and gas lines must be planned to be connected to the municipal lines.

 SITE PREPARATION:

a. Clearing of site: The construction site is prepared by cleaning all the vegetation, which is not intended to be retained, including roots, trees etc. The debris are then hauled away or burnt.

b. Site Set-Out: Site set-out can be carried out in the following steps

i. Survey pegs should be checked if they are in the exact corners of the site.

ii. The position of the first corner is established by measuring the appropriate distance from the boundary line.

iii. The position of the second corner is established by measuring the length of the house along the building line. Measure to see if the sum with the remainder distance is the front line of the building.

iv. Once two corners are found, the remaining corner 3 and 4 can be located by the use of a layout square. One leg of the square is placed on the building line with the corner of the square directly on corner 2, the other leg is the perpendicular. Two to three metres longer than the dimension of the building is measured and a stake is driven at point 3a. Run a string between 2 and 3a and the dimension of the building side and a stake is driven at point 3.

v. The procedure is the same to establish corner 4.

vi. The accuracy of the corners is checked by measuring if the diagonals of the rectangle