Start with a marked-up plan of the section
A siteworks budget is more useful when everyone is pricing the same work. Take a copy of the section plan and mark the proposed home, driveway, outdoor living and any existing buildings. List the reports and service information you already have beside it. Keep unanswered questions visible rather than filling them with assumptions.
For a lifestyle block around Matakana or Warkworth, that sketch might need to cover a long approach to the house. For an infill site on the Hibiscus Coast, working space and access past existing buildings may be the first questions. These are prompts for checking the individual property, not statements about every site in an area.
Ask these questions at the site evaluation
Use the conversation to establish what is known, what needs specialist input and what the next piece of information should be.
- Access: where will deliveries arrive, turn and unload? Does the proposed driveway also work during construction?
- Ground: what information exists about soil and fill, and what further investigation is needed before foundations are priced?
- Earthworks: what ground levels are proposed, and where would excavated material go?
- Retaining: is it part of the proposed design, and who will establish its scope?
- Water and wastewater: where are the proposed connections or on-site systems, and what work is included?
- Power and communications: does the quote cover the route from the connection point to the house?
- Drainage and finished surfaces: what needs to be completed beyond the slab and building footprint?
Give every line a status
Beside each item, write one of three things: priced from an agreed scope, allowance pending information, or excluded. Add who is responsible for resolving it. This turns a long list of concerns into a practical work list and makes it easier to compare proposals.
For example, 'driveway included' is incomplete if one proposal means a short construction entrance and another means the finished driveway to the garage. Record the intended surface, extent and stage of completion. Ask the same question of paths, fencing and landscaping.
Bring the gaps to the first conversation
You do not need every report before speaking to the team. Bring what you have, explain whether you own the land or are considering it, and say what remains uncertain. The free site evaluation is a useful starting point for a project brief. Detailed investigations, designs and approvals are separate steps to establish with the relevant people.
MBIE's guidance on understanding your land is a useful companion when you are identifying property information and project constraints. Use the source below alongside the documents for your actual address.
Turn “driveway included” into a usable question
Imagine one proposal includes a construction entrance and another includes the finished driveway to the garage. Both say “driveway”, but they price different work. Before comparing totals, write down the surface, extent and completion stage you want.
- What exact work is included?
- Is it priced, an allowance or excluded?
- Who will resolve the missing information?