Welcome back to another site update.

Last week we made solid progress getting the site office set up and making the site safer and more functional. Here’s a clear recap of what we completed, why we did it, and what’s coming next.

Lifting and Securing the Site Office

We had the site office delivered and lifted into place by a crane. The actual lift only took about 20 minutes, but many crane companies have a two-hour minimum call-out, so that’s what we were charged for. The lift cost came to around $630.

The site office sits on top of the container and is secured using twist-lock cam fittings—one at each corner. These twist locks join the modules together firmly. The site office weighs about three tonnes, sitting on top of two or three tonnes in the container storage below.

To keep everything safely anchored we bought 1,500 mm long screw piers (about 350 mm diameter) from a friend who’s an underpinner. We’ll install one pier at each corner and use two-ton ratchet straps and tie-down harnesses from the container’s top corners down to the screw piers.

This gives an effective downward pull of roughly eight tonnes on a three-ton unit; it’s a robust solution to stop movement and ensure the structure is super secure.

We also have a three-ton excavator attachment to screw the piers into the ground. One corner will get a slightly angled pier because this corner is close to the basement area and sheet piling. We don’t want to have to move piers later, so we adjusted positioning now to avoid rework.

Once the site office was in place we relocated the Starlink dish onto a new timber post made from full-length timber. We raised it about 2.6 meters, so we extended the RJ45 cable to reach. I’ve ordered a Starlink mesh node that will go inside the site office. The plan is:

  • Run an RJ45 from the mesh node back up to the Starlink.
  • Use the mesh node as a pass-through so the camera network is powered and connected.
  • Because the mesh node has only two ports, we’ll run another wire from it to the internal network.

We’ve found the metal site office can cause occasional dropouts, so the mesh node should give better reliability and throughput.

Power and Electrical Work

The container power runs from a 15-amp outdoor screw-in plug with an ugly/weathered cable, but works fine. The electricians recently installed a new circuit and a small sub-board inside the container.

From that sub-board there’s a 15A plug which connects to an industrial plug mounted with extra slack for easy connection. That single feed powers the whole container network and equipment—simple and plug-and-play.

Inside the site office there are multiple double power points (all powered from that 15A feed), so we have plenty of sockets for monitors, chargers, a coffee machine, and other equipment.

Stairs, Handrail and Landing

We built a collapsible stair system from 90 x 45 treated pine. Hinges allow the stairs to fold down and be removed easily when needed. The stair stringers are 240 x 45, treads are reinforced with 70 x 35 supports, and we used two batten screws for each tread support plus two batten screws through each tread to stop movement.

The handrail height is 900 mm from the step, and the riser between treads is about 190 mm. These dimensions were checked with the Build Tools app to quickly confirm compliance with the National Construction Code for handrail and stair dimensions—much faster than hunting through the NCC.

We dug new post footings: one about 600 mm deep (used roughly 1.5 bags of concrete mix) and another around 250–300 mm deep. We checked levels with a laser to ensure the stairs are parallel and stable. One of the posts got a little tribute—Barry wrote his name in the concrete (thanks, Barry). We made one footing extra solid because people often test the post to check stability, so we made sure it’s rock-solid.

The stairs connect to the container with four main bolts and two braces for good rigidity. Overall they’re very solid and built to last for site use.

Site Office Interior

Workspace and Comfort The site office comes with a desk and a small sub-board. We’ve brought in:

  • Printer and chargers
  • A coffee machine
  • Monitors and an old TV to display the program for suppliers and contractors
  • A Sonos speaker for background music
  • Extra chairs (we’re keeping numbers low so it doesn’t get cramped)

The floor is vinyl and coved and easy to mop and vacuum—practical for a temporary workspace. We’ll add magnetic hooks for a whiteboard so we don’t drill through the insulated panels. Everything in the office is set up to make site meetings comfortable and efficient. The air-conditioning is a huge win—cool and comfortable working conditions.

Other Smaller Works

  • Ran glands and conduits through the container so cables don’t touch metal.
  • Routed the 15A power through conduit to the internal distribution board.
  • Tested a lot of keyboards and mice from our kit box; some batteries needed replacing after long storage.
  • Temporary bin and equipment storage set up while we finalize the rest of the site.

What’s Next

Approvals, Engineers and Timelines We’re mostly waiting on the development approval (DA). A few important letters we needed for the revetment wall (condition PO9) finally arrived—about a five-week wait. Those were passed to the town planner and submitted to the council. Once the DA is issued we’ll:

  • Finalize operational works for civils
  • Get the structural engineer to finish the basement and produce Form 15
  • Finalize hydraulics with the hydraulic engineer (they’re waiting for the DA too)
  • Arrange construction insurances (QBCC, QLeave, etc.) and submit to the certifier
  • Certifier will lodge plumbing and drainage with council

Engineers have been in contact with council to ensure their designs comply, so we don’t expect major hold-ups for building approval—especially for early works.

We still need to firm up the quote from the sheet piling and dewatering contractor (they have a 4-week lead time). We’ll book them in once we have the schedule. I’ve also spoken with the waterproofing contractor and am waiting on their quote for basement waterproofing. We’re using a Seeker-compatible system with thin-cell membrane plus an extra layer of comfort to further reduce leak risk.

Current estimated start for major works is now late March to early April. We’ve lost a couple of weeks waiting for engineering sign-offs and council letters, but once approvals are through we’ll hit the ground running.

Wrap-up This last week has been all about establishing the site office, securing the unit, setting up power and network, and building a solid access solution with the stairs. The site office is comfortable and functional now, and once the DA and a few outstanding engineer reports are in, construction will move forward.

I’ll post another update next week with progress on the approvals and the next steps.

Thanks for reading.