Building Orchard – our construction phases
Progress at Orchard is proceeding apace, with the soil presently being turned in preparation for some truly exciting growth over the year to come.
In this post, we unpack just how phases of construction at Orchard unfold and where in the process things are presently, to give you a clear picture of how everything will come into bloom in our community in the coming months.
In line with development best practice, Orchard follows an eight-phase construction process. As you might expect, building something from the ground up involves a great deal of co-ordination to ensure everything is in place before things like roads and homes can arise, and this process allows key milestones to be ticked off in a way that makes for measurable, logical sense.
Before we delve into the details of the process however, we’re excited to announce that our Stage 1 release is on track for Title in August 2018, with Stages 2 and 3 expected to follow in October and Stage 4 by December. That means that within a few short months, houses will begin to sprout along freshly formed streets with things all set to grow from there.
Let’s take a look at what those phases consist of in a little more detail.
Phase 1 – Plans & Permits
This primary phase deals involves Council and Authority acceptance of documentation – including engineering design - to confirm that physical works may be allowed to commence at your site.
Phase 2 – Earthworks
This is where the big machinery first rolls in to begin shaping what is to come! It involves preparation of the site to achieve design lot levels including site scraping, shaping the existing ground, and construction of retaining walls if required.
Phase 3 – Sewer and Drainage
The essential infrastructural underpinnings to ensure the health and wellbeing of the future community are laid down here, connecting every lot to the waste and water systems.
Phase 4 – Road Boxing and Kerb & Channel
In Phase 4, we see things really start to come together as the ground is prepared in order to lay down the lower layers of road pavement. Water and gas mains are also installed, and the kerb and channel – essentially the road guttering system – is put into place.
Phase 5 - Electrical and Telecommunications
With kerb and channel works complete, in this phase trenches are dug for the running of electrical and telecommunications cabling and wiring, preparing the way for power, phones and the internet to be connected.
Phase 6 – Footpaths & Asphalt
The ground goes through another round of preparation to enable the construction of footpaths, as well as for the topsoil of the community’s nature strips. Significantly, this phase also sees middle pavement layers constructed and roads take shape with the laying of asphalt!
Phase 7 – Completion & Inspection of Works
Things have really moved along by this point. The Council and Service Authority perform final inspections before signing off on constructed works including roads and services. Final documentation is provided to Council, facilitating a Statement of Compliance for the development stage.
Phase 8 – Titles Office and Settlement
Have some champagne ready for this major milestone. This is the final step of the construction phase, where registration of individual lots from each stage occurs at the Titles Office, earmarking your block for settlement and opening it up for you to begin the building of your home.
Full Construction Update
As evident above, we’re working hard to get your land ready to build on and are pleased to share the progress thus far. As shared in a recent email to Orchard’s early adopters, here is the latest construction update in full, indicating the progress thus far at each stage:
As ever, we’ll make sure to keep everyone up to speed with how things are taking shape here in Melbourne’s newest community via this blog and of course our Facebook page. Or, if you have any questions at all about how things are growing here in Orchard, you can give us a call on 1300 ORCHARD or get in touch via our contact page.