Services
Building projects
The civil package for townhouses, apartments, commercial, education and health projects: earthworks, drainage, car parks, performance solutions and peer review.
What Method delivers
The civil package, from the permit to the slab
On a building project the civil engineer sits between the architect, the builder, the building surveyor and the council. Method sizes the drainage to the council's own policy, grades the site so the water and the levels work, details the car park and the access road, and answers the requests for further information that would otherwise hold the permit. Where the deemed-to-satisfy drainage rules cannot be met, Method prepares the performance solution the building surveyor needs, signed by a registered engineer. When a design by another consultant needs an independent check, Method reviews it and says plainly what to change.
- Bulk earthworks and site grading
- Stormwater drainage
- Basement and pumped drainage
- Car park and access road design
- Performance solutions for stormwater and drainage under the NCC
- Peer review of civil and stormwater design
- Responses to council RFIs
Client questions
What clients ask first
Do I need on-site detention for a townhouse development?
Usually, yes. Where the development adds impervious area and the council’s drainage policy sets a permissible site discharge below the developed flow, the difference has to be held on site. Most councils ask for on-site detention on multi-unit sites; some accept rainwater tanks with a detention volume, and a few waive it where the site drains straight to a large main drain. The answer comes from the council’s policy and the legal point of discharge, so Method checks both before sizing anything and coming up with the most economical solution.
When does a stormwater design need a performance solution?
When the drainage cannot meet the deemed-to-satisfy provisions of the NCC and AS/NZS 3500.3. A performance solution shows, with calculations, how the design meets the performance requirements another way. We can assist with this.
Can Method peer review another consultant’s design or answer a council RFI on it?
Yes to both. For a peer review, Method checks another consultant’s drawings and calculations against the council’s policy and the relevant standards and reports what needs to change, in writing, so the client can take it back to the original designer or ask Method to complete the job. For a council RFI, Method prepares the response with the supporting calculations and marked-up drawings, in the council’s own terms. Our aim is to provide a compliant and cost-effective design.
Got a civil condition on a building permit you are not sure about? Send it over. Method will tell you what the council is actually asking for and what it would take, no obligation.
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