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CVL · Civil drainage

Everything below ground, documented before it’s covered.

Stormwater drainage, strip drains, pits, treatment systems and pump stations for commercial construction. In-ground work is the least forgiving scope on a project — once it’s backfilled, a mistake costs a surface, not a fitting.

Request a proposal What’s in the package
$30k–$150kPackage sweet spot
As-builtsIssued on every package
Located firstSearches before every dig
CIVIL SCOPESHEET C—01
Stormwater
Mains & reticulation
Strip drains
Supply & install
Pits
Set to finished level
Treatment
SQID & separators
Pump stations
Sewer & stormwater
Reinstatement
Compacted & matched
Before excavation
DBYD searches · services located & marked
VBA LICENSED · FULLY INSUREDAS/NZS 3500
Excavator cutting a drainage trench across a commercial site
Trench line, commercial site — services located and marked, then the run cut to survey levels before pipe is bedded and laid.

The problem

In-ground work is the scope that can’t be revisited cheaply.

Everything else on a site can be adjusted after the fact. Drainage can’t. Once a line is laid at the wrong fall, or a pit is set to the wrong level, or a trench is backfilled without proper compaction, the correction costs the surface above it and the program around it.

Which is why the expensive parts of a civil package happen before the machine arrives: reading the levels against the survey, locating what’s already down there, and getting the authority approvals and inspection points booked so nothing gets covered before it’s signed off.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU

  • Searches lodged and services physically located and marked before any excavation
  • Levels checked against survey before pricing, not discovered during the dig
  • Authority approvals and inspections coordinated so nothing is covered unsigned
  • As-built documentation issued, so the next contractor doesn’t start blind

In the ground

What a civil package looks like before it’s covered.

Underground work is judged on what nobody sees again. These are the stages that decide whether a surface settles in two years’ time.

Trade waste tank set in excavation with outlet pipework connected and trench line running away
Tank set, outlet connected3kL trade waste tank bedded in the excavation, outlet connected and the pipeline trench cut ready for laying.
Steel reinforcement and formwork over an in-ground tank before the concrete pour
Reinforcement before pourFormwork and reo set over the tank with access openings boxed out — inspected before anything is covered.
Completed concrete lid slab with access covers set flush to the finished surface
Covers set flushFinished lid slab with access covers to the surface, rated for the traffic the area actually carries.
Footpath excavation around live services with barricading and dewatering
Working around live servicesBarricaded, dewatered and hand-cut where services converge, then reinstated to match the existing surface.

Scope detail

What sits inside a civil drainage package.

Which of these apply depends on the project. The proposal states exactly which are in and which are out.

SWD

Stormwater drainage

Mains, reticulation and connections to authority and council assets, set out against the civil drawings and confirmed against site levels.

STR

Strip drains

Trench and strip drainage across hardstand, loading areas, ramps and carparks, set to fall and finished flush with the surface.

PIT

Pits and inspection openings

Pits, grates and inspection openings set to finished surface level, rated for the traffic they’ll actually carry.

TRT

Stormwater treatment

Treatment devices, separators and gross pollutant traps installed to the requirements of the planning and civil documentation.

SPS

Sewer pump stations

Wet wells, pumps, level controls, alarms and rising mains, commissioned and documented with duty and standby tested independently.

SWP

Stormwater pump stations

Basement and low-point pump-out systems, sized to the catchment and installed with the alarm path tested to a real recipient.

EXC

Excavation and reinstatement

Service locating, excavation, shoring, backfill and compaction to specification, and surface reinstatement to match existing.

Sequence

Four stages, in this order, every time.

STAGE 01

Survey, search and locate

DBYD searches lodged, services physically located and marked, and levels surveyed against the civil documentation. Guessing at this stage is what turns a drainage job into a strike and a shutdown.

Before mobilising

STAGE 02

Scope, approvals and staging

Scope confirmed against levels and capacity, engineering coordinated where required, authority approvals lodged and tracked, and access and staging agreed with your site team.

Before works begin

STAGE 03

Construct and inspect

Excavation, bedding, laying, pits and connections, with inspections booked at the right hold points so nothing gets covered before it’s signed off.

To agreed program

STAGE 04

Reinstate and document

Backfill compacted in layers to specification, surfaces reinstated to match, and as-built PDFs issued so the site has a record of what is actually in the ground.

On completion

Questions we get asked

Before you send the drawings.

FAQ

  • Do you handle the authority approvals? We lodge and track the approvals for our scope and book the inspections at the required hold points, so nothing gets covered unsigned.
  • Do we get as-built drawings? Yes, on every civil package, issued as PDFs. It’s the deliverable that saves the most money later and the one most often skipped.
  • Can you work on a live, trading or occupied site? Yes. Staging, access routes, hours and tenant notification are agreed before we mobilise.
  • Our carpark ponds after rain — is that a civil job? Sometimes. It can be levels, capacity, a collapsed line or a blocked pit. A camera run and a level check tells you which before you spend on civil works.
  • Do you carry the hydraulic scope as well? Yes — hydraulic and civil in one package, which removes the boundary between two subcontractors.

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Recent civil work

Delivered packages.

Multi-residential

Civil drainage, Darling Street, South Yarra

Tier 2 builder

Scope
Civil drainage package to a multi-residential development.
Community

3kL trade waste tank, pipeline & water supply

Community facility, south-east Melbourne

Scope
Trade waste tank, connecting pipeline and water supply to a new building.

Next step

Send the civil set and the survey.

We’ll check the levels, tell you what’s missing, and come back with a scoped proposal.

Request a proposal Hydraulic services