Site assessment?

H

hjrdee

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Has anybody any experience with having a site assessment done? My architect has informed me that it will be necessary to have a site assessment done by a member of a site assessment panel.

The following is a quote from the Sligo Co. Council website in relation to new regulations and guidelines coming in soon:

"In the interests of protecting our water quality, Sligo County Council have recognised the importance of designing on-site treatment systems which take account of the characteristics of the site and the vulnerability of groundwater resources. The key to protecting water quality is to ensure that new development is guided towards sites where acceptable wastewater treatment and disposal facilities can be provided. The identification of suitable sites is largely dependent upon the quality of site suitability assessments being undertaken by consultants in preparing applications for planning permission.

Following a request for expressions of interest in undertaking this work, the above is a list of assessors offering the necessary qualifications and experience to carry out on-site suitability tests in a competent manner.

With a view to improving the quality of information submitted, it is recommended that as and from 1/12/2005 applications for planning permission for developments which include an on-site treatment system should have the site suitability assessment prepared by a member of the approved panel or other competent assessor as determined by Sligo County Council."

Now presumably this will be an additional cost to be factored into getting your plans and planning done.

My architect is not a member of this panel so now as well as paying him to have the plans drawn up we will also have to pay a site assessor to come and assess the site.

Just wondering had anybody had this done already and what the outcome was?
 
Sorry, This is the link which contained the above quote. I presume the same may be applied to other counties.

[broken link removed]
 
Hi Hjrdee,

I'm afraid you need to get the assessment done by someone who is registered with that council.
The following is someone who has done the course and I know people who have used him in the past and were very happy with the outcome. He also trained people who have done the course.

Cormac O'Suilleabhain
Bartley & O'Suilleabhain Environmental Engineering
087 7987168
[email protected]
 
Well you are talking about 1.5 days on site and then reporting time.....I'm not sure but anything between €450 and €700 (depending on site location) and what kind of system will have to be recommended).
Give Cormac a call and let him know that Niall gave you his number. He will be completely honest with you and will give you general advice anyways.
 
Many Thanks, I have contacted one of the people on the list and will post when I know more information on the process.
 
it usually only takes a couple of hours, engineer gets betweeen 4 and 5 hundred and the digger man the same. he only digs a hole then fills it with water and times how slowly or quickly it filters through the soil. This is to determine what type of septic tank you will need. you could do a deal with the digger man if he was to go on and get the job for clearing the site.
 
well I already have the hole dug as I had got it dug originally for the architect to carry out the test. So at least that should reduce costs slightly!
 
Hi Hjrdee,
The whole area of site assessment has become a lot more regulated in the recent past. This is as a result of increased threats to the groundwater, for which much of the country (including Sligo) is dependent on for drinking water supply. The list of competent assessors is one way of regulating this.

The quotes that are outlined here might be a little modest in my experience, many assessors are charging approx €700 + Vat, with a further €200 for digger hire.

hope you pass!
 
Is it reasonable to request a reduction from the architect in light of this additional test. Originally it would have been the architect that did this assessment and this would have been included in his fee. When we hired him he quoted us a fee of approx €2,500 all inclusive. Given that he is not now carrying out the site assessment shouldn't his fees reduce to reflect this?

I'm sure the answers probably no but I'll ask anyway!
 
Just an update. Spoke to the site assessor and the fee is €400 for site assessment and report. Reasonable I guess as I had expected it to be more.
 
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