Postasb

When you take out the Land Owner Insurance ask about any options for 'short term upgrade' to cover for any unforseen work needed e.g the Architect may need 'trial pit(s)' dug by JCB to ascertain ground conditions for the Foundation Design...no 'trial pit' is one way to pour money away into unnecessary foundation design costs BUT also allows for correct foundation design. Bad ground is an expensive, unforseen cost to put right and could kill the Project. If you saw the field in Summer and bought it on that basis ask yourself how does it perform in Winter rainfall conditions, wear wellingtons and at least walk the field this Winter, check for Winter Springs / not part of historical river flood plain. Ask the neighbours etc. My Site's Trial pits info of heavy clay soil + grey clay + flint boulders had significant cost implications for Foundation design and dealing with roof / surface run off / drainage / soak away calculations. To help buffer water run off from large roof area I piped it to large, underground, reinforced concrete water storage tanks which overflow into a 'wildlife' pond. This seasonable Pond was also created to deal with regular winter flooding of the access track from a higher adjacent field (now piped to pond), overflow pipework from buffer pond went to drainage ditch. All this work was part of Planning Application / Permission detail.

A few pointers for consideration : - Are you using an Architect / Builder or managing Sub Contractors, different approach to the Insurance Cover requirement? Ground Works usually involve expensive Plant equipment on site, possibly being left overnight or will driver / operator of JCB to take his Plant off site at end of day, if Demolition works on Site think of damage to tyres on site, broken glass, injuries etc. N.B I put a lot of effort into removing glass etc. from derelict structure before bringing it down and then a lot of time removing wood + nails etc. from ground (who wants a nail in sole of foot)...a lot easier if I had a metal detector then. Precautions (and Cost) that older property may have asbestos. Understand your H &S responsibilities (Site Owner) and could be liable e.g a child goes onto Site and gets injured before you start work, site security because of local theft in area etc. (you may live on Site but what happens when you go to Builders Merchants / Shopping etc), secure container / lockup for smaller items (generators etc), read the small print of the various Site Insurance Policies because you also need to state what Plant Cover you require.....look up the cost of Plant! Premium goes up substantially depending on Cover value. Key point is that Plant Hire Supplier often needs to know you have Site Insurance for their equipment. If going to demolish structures suggest it is mentioned in Planning Application / Permission as helps with VAT Refund Claim for the works activity. Plan for Site Insurance Premium might need to be funded for possible 2 years but 2nd Year much reduced Cost if no longer needing Cover for Plant Hire, if living in property might get this Cover via 'House Insurance'.