Easements and Angle of Repose: What Are They and Why Do You Need to Know?

Easements and Angle of Repose: What Are They and Why Do You Need to Know?

When you buy a block of dirt, there are technical terms like easements, Angle of repose Y Influence zone well understood by professionals in the construction industry. You may be inclined to leave these complexities to the engineers, shippers, and your builder, but this is a mistake. When you educate yourself on the basic factors that affect a block, it puts you in a much stronger position with potential suppliers and builders, as well as helping you determine your options. You must know where the easements are on your own block and on neighboring blocks to determine where you can build.

What exactly is an Easement? An easement is an area where land services are provided. Everyone needs to have access to stormwater and sewage. These are gravity fed so the sewer and stormwater runs parallel. Because service lines are large diameter pipes, they are buried deep in the ground.

angle of repose is a term used in Geology. Describes the effect of disturbance from the surface through the ground. Raised soil will slump at approximately 45 degrees, although this varies for different soil types.

The Area of ​​Influence It is the area that has been affected by soil removal, when placing the services.

Why do you need to know? If a service pipe is buried two meters in the ground and the center of the pipe is 1.5 meters from the boundary, the foundation must pass through the area of ​​influence. It has to go under the angle of repose. Otherwise, the weight of the house or garage pushing down on the removed soil could dislodge the pipe and also jeopardize the structural integrity of the building. The foundation begins at the angle of repose. This greatly affects excavation costs and concrete costs for foundations and/or retaining walls.

Not all blocks will have easements, but often there is a back easement. Blocks typically sit next to each other, so easements will often run along the back of a property. This will usually not cause problems with the build.

Beware of lateral boundary easements. Blocks are typically rectangular, narrow, and long, so the impact can be much higher with a lateral ease. A large pipe, buried in a deep hole, creates an exclusion zone of at least 2-3 meters. The exclusion zone can be more than the easement! Even if you have a dirt block that doesn’t have easeyesbut your neighbor does, IT CAN AFFECT YOU!

Establish how deep the services are buried. Buyers often think that when they buy on a flat area rather than a steep or sloping block, site costs will be lower. However, in flat terrain the services can be buried 4 ½ to 5 meters deep and can be one meter in diameter. Suddenly, the catchment area is huge.

When you’re looking to buy a block, and preferably before you put money down, get a copy of the Plan of Subdivision (POS). This will be contained in Section 32, or Declaration of the Provider of the Land Contract. This document should contain all known information about that land. It will include a copy of the Engineering Plan, which will show the location of the accesses and everything that is known about the location and depth of the services (serviences). Whether you are thinking of buying a block of land or have already done so, have it on hand.

Familiarize yourself with the essential information. The convention for describing a block of dirt is to imagine that you are standing on the main street looking up at the block. Draw a diagram of the block: the width of the frontage, the width of the rear boundary, and the length of each side. Draw the easements and consider what this means for where you can build.

Does a potential lot suit your needs? Will you be able to negotiate better terms? What will be the impact on the design of your home? Now that you have a basic understanding of the terms: comfort, Angle of reposeY Influence zoneyou will be in a much stronger position to answer these questions.

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